With less than two weeks left before I set off on the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge,
so many people tell me “how are you feeling?” or “this is so exciting,” sharing in what feels like a dreamlike experience alongside me,
and I'm genuinely grateful for that.

How can I actually leave behind a proper record of this challenge for everyone cheering me on from Japan?
It's expected that, for 37 days, there will be long stretches with no signal at all, where I can't even confirm I'm safe.
That's the reality I'm anticipating.

And! Right now, behind the scenes, all sorts of danger and risk really are lurking,
and I feel I need to be upfront about that.

A month out, I finished getting all my vaccinations.
This challenge required seven different vaccines!

· Hepatitis A
· Adult triple (diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus)
· Rabies (technically three doses, but I just barely managed two)
· Typhoid
· Japanese encephalitis
· Polio… my challenge isn't just ordinary travel, it's deliberately diving into dangerous territory, so

this really is the bare minimum. Because, honestly… just the vaccines alone cost 60,000 yen!
Even knowing it's about managing my own life… it still stings. (sob)

Rabies isn't just about stray dogs — bats, foxes too, apparently it's essential for travel to remote, unexplored regions, and the doctor told me surprisingly many people actually end up bitten.

And honestly, women who go hide in the bushes outdoors to use the bathroom are exactly the ones facing the highest risk…


※ This is actually a shot of the bathroom situation from driving through Morocco on the warm-up event… (laughs)
"Bushes" is honestly generous (laughs).

And the fatality rate is 99% — that's basically a death sentence, isn't it…
If I get sick out there, there's nothing I can do about it myself, and it would end up burdening
my partner on this adventure too.

Thinking through all the danger along the way of this challenge, honestly, I never could have started something like this in the first place —
but getting sick would also affect whether the challenge actually succeeds!

Coming back alive is what actually counts as success!

It's easy to say that, but right now I'm feeling, deeply, that it's not an easy thing at all.

Preparing for this challenge isn't only physical — there's a huge amount of mental preparation involved too.
I'm about to step onto the stage of a dream, very soon now, but the risk management never really stops.