Hello, everyone.

At last, after 37 days and 14,500 km of adventure,

we finished the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge 2024,
and I have brought home to Japan the trophy given to the “true grit”.

I sent reports back from out there through various channels,

and now, opening a laptop for the first time in a long while, I want to report here on the blog and say thank you.

I posted a video every day on Instagram.

You can watch it all, from departure to the finish.

The full day-by-day report, in ninety seconds a day, is here

This rally was the great adventure of my life, and a great many difficulties and challenges were waiting.
Doing it in a 1929 Buick in particular was never going to be straightforward.

Facing missing parts and repairs that could not be done, we refused to give up and kept moving.
Behind the convoy, under the pressure of knowing that failing to cross a border meant no finish at all, the will to get past loneliness and difficulty was tested.

It is precisely because of that drama that reaching the finish in Paris and receiving the True Grit award moved me beyond words.

That award is proof that our effort and endurance were repaid, and the moment I could feel that none of it had been wasted.

During the rally we often ran into the language barrier and the difficulty of exchanging information, but thanks to the organisers, the local people who supported us, and every entrant who adventured alongside us, we had wonderful hours of warm encouragement and mutual support in which hearts genuinely met.

{}

What moves me most is that after the cancer was found in 2023 and the surgery in December, I was able to take on this challenge while still under treatment.
(I have written about it on the blog.)


Going ahead against the objections of my doctor and the people around me meant showing a firm will: do not give up on your life.
I hope this experience becomes a starting point that gives courage and hope to people fighting illness and to people working towards a goal in their lives.

Adventure rallying is still little known in Japan, but this challenge was picked up by a great many media outlets, and I have had the lovely response of people saying it gave them courage and hope.

My heartfelt thanks for the memories gathered on the road from Peking to Paris, for the people I met, and for everyone who held me up.

And finally — to everyone who cheered this journey on, thank you.
Never give up!

From here I want to report the record of the adventure in detail, piece by piece.
But first: the news that we are safely home, and my thanks.

5 July 2024, Komochan