Sept 14, 2010 Its No Walk In The Park

On September 14, 2010 The Ottawa Citizen had an article written by Dave Rogers of the Ottawa Citizen (http://www.ottawacitizen.com/walk+park/3520618/story.html). It was a longer version of the article found in a few other newspapers. The article was entitled "Its No Walk In The Park, A Japanese man is living his dream, one step at a time, by walking across North America. Dave Rogers reports:

It's no walk in the park

A Japanese man is living his dream, one step at a time, by walking across North America. Dave Rogers reports.

By Dave Rogers, The Ottawa Citizen September 14, 2010

Grinning broadly as he pulls his homebuilt rickshaw along Boulevard des Allumettières in Gatineau on Monday, Sokichi Takashita explains he is crossing Canada "old style" because he loves nature.
After more than 20 years as a bookstore owner near Niigata on Japan's west coast, the 62-year-old is fulfilling a dream he has had since 1974 of walking across North America. He started in Vancouver on May 10 and hopes to finish his 6,300-kilometre trek in Halifax in November.
Takashita, who wears an old-fashioned bamboo traveller's hat on top of his baseball cap to protect him from the sun, says the trip has been an adventure that has made him love Canadians.
(When asked what happened to his bookstore, Takashita, who speaks little English or French, opens an electronic translator and writes the words "bankrupt 2008" in a reporter's notebook.)
Takashita walked carrying a backpack until a father and son in Moonbeam, Ont., near Hearst, spent three days building him a rickshaw out of angle iron, steel tubing, old bicycle wheels and foam panels.
The rickshaw bears two Canadian and two Japanese flags signed by the people he meets on the road. The vehicle holds Japanese straw sandals, a tent, sleeping bag, foam pad, raincoat, rubber boots and groceries.
Pointing to a spare tire and leaky inner tube slung from the back of his rickshaw, Takashita says he has had so many punctures he has run out of patches. He asks directions to the nearest Canadian Tire store, but settles for directions to a bicycle shop in downtown Hull that's closer.
Normally, Takashita sleeps and eats beside the road after walking about 35 kilometres each day.
His previous trips have included a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and journeys to Mount Athabasca and the Columbia Icefield between Banff and Jasper, Alberta.
"In Jasper, when I was asleep beside the highway, a bear pushed my tent over and over," Takashita said, mimicking the rolling motion.
"I saw bears crossing the highway three times near Edson and Hinton in Alberta. I hope there will be no more bears and no more storms."
Canadians have been giving Takashita food, money and equipment along the way. He had raised $2,000 for UNICEF by the time he reached Gatineau and expects the total will reach $3,000 by Halifax.
"It costs $10 to save one young child," Takashita said. "If I can raise $3,000, I will be able to save 300 children."
This winter, Takashita hopes to travel to Calgary and go downhill skiing and perhaps ice fishing before returning to Japan in February 2011. Eventually, he hopes to take his rickshaw across Australia.
- - -

View a video report of Sokichi Takashita's trek on our website at: ottawacitizen.com/Video