Traveling is the "sowing of seeds" that enriches life. The reason why Kundo Koyama went on a month-long trip

Add "chance encounters" to your life: Why Kundo Koyama went on a month-long trip

OnTrip JAL Editorial Department (hereinafter, JAL): Mr. Koyama, who is known for his busy schedule, took a one-month trip to celebrate his 50th birthday, which was also broadcast on a TV documentary and attracted attention. Why did he take a long vacation and embark on a "trip" with the theme of "halftime in life"?

Koyama: It was a one-month vacation, so I thought about a lot of things. I thought about going to a fasting center to lose weight, or trying to master surfing or golf. But I chose "travel" out of all of those options because I wanted to sow the seeds of serendipity, or "chance encounters."

On a trip, you meet people and have unexpected experiences. The seeds of those experiences may not sprout right away, but they will remain somewhere deep in your memory and will surely sprout in the future. I wanted to sow the seeds for that at this time of year.

JAL: Have you always loved traveling?

Koyama: Rather than traveling, I've always loved hotels and vehicles since I was little. However, I started working in television when I was a student, so I had never been able to take even a month off. So when I was 49, I declared to everyone at work, "When I turn 50, I'll take a month off." If this had happened right before, it wouldn't have been allowed, but since it was a year before, no one had realized it yet, so they forgave me (laughs).

JAL: So you started making preparations steadily a year ago...

Koyama: But I couldn't decide on anything until I was on vacation. I always keep a diary while I'm traveling. However, when I looked back at the page from the day before my vacation started, I wrote, "I've carefully secured my vacation, but it's embarrassing that I haven't decided on the most important thing" (laughs). But I think this is typical of me.

My vacation started on July 1st 2014, but it wasn't until July 11th that the full outline of my trip was decided.

JAL: Specifically, what places did you visit?

Koyama: In order of the places I visited, I started in Sendai, then Paris, Stockholm, returned to Japan, and went to the dentist in Sendai (laughs). After that, I walked the Kumano Kodo trail from Wakayama Prefecture, then New York, Istanbul, Venice, Zermatt, Prague, and back to Stockholm. At the end, I took a boat trip around the Baltic Sea and returned to Japan from St. Petersburg.

I chose my destinations based on "cities I want to visit" and "my favorite cities." Istanbul, Zermatt, and Prague were cities I wanted to visit. However, I limited my stay in each place to 1-3 nights.

JAL: You're busy (laughs).

Koyama: It really doesn't feel like a day off (laughs).

JAL: But you probably just like traveling.

Koyama: That's right. I think travel time is a time to face yourself. Especially when traveling by plane, you can see the world from a bird's-eye view. Even when you have worries, if you think that there are as many worries as there are people in the world, it makes you feel a lot better. You can shift your perspective a little from your life-size self and put the things in front of you into perspective. I think that's why I like traveling.

"I never felt this frustrated." The value of money learned from the thugs of Gamla Stan

JAL: Among the many overseas destinations, the Kumano Kodo trail caught my eye. Why did you choose this route?

Koyama: I wanted to do something I had never done before. At first, I thought about doing the pilgrimage for a month, but I had heard from a monk in Shikoku that the pilgrimage in summer is very tough, so I chose the Kumano Kodo, which offers the same effect of training in a three-day, two-night trip (laughs).

I don't normally exercise, so I don't have the time to think carefully about my body, but while I was walking, things I don't usually think about came into my head, like the kanji for "walk" should not be written as "stop for a bit," and the kanji for "rest" should not be written as "people become trees."

I don't think "keep walking = don't stop." Rather, it means "stop sometimes to walk." I feel that implication in the character "walk." If you want to continue doing something, I think it's important to take time to reflect on yourself from time to time.

JAL: That lesson overlaps directly with the purpose of your trip. What was the most memorable moment on this trip?

Koyama: The more unpleasant something is, the more you remember it, and losing money in Stockholm was that.

JAL: What?! What on earth is going on?

Koyama: There were some men gambling on the street. They called out to me, tricked me, and within a few minutes I had lost almost all my money.

JAL: That was unfortunate...

Koyama: I was frustrated and angry. But shortly after, I met a street performer who was doing stop-motion tricks, and I realized that I no longer hesitated to give him a tip. Money can be either alive or dead depending on how you use it. The money I lost after being scammed is as good as dead, but if it can become living money, I don't regret it at all.

Looking back at his diary from that day, he also wrote that what he thought at the restaurant he went to afterwards was, "Meatballs and marinated salmon, beer and red wine. When I think about the 50,000 yen I paid to those worthless men, 120 euros here is like living money. Today's incident has reminded me of the value of money. Thank you, Gamla Stan thugs" (lol).

JAL: It's typical of Mr. Koyama to have a proper punch line and realization at the end.

Koyama: I don't usually feel this kind of regret, and I think it was because I was on a trip that the experience made me think about the value of money. Throughout this trip, I felt like I was a boy again. In other words, I became as curious as I was when I was young.

When I was a student, I didn't want to waste even an hour of free time on my trip. When I visited New York at the time, I filled my schedule with details, such as going to a store that sells Italian ingredients to buy cheese. But as I get older, I find that kind of thing annoying. Nothing has changed dramatically during this long month-long trip, but I feel like I have gained something that will gradually have an effect on me in the future.