Earth Walker/ Koichi Nakatani
Koichi Nakatani was born in Seattle, USA, in 1971. He is on a journey to walk around the world and plant trees in the ground. His ambition is not only to love the earth and make it greener but also to make people realize that they are a part of the world too..
I have been on the journey to walk and plant trees on the earth for three years, after six years of working as a businessman. In 2000, I started wandering.
I had been wondering whether my common sense or sense of value is the same as people from other nations. While I have worked for my company in foreign nations, I started thinking about it. ¡ÈCommon Sense¡É is knowledge, and an ability to judge and understand, which most people have or should have. For example, it is common knowledge to take shoes off when you enter a house in Japan, but not in other countries. If ¡ÈCommon Sense of the world¡É is the average of common sense from various regions, I wanted to know and own it. You know, you can only live your life once so I decided to go on journey to look for the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world.¡É
Firstly, I went to the United States, where I was born and then, India, Nepal, the Republic of Zambia, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, the Republic of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and South Africa. It took three years to travel around these countries; the three years have past swiftly.
As a business man, the most important thing in my life before the journey was to make profits using the least resources. However, during the journey, my life changed and I realized that the purpose of one¡Çs life is to know local people, culture and nature. I became interested in these values.
In South Africa, I met with Mr. Paul Coleman who has visited 39 countries and walked 45,000 kilometers over 16 years, planting trees in the ground. He is on a journey to China from his home country, England. He plans to walk and plant 100 million trees, in memory for 100 million people who died during all of the Wars that occurred in the 20th century. I spent about a year participating in his activity in South Africa. I walked around Zimbabwe and the Republic of Zambia planting trees.
Paul Coleman has traveled around the world for more than 30 years, including a period when he was a sailor, and a driver for a British lady. As a person who has the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world,¡É he gives you a message ¡ÈLet us stop killing, let us start surviving.¡É I think it can be understood that we should stop taking lives (which can also be symbolized as ¡Ætrees¡Ç) and start giving lives instead. The message is so simple and direct that it is easy to understand. Someday, I wish the message would be part of the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world¡É.. I walk and plant trees for the message to be delivered to people.
I put everything that I need in my backpack and spend nights at the entrances of schools and shrines, without a tent, during my journey. Sometimes, there are people who are so kind that you can stay a night at their place. The more I continue on my trip, the more I think things become simple. The most important job in a day is to find something to eat and a place to sleep.
Planting trees in the ground is a message to people: ¡Èthe survival of the earth¡É.
Walk on the earth, plant in the ground. My journey is about the survival of myself and the earth.
Koichi Nakatani's web site
http://earthwalkerjp.cocolog-nifty.com/
Paul Coleman's web site
www.earthwalker.com
I have been on the journey to walk and plant trees on the earth for three years, after six years of working as a businessman. In 2000, I started wandering.
I had been wondering whether my common sense or sense of value is the same as people from other nations. While I have worked for my company in foreign nations, I started thinking about it. ¡ÈCommon Sense¡É is knowledge, and an ability to judge and understand, which most people have or should have. For example, it is common knowledge to take shoes off when you enter a house in Japan, but not in other countries. If ¡ÈCommon Sense of the world¡É is the average of common sense from various regions, I wanted to know and own it. You know, you can only live your life once so I decided to go on journey to look for the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world.¡É
Firstly, I went to the United States, where I was born and then, India, Nepal, the Republic of Zambia, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, the Republic of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and South Africa. It took three years to travel around these countries; the three years have past swiftly.
As a business man, the most important thing in my life before the journey was to make profits using the least resources. However, during the journey, my life changed and I realized that the purpose of one¡Çs life is to know local people, culture and nature. I became interested in these values.
In South Africa, I met with Mr. Paul Coleman who has visited 39 countries and walked 45,000 kilometers over 16 years, planting trees in the ground. He is on a journey to China from his home country, England. He plans to walk and plant 100 million trees, in memory for 100 million people who died during all of the Wars that occurred in the 20th century. I spent about a year participating in his activity in South Africa. I walked around Zimbabwe and the Republic of Zambia planting trees.
Paul Coleman has traveled around the world for more than 30 years, including a period when he was a sailor, and a driver for a British lady. As a person who has the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world,¡É he gives you a message ¡ÈLet us stop killing, let us start surviving.¡É I think it can be understood that we should stop taking lives (which can also be symbolized as ¡Ætrees¡Ç) and start giving lives instead. The message is so simple and direct that it is easy to understand. Someday, I wish the message would be part of the ¡ÈCommon Sense as a member of the world¡É.. I walk and plant trees for the message to be delivered to people.
I put everything that I need in my backpack and spend nights at the entrances of schools and shrines, without a tent, during my journey. Sometimes, there are people who are so kind that you can stay a night at their place. The more I continue on my trip, the more I think things become simple. The most important job in a day is to find something to eat and a place to sleep.
Planting trees in the ground is a message to people: ¡Èthe survival of the earth¡É.
Walk on the earth, plant in the ground. My journey is about the survival of myself and the earth.
Koichi Nakatani's web site
http://earthwalkerjp.cocolog-nifty.com/
Paul Coleman's web site
www.earthwalker.com
2008.07.06 Sunday










