Steven Newman's Walk Through Japan

 

Newman's solo walk down the 2,000-mile length of the Japan archipelago, in the fall of 1987, was the result of a phone call from a wealthy Japanese businessman, Kiyoaki Nakazwa. Mr. Nakazawa, the president and founder of Daiwa Corporation, had watched on Japan television Steven's April 1987 worldwalk homecoming, and he had decided that having Steven explore on foot such Far East nations as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan would be a dynamic and unique way to introduce Americans to those nations' cultures. And so it was that--just six months after a four-year-long solo walk around the world--Steven set out on a similar solo trek through Japan's Hokaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Okinawa islands. Later, Steven, with the continued patronage of Nakazawa, would explore still other islands in Japan. On one of those later treks, on the island of Shikoku,Steven retraced an ancient Buddhist saint's 900-mile-long wanderings over sea cliffs, across white water rivers, and up snake-infested volcanoes to explore 88 sacred temples from the 7th century. What follows are hundreds of the randomly-shot photos that Steven took of the Japanese at work and play in the countryside and cities. Also being shared are photos of some of the artifacts he brought back to his home in Ohio from all those exotic Japan islands that he spent nearly a year exploring.