Kanichi Fujiwara

Kanichi Fujiwara is a Japanese long-distance motorcycle rider and writer.

Kanichi Fujiwara
藤原かんいち or 藤原 寛一
Born1961 (age 61–62)
Iwate Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Known forLong-distance motorcycle riding
SpouseHiroko Fujiwara[1]
Websitekanichi.com

Journeys
Yamaha Passol model used in 2004–2008 circumnavigation

Between May 1987 and August 1999 he journeyed several continents with a number of small motorcycles including a Honda Super Cub, 50 cc Honda Motra and Honda Gorilla utility minibikes, and a Honda Dio scooter.[2] His 1995 trip around Japan was documented in his 1997 book The Original Bike Bastard Starving Around Japan.

Between March 2004 and May 2008 he made a 50,552-kilometre (31,412 mi) journey circumnavigating the world on a Yamaha Passol electric scooter,[3][4] on a route including Australia from Sydney to Perth, Thailand, India to Lisbon, South Africa to Kenya, and America from New York to San Francisco (44 countries).[3][5] It may have been the first global circumnavigation by electric two-wheeler.[6][7] Fujiwara visited and documented the sites of sacred trees in various countries to spread awareness of green transportation.[8][9]

The scooter he used in the 2004–2008 circumnavigation, sponsored by Yamaha,[10] weighed 45 kilograms (99 lb), had a 30 km/h top speed, and an endurance of 20 km on a battery charge.[4] Even with six batteries giving a 100 km range,[4] his partner had to shuttle charged batteries to him in order to cross Australia's Nullarbor Plain.[6]

Between April 2009 and November 2013, he rode 100,000 kilometers across Japan's major highways on a 50 cc Honda Cub, sponsored by motorcycle apparel supplier Rough & Road, and supported by serializing his journeys in the Japanese magazine Tandem Style and on his own blog.[11][12][13]

Online journalism

In addition to various blogs covering his motorcycle travels, Fujiwara is also a food critic. His "Tabigohan" column covers road food at roadside stations and other Japanese venues for BBB-Bike,[14] an online publication of large Japanese auction house BDS.[15][16]

Bibliography
  • Fujiwara, Kanichi (1997), 原チャリ野郎のハラペコ日本一周―74日間1万3390km8万5909円の旅 [The original bike bastard starving around Japan: 74 day, 13,390 km journey on 85,909 Yen], Japan Travel Bureau Publishing, ISBN 978-4533028144

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Rough & Road 2009a.
  2. Fujiwara 2009.
  3. Fujiwara 2008.
  4. Hedge 2004.
  5. Fujiwara 2003.
  6. Tesch 2013.
  7. Asahi Shimbun 2004.
  8. Fujiwara 2004.
  9. Channel News Asia 2004.
  10. AFP 2004.
  11. Tandem Style 2009.
  12. Rough & Road 2009b.
  13. Fujiwara 2013.
  14. Fujiwara 2012.
  15. BDS 2011a; BDS auctions approximately 4,500 motorcycles a week.
  16. BDS 2011b; BDS claims 50% share of Japan's motorcycle auction market.

References
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