A few weeks ago, two fellow students here at Hokkaido University and I walked from the uni to the closest coast. That’s 15km in one direction. We stayed the night on the beach, and then walked back the next day. I never knew walking could be so painful…

Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Date: Mid-September
Route: From Hokkaido University to Ishikari Bay, following Shin-kawa river on the way there, and Yasuharu River on the way back.

アドベンチャーとは何か
私たちは子どもの頃、毎日はアドベンチャーであった。毎日、新たな発見があった。冒険し、未知の世界をのぞき、視野を広げたりさせる何かがあらゆるところにあった。しかし、年齢を重ねると、私たちは身の回りになれ、視野の限界がはっきり見えるようになり、快適で安穏として現実を知らない間に受け止めてしまった。そして、「アドベンチャー」を忘れていったしまったのだ。私たちが見慣れた現実は普遍的であると信じるようになった。しかしそれと同時に、ある嘘も受け止めてしまった。その嘘とは、「新たな経験は存在しない」、「アドベンチャーは不可能で現実的ではない」という嘘だ。その嘘が我々の心の芯まで浸透したことで、我々の創造性、活気、熱情が、心の隅に竦んでしまい、快適な現実とは別の現実の光を浴びることを恐れるようになってしまった。その別のの現実とは、創造性や好奇心が溢れ、リスクを冒すことが美しく、包括的な人間性が抱かれ、視野が無限である現実だ。苦痛、喜び、疲労、人生。その現実では、人間の存在が本来に含む全ての彩色が経験され、その結果として個人や集団が、偏見の少ない将来を創造することができるのだ。

今の日本には、別の現実を求めることが必要だ。アドベンチャーを好む世代が必要だ。恐怖を認めながら、未知の世界に踏み出そうとする世代。狭くて快適な視野を飛び越える世代。そのような世代が要求されている。そのような世代が台頭してきたら、変りつつある日本の将来に対応できる世代も、共に生まれてくるだろう。

「あなたは今から20年の後に、やり遂げたことよりもやらなかったことに失望するに違いない。ゆえに、もやいを解き放て。安全な港から船を出せ。貿易風を帆にとらえよ。探検せよ。夢を見よ。発見せよ。」（マーク・トウェイン、１９０５年）

別の現実への一歩はマイクロ・アドベンチャーだ。天気のいい日に、あるものだけをリュックにつめ、行ったことのないところに己の力で行き、自分に挑戦する。自分は「できる人」であることを再発見しよう。

我々の挑戦：北海道大学から海まで歩いてくること。

大まかなルート： Google Maps

ルール

• 行き道と帰り道は違っていなければならないこと。
• 以前にいったことがないところで、外で寝ること（できれば、テントなしで）。
• 必ず海に入ること。
• 各自でなんらかな形で、その体験を記録すること。

In English – What is adventure?
When we were children, every day was an adventure. Every day there was something new. Something to explore. Something unknown. Something to expand our horizons. As we grew older and our surroundings became familiar, our immediate horizons becoming clearly defined, many of us accepted these surroundings. We settled on a comfortable reality. Gone was the need for adventure. This version of reality, we came to believe, was universal and safe and calm. But with this belief came a lie. A lie that said there is nothing new yet to see. A lie that said that adventure was either impractical or impossible. And as the lie seeped into our bones, creativity, life, and zest cowered within the depths of our souls, afraid to bathe in the light of a more fulfilling take on reality. A reality in which curiosity and creativity shines. A reality where risk is beautiful, and horizons are boundless. Humanity is embraced in this reality. Suffering, joy, fatigue, life. All colors of existence are experienced and drawn upon, with the grand effect of empowering the individual and communities to recreate visions of humanity with open-mindedness as the norm.

Japan needs this. Japan needs a generation of young people who are adventurous. Who re-discover a thirst for the unknown. Who are not adverse to embracing the fear of leaving the comfortable confines of their known reality. When there is a generation of Japanese who are willing to settle not for the status-quo but for change, that is when Japan will shine.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Our first step towards this vision is the concept of micro-adventures. Pick a nice day, pack what you need into a rucksack, go somewhere you’ve never been before. By human power. Challenge yourself. Rediscover the fact that ‘you can’.

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This hidden gem of a cycle road, the Shikotsu-ko to Chitose cycling road (or bike path, cycle path, whatever you call it in your country), is one of the most consistently forest-enveloped of any cycling road in Hokkaido. If you’ve ever cycled on the beautiful separated cycle paths in The Netherlands, you’ll think that you’ve done a spacial warp; this cycle path is entirely separate from the main road, and passes through very pleasant forest.

Most cyclists will probably start from the Chitose end, but it is possible to link this cycle road up with the Sapporo-Shikotsu-ko ‘cycle road’ (which is actually just a sidewalk next to the main road) to create a nice long day trip. An equally appealing option might be to make it a day trip from Chitose to the lake and back again, with a nice swim in the middle; Lake Shikotsu is undoubtedly one of the cleanest lakes in Japan. What you see floating on the surface of the lake is natural pumice; Lake Shikotsu is a volcanic lake.

The cycle path is a classic ex-railway line, so gradients are gentle. There are also a couple of rest areas along the way with toilets.

Shikotsu-ko to Chitose Cycle Road Route Map
(the cycle path runs more or less parallel to the road-route below)

View Larger Map

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