Crossing Japan on foot in winter: 3,345 km pulling a 100-kilo cart
He calls it 'playing chase with winter'. He expects about 100 days of walking over five months.
Katsunari Tanaka, a 49-year-old Japanese publisher, is crossing Japan on foot from north to south, in the depths of winter and pulling a cart of about 100 kilos. He doesn’t see himself as an adventurer: he says he’s a “merchant”.
End to end
He set off on 7 October from Cape Sōya, in Hokkaido, the country’s northernmost point. He wants to reach Cape Hedo, in Okinawa, at the southern tip. In total, 3,345 km.
He expects about 100 days of walking spread over five months, with rest days. He aims for about 35 km a day, with a support team in a vehicle whose members sometimes walk with him.
Wind, rain and snow
On 3 November he reached Hakodate harbour, after 621 km across Hokkaido. He has faced headwinds, rain, steep climbs and near-freezing temperatures. On a pass between Yoichi and Iwanai, snow forced him to shelter with his team until the weather improved. He calls it “playing chase with winter”.
Next he takes a ferry to Aomori and heads down the Pacific coast through Sendai, Fukushima and Tokyo. Then he follows the old Tokaido route to Osaka, goes west to Kyushu and takes another ferry to Okinawa.
Why he’s doing it
He is walking to support his mentor, evangelist Arthur Hollands, known for long walks carrying a large wooden cross. He has 11 talks planned along the way.
It isn’t his first long journey: between 2013 and 2016 he visited all 47 prefectures of Japan with a cart of books and sold 13,477 of them in person.
Another great recent walk: Karl Bushby returned to Hull on foot from Patagonia, 28 years later.
Sources and references
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