Dokkodo: Lonesome Road of Running

Once you started to run All you have to do is run for the goal Take it slow but you definetely keep running till you make it There’s no looking back A traveler should be positive. Once you started to run All you have to do is move ahead feeling the breeze You don’t have to think something unnecessary Get excited about encountering on your way A traveler should be the one who moves ahead with excitement Once you started to run All you have to do is forget about the time You don’t have to be stuck in the past Enjoy living for the moment looking forward to the future A traveler should be the one who seizes the day

Needless to say, my mission is to run 40,000km on 5 continents around the world for WORLD PEACE on my own two legs. But to tell the truth, I have another mission. It is to hand down the culture of adventure from our generation to next generation. I guess we should encounter our-true-selves and pursue our possibility by traveling, trying something new and having an adventure. To make it possible, I have to tell as many people as possible, especially to young generation, the meaning and the value of having an adventure. It’s okay if it’s not a real adventure. Traveling alone or wandering aimlessly till the end of the world is also worth doing. Especially I want them to seek the way of life that they have never done so far. I hope all of us young and old have a dream and a hope and try something new that we have never tried. We must not be afraid of changes. Because it is also adventure for us to search for changes. I had a lecture today for teachers who work for a...

This morning I was talked to by a Chinese lady on my way home after picking up garbage at Osaka Castle Park. She said to me, "Why are you picking up garbage?" I said, "Just because I'd like to clean up the world and our planet EARTH. I guess it will make people feel peaceful which creates WORLD PEACE. And she said, "Great! Impressive! Could I take your picture?" I said, "Why not?" The lady rushed to work saying "ARIGATO" with a smile on her face. Plum trees will be at their best soon at Osaka Castle Park. But there were lots of garbage such as cigarette butts, pet bottles, tissue paper, wrapping paper of fast food so on. Plums were so beautiful but all the garbage spoiled the total scenes. We Japanese have been taught to care for each and act for all. I hope our society will be the one where children in the future thinks it was good to be born as a Japanese.

I ran across Japan for the second time in 2012 from Wakkanai, Hokkaido to Kagoshima along the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific coastline. I just wanted to see how everything had been changed one year after 3.11...the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami What I saw there was more than I had expected. Tsunami and earthquake are natural disaster, not a man-made one such as wars. But the scenes which came into my eyes were like a battlefield after the war attacked and devastated by invisible enemies. Whole towns and cities seemed to have gone together with people and buildings. Then I really realized "There is nothing that can be done." I was overcome by extreme emptiness and felt helplessness of us human beings. Where can I go? What can I do? I was not a victim but I imagined one scene where I was the one who had survived Tsunami. No matter how hard I tried to use imagination, I was not a victim at all. All I could do was take a look around the affected areas...

Igaueno NINJA Festa is held in Iga City, hometown of NINJA from April 5 to May 6 this year. There are a lot of special events as for NINJA here and there in Iga City. You can become NINJA with NINJA costume on if you want. Or you can experience NINJA practice throwing Shuriken (Shooting stars). If you want to visit Iga City during this term, let me know. I hope you enjoy NINJA Festa as much as you want! Igaueno NINJA Festa Official Site Igaueno NINJA Festa Facebook Page

“Run 311” is a global running event which aims to support earthquake reconstruction and console those affected by the Tohoku Earthquake. There are many events held all around Japan. In Osaka, too. We held "Live Together Run Together 2014-RUN311" in Osaka Castle Park on Saturday 8th. We realized how important it is to share a peaceful moment with each other who enjoys living and running under the same sky and on the same planet.