Dokkodo: Lonesome Road of Running

Gusty and misty in the morning. Visited Cape Erimo, the southernmost tip of Hokkaido. Took me three weeks from Cape Soya, the northernmost point of Japan. Covered 500 miles so far. I'll finish crossing Hokkaido in three days. Enjoy meeting good people everyday. That's why I keep going. *Distance today: 28.8miles (46.4km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 498.6miles (802.3km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG

Warm, sunny day. No rain three days in a row. R336 is partly called Ogon Doro(Golden Road) because it has cost a huge amount of money to get it maintained. Lots of tunnels. The longest one is Erimo Ogon Tunnel, about 3 miles long. It is also the longest tunnel in Hokkaido. I don't like tunnel because of its smell and noise. Some tunnels have no sidewalks or shoulders. Sometimes it's scary. About noon, I finished today's run at Hyakuninhama Campground. This is a perfect day for camping. *Distance today: 24.6miles (39.6km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 494.4miles (795.5km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-2011.html

It was not warm but hot today. The temperature rose all of a sudden. As I was not ready for the heat yet, this heat was hard for me. Here I am in Hiroo, about 50 miles (80km) south from Urahoro. Today I saw the first convenience store since I left Urahoro. I guess people living in the city can't believe there is a town like that in Japan even now. Lots of farmers' house here and smells of dried grass and animals remind me that I am in Hokkaido. Tomorrow I'll be camping in campsite near Cape Erimo, the southernmost tip of Hokkaido Island. *Distance today: 22.3miles (35.9km) *Total Distance from Wakkanai: 469.8miles (755.9km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG   http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-2010.html

Sunny day. Warm enough to run. 50 miles (80km) nothing between Urahoro and Hiroo. It's been fun running in the wild land. So many ups and downs. Kind of boring, sometimes depressive. Probably my run in Hokkaido will soon end in 5 or 6 days. I wish I would stay a little bit longer in Hokkaido. *Today's distance:  27.3miles (44km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 447.5 miles (720km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG. http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-2008.html

Misty morning. Not that cold for camping out. Pitched my tend under a tree but a bird kept tweeting almost all night long. I guess I must have invaded its territory. Sunny day breaks. Blue sky was seen for the first time in a week. Warm enough to run. Felt like the first summer day! Short day. Ran through three tunnels. Tunnels are what I scare most. Noise and smell... If they have sidewalk, they are very nice to bikers and walkers. But most of tunnels have narrow shoulders. Some of them have no shoulders. If they are long, I have to struggle in the dark. I have run 3 mile (5km) tunnel before. It took me about 40 minutes to get through. I finished today's run about 11am at Urahoro. Took a bath and washed my clothes. Got to dry something wet such as tent, sleeping bag and matress. Getting closer to the southernmost tip of Hokkaido, Cape Erimo. *Distance today: 18.8miles  (30.2km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 420.1miles (676.0km)

As is often the case, I started running in the morning. Rain suits on again. Left one of the biggest cities in Hokkaido, Kushiro, I see mountains, rivers and wild land again/ It stopped raining in the afternoon. Getting warm. There were two inns in Ombetsu, today's goal, but both were occupied. So I found a place to camp out at a community center. Not that cold tonight. Fortunately no rain at all! *Distance today: 29.3 miles (47.1km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 401.4mniles (645.8km)

Wet, wet, wet because of misty weather. Put on and off my rain suits. But the temperature was not so low. Warm enough to run. As I got closer to downtown Kushiro, traffic became heavier. The city of Kushiro is as big as Sapporo. It has almost everything such as McDonalds, Kentucky and Aeon. There were some uncomfortable parts on Route 44. The shoulder was narrow and was not smooth partly. I saw some sighboards of BEAR WARNING.   *Distance today: 34.4 miles (55.3km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 372.1 imles (598.7km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-2005.html

Here's another YouTube movie of PEACE RUN 2012 Running Across Japan PART2. See Google Map below, which shows the route I have taken. Covered almost half distance of my trek across Hokkaido. And it's also one-fifth of my whole trek.

A tragedy has come all of a sudden. I sneaked into my sleeping bag, when it started to rain. A gusty wind kept me from sleeping. Around 11 pm, I noticed some water on a floorsheet of my tent. Wind was so gusty that rain was getting into my tent. For a while I was fighting against wind and rain. Fanned by a strong wind,  the fly sheet was flapped and two stakes were gone with the wind. It took me about 5 minutes to find them. It was dark at midnight. While I was searching for the stakes, the floor of the tent was tottaly wet. Finally I gave up camping out. I escaped into an apartment house nearby, where I kept away from rain and wind. I put everything together inside the door of the apartment. Everything was wet, wet, wet. I was waiting for the dawn without sleeping. Around 4 am, I started running again,  cold rain and strong wind still annoyed me. Felt as if I was running in the winter rain. When I stopped, I couldn't stop shivering....

Running into the wild...That's what I always want to do. It's good to run in the middle of nowhere. No civilization, no convenience stores, no internet... I also enjoy meeting people, cyclists, motorbike tourisit and hitchhikers. It's fun to enjoy each day. even troubles and accidents. Wide open spaces here and there everywhere in Hokkaido. I feel as if I were in different country like Canada or New Zealand. When I finished my run at Attoko Station, I heard there was no hotels or inns in Attoko. So I tried to find a place to pitch my tent. Fortunately I found a community park nearby. Here comes a tragedy after this... *Distance today:  37.8 miles (60.8km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 308.6 miles (496.6km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-2002.html

Left Shari at 5:20 am. The sky was clear enough to enjoy 35 miles (57km) run today. Taking R244 to Shibetsu via Kompoku Pass 1612 ft (490m),  I got to run across Shiretoko Peninsula. Highway was so quiet. Elevation rose inch by inch as I got close to the Kompoku Pass. At 10 am, I reached the Kompoku Pass. While running downhill, I was in the fog, so wet. Some rolling hills, then straight highway ahead. After 3 pm, I got to the town of Shibetsu. No services at all this 35 miles (57km). But here I am in Japan, where there is no desert. I feel safe because I am in Japan, my native country. *Distance today: 35.8miles (57.6km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 270.9miles (435.8km) More  Photos on KAY'S BLOG http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkaytaka.blog35.fc2.com%2Fblog-entry-2001.html&h=VAQFWJZ2GAQFP5AjZUJlch_rzz4gxUrHkr9SS5sgEYAdpMA

PEACE RUN 2012 Running Across Japan Part2 You Tube Movies Stage1: Hokkaido 1) Wakkanai-Mombetsu 2) Saroma-Abashiri More information available at PEACE RUN Official Site http://www.peace-run.com/

Cloudy for the first 6 miles (10km) until I got to Kitahama. Then it started to shower and pouring rain... About 20 miles running against the cold wind. Just kept running except to take a lunch break at Hamakoshimizu Station. Wet, wet, wet...inside my shoes, socks. A tour bus gave me a shit! I took a shower of muddy water as the bus passed me on the road. The shoulder became a river and I found a small pond on the corner of intersection. Some rain, some shine...life is not always easy. I always say to myself things are sometimes hard to follow. *Distance today: 35.8miles (57.6km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 264.6miles (425.8km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-1999.html

Took a day-off for the first time since I left Wakkanai. Here I am in a small inn called Anima-no-sato, which is at the edge of Abashiri City. I see some horses and sheep. This picutre reminds me of New Zealand, doesn't it? Time passes so slow and I feel mellow...Yuttari Mattari in Japanese...I love it! Spending most of the day just in front of my laptop computer. Took a nap for a while. Walk around the farm before dinner. Good food & drink, good people, good time! More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-1998.html

Woke up at 3:30 am. The day starts early in northern country. Chilly in the morning but when the sun shines it keeps me warm. Ran 25 miles (40km) in the morning. Afternoon 12 miles (20km) was tough and hard for me. Ran along the Okhotsk Cycling Road (bike path) from Tokoro to Abashiri, which used to be railway tracks. When it's warm, lots of bugs annoy me even while I'm running. Feeling itchy on both ankles. I ran 7 days in a row from Wakkanai, covered 207 miles (333km), which is one-third of the tatal distance I will run in Hokkaido. Need to have my legs rested from time to time. More photos on KAY'S BLOG. http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-1997.html

Cloudy in the morning but soon the sky cleared up. It's been dry. Warm enough to keep running. Saroma 100km Ultra Marathon Race, which is one of the oldest ultra marathon races in Japan,  is held on Sunday 24th. I ran along the route for a while. I finished the 5th Saroma 100km in 1989 for the first time. At that time about 500 runners entered the race but this time almost 4000 runners will come together. Amazing! There are many ultra runners who have finished this race more than 10 times. They are called "Saroman Blue." Ultra marathon is not a race, it should be thought to be a travel. It is important to enjoy each step, slow and steady. Tonight I stay on a train car (steam locomotaive). This used to be a station but there's no railway service any more. Now the town runs a community park and offered a place to stay for travelers. *Distance today: 28.2 miles (45.4km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 167.1 miles (268.9...

Still chilly. The temperature refuses to rise. But some sunshine and blue sky entertained me this afternoon. Getting close to Abashiri, I came back into the network again as I drew near to Mombetsu. I don't want to be an internet refugee! Analogue life is sometimes fun because we can have more time to enjoy daily life. Two more  days to go to Abashiri, then I'm going to take a day-off. At night I was invited to a dinner at BBQ restaurant. A friend of mine of facebook introduced me to the owner of the restaurant. How lucky I was! *Distance today: 28.2 miles (45.3km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 138.9 miles (223.5km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-entry-1995.html

Gray sky turned into blue late in the morning. Getting warmer and I feel better. Sometimes I feel as if I was running across the US again. Or I feel as if I had kept running across Japan since 2010. A traveler might have different clock and the sense of time within him/her. I use a bus stop as a rest area. Most of the bus stop have a small shelter to keep from rain, snow and wind. I can take a nap or a short break in there. In Hokkaido, there are facilities called Michi-no-Eki(Road Station) on each highway. They have restrooms, bench, veberage machines. Some have hot spa, campsites restaurants or even hotels. I often pitched my tent at Michi-no-Eki 2 years ago. Of course it was free. Tonight I was able to get into network for the first time in 4 days. Thank God I can check e-mails and enjoy Tweeter and Facebook! I was busy making a renewal of my blog. *Distance today: 32.9miles (53.0km) *Total distance from Wakkanai: 110...

Chilly morning. This is the climate of winter, isn't it? Running along the coastline of the Ohotsk Sea, I always have side wind. While running I don't care but once I stop running I feel cold and start shivering. The northeastern part of Hokkaido is kind of weird. Very few people walk in downtown and each shop is very quiet as if they closed its business. Many senior citizens can be seen but young generation can seldom seen in town. Many schools have been closed with the population decreasing year by year. Some lines of the JR(Japan Railway) stopped their services. Abandoned houses here and there. Ghost towns are easily born here for sure. I wonder why people from Honshu don't move to Hokkaido. There are so many open wide spaces that you can have many chances on business. It's no use for people to move only to the captital Tokyo. The sky is gray. I felt kind of depressed but I'll be patient. Some rain, some shine... I ju...

Woke up around 4 am. The sun rises as early as 3:30 am in Hokkaido. It's good for us runners, isn't it? The smell of the sea breeze makes me feel good. Japan is surrounded by the sea, which entertains me the most. I love seafood so much and the sound of the waves is sweet in my ears. Run, eat and sleep...my life is very simple while I'm traveling. I don't have to think about anything meaningless. I just want to enjoy my life through running. Live, run and travel...that's what life is all about! I found a small inn in downtown Hamatombetsu. Bought some food and beer and enjoyed a meal by myself. Since I left Wakkanai, I've been out of network. I called my manager Mr.Kimura sayting that I had no internet service. Sometimes somthing like that happens. Nothing really matters! *Distance today: 38.7miles(62.0km)  *Total distance from Wakkanai: 58.4 miles(93.9km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35....

Finally I got back on the road again. My partner MUSASHI(Babyjogger) was newly reformed and got downsized a bit. Cloudy and chilly.  Sometimes scatter showered. But I felt so good getting back to my running days. Running in Hokkaido reminds me of running in the US especially in Mid-West where I often hit a place like in the middle of nowhere. No people, no stores, no towns...so many open wide spaces. Wild deer and fox were my gusets on the road. Today I finished my run at Cape Soya, the northern-most point of Japan. This is the place where I started my first running across Japan in 2010. *Distance today 19.8miles (=31.9km) More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/blog-date-20120609.html

Tomorrow is the day when I start my PEACE RUN 2012 Running Across Japan. Here I am in Wakkanai ready  to start for tomorrow. My MUSASHI had been waiting for me to arrive here since several days ago. It's been cool and a bit wet here in Hokkaido where there's no rainy season. Most parts of Japan are in rainy season. My running days will surely come! More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/

Here I am in Otaru, Hokkaido after 20-hour-seacruise from Maizuru, Kyoto. Last time I was here in 2010, I was on the way running across Japan for the first time. 3343km and 108-day trek was not that easy, but I finally made it. I came back in Hokkaido after I ran across the US in 2011. Feeling like as if I were back in 2010, I'm staying at a backpacker's hostel MORI-NO-KI in Otaru. On Friday 9th, I'll be back on the road in Wakkanai, the northernmost city in Japan, heading for Kagoshima, my final destination. Our future should be filled with HOPE and DREAMS. That's why I keep going and running till the end of the world... More photos on KAY'S BLOG http://kaytaka.blog35.fc2.com/

June 3 was the day I run Kyoto Kamogawa Eco Marathon as a guest runner. It's a small size marathon race with 500 runners entry running along the Kamogawa River, Kyoto City. One of my friends, Aya Uchida attended as a radio personality of Sanjo Cafe FM. She made "My Goal" a support song of "PEACE RUN Running 40,000km on 5 Continents" and she is also a member of PEACE RUN. She just started running as a fun runner. Hope she enjoys running as well as singing. More photos on KAY'S BLOG .

We are all connected to each other. Everyone is different from each other but it doesn't matter at all. Everyone can share anything with anyone else. PEACE RUN wants everyone of us to be connected to people all over the world. PEACE is what we all have to share...

One year has passed since I ran PEACE RUN 2011 Running Across America last year. Here I am in Iga, Mie, Japan, getting ready for the next epic journey PEACE RUN 2012 Running Across Japan Part2. I'll be back on the road again next week in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, which will be a starting point of this trek. My final destination is Kagoshima, Kyushu. This is the second time I run across Japan continued from PEACE RUN 2010 Running Across Japan . And also this is just an intermission between two journeys, PEACE RUN 2011 Running Across America and PEACE RUN 2013 Running Across Australia. I'd like you guys who are interested in my adventure to see this blog and I'll let you know what's going around me. Day 1 starts on June 9th. More photos will be shown on my official blog " KAY'S BLOG " (Japanese Site) PEACE RUN 2012 Site PEACE RUN Official Site