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. A Mr. K. Nakazwa had watched on television Steven's April 1987 worldwalk homecoming and had decided that having Steven explore Japan and such Far East nations as Korea and Taiwan would be a dynamic way to introduce American schoolchildren to those 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 Hokaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Later, Steven, with the continued patronage of Nakazawa, would explore still other parts of Japan, such as the island of Shikoku. There 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 those exotic locals that he spent nearly a year exploring.