[Takashi Kasori:Adventurer, Touring Journalist]

After returning from my 2009 transcontinental trip to Tibet, I headed for Hokuriku, Tohoku and Hokkaido, Japan

As soon as I returned to Japan from my 2009 transcontinental trip to Tibet, I mounted my ST250, the SUZUKI 250cc bike, and headed for the Tohoku & Hokuriku district to travel along Basho MATSUO’s ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North.’ It was such a thrilling experience to immerse myself in the world of Basho MATSUO. I traced the historical traces of his famous book from Tohoku to Hokuriku district, in Japan. It was a 8,600km trip and it took about a month to get to Ogaki from Tokyo.

After that, I went on a trip to Hokkaido on my DR-Z400S. It was a 4,070km trip that started from Hakodate and went around the whole Hokkaido. I’ve been to 52 Hokkaido heritage sites there.

Leaving the heavily air-polluted Guangzhou! Heading for the world’s largest megalopolis, Shanghai!

And on December 1st, off I went on a 2,200km trip from Guangzhou to Shanghai on my SUZUKI 125cc motor scooter, ADDRESS V125G.

I arrived at Guangzhou on December 2nd. The air pollution level of the Guangzhou sky, where 15 million people lived, was terrible. It was stifling. This main city of the Pearl River Delta, the second largest industrial area in the world, was flooded with cars, most of them stuck in a traffic jam. I started off from that city.

[The 2,200km trip from Guangzhou to Shanghai on my ADDRESS]

I rode my ADDRESS towards Shanghai, and I was surprised to see the steady stream of the urban area filling the bank along the national road #324. For your information, the national road #324 is a 2,600km road that extends from Fuzhou (Fujian) to Kunming (Yunnan) via Guangzhou (Guangdong).

I’ve encountered a few rural landscapes after entering the Fujian district, but they were soon replaced by the urban scenes that led to the city of Xiamen. They further extended from Quanzhou to Fuzhou, its provisional capital.
It was about a 1,220km ride from Guangzhou to Fuzhou. I chose the national road #104 and #320 after entering Fuzhou, and likewise, the landscapes on the way were all filled with built-up area. In face, the entire 2,200km from Guangzhou to Shanghai was a megalopolice. It exceeds the level of places such as from Boston to Washington D.C., or from Tokyo to Osaka.

[Entering Fujian from Guangdong]

[Crossing the national treasure of China, Luoyang Bridge, with my ADDRESS]

[Exploring Chinese food stalls]

Thinking about the next trip at the town of Xiapu

Shanghai, where 16 million people live, is the world’s largest industrial area and the main city of Yangtze River Delta. The air pollution that extends all the way from Guangzhou never gets interrupted. Actually, I didn’t get a chance to see the crystal blue sky during this trip to China. Even though it is such a critical air condition, I was surprised to see that most Chinese people paid no heed.

One good thing about visiting Fujian was that I could make a visit to Xiapu, a place where Kukai (the famous Japanese Buddhist monk) went ashore. There was a Memorial Hall of Kukai in the town called Chi’an, Xiapu.

[Memorial Hall of Kukai in Chi’an]

At any rate, Kukai was an incredibly lucky person. He had become the member of the 17th Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty China in 804, yet two ships out of the four had gone down because of a storm. The ship which carried Kukai survived the storm and drifted ashore on Chi’an. Kukai had stayed in Xiapu for 40days until he received the permission to disembark.
Actually, one out of the four ships actually arrived at Ningbo as scheduled. And on that trip was another famous Japanese monk, Saicho.

[The town of Xiapu, where Kukai had stayed]

Since I’ve been on a 88 Temple Pilgrimage trip to Shikoku from April to May with my ADDRESS, I felt like this visit to Xiapu had connected Shikoku (Japan) and China. I would like to trace the Kukai heritage when I visit here next time; from Xiapu, then to Fuzhou, and finally to Xian.

Driven to my wits’ end! The truck in front of me spins out of control because of the rain!

[From Fujian to Zhejiang]

After leaving Fujian, I entered Zhejiang and stayed overnight in a town called Leqing.

The accident happened the next day (December 10th).

It was raining from the morning. After riding for about 50km or so, I approached the summit of a moderate height mountain. I was riding up a 2-lane road in a speed of 60km/h, and it happened when I came to a left curve.

A truck spun out of control on the wet road, and dived into my sight. I was driven to the wall, indeed! “Oh no!” And the next moment, my voice in my head gave me instructions with rapidity: “Don’t close your eyes!” “Don’t die here!” or “Think what you should do to survive!”
The truck stopped in a horizontal position in front of me when my ADDRESS plunged into the truck.

At the moment of collision, I didn’t close my eyes, but rather opened them wide. I was just thinking of the way to survive. There was a space at the center of the truck where a man could slide in. I instantaneously bet my life on this chance. I dashed into that space while tipping over and taking a defensive posture with my right hand and knee. Consequently, I made it!

[The accident site in Leqing]

The truck driver freaked out because he couldn’t see my body at first. He gasped from fear when I crawled myself out from the bottom of the truck. He said his knees smote together.

I was really lucky. The collision happened just when the truck had finally halted, but there was some slight time difference, like one or two seconds. The truck stopped first, and this “one or two seconds” made me see, think and practice a lot of things. Thanks to that “one or two seconds.”

Another lucky factor was that Chinese trucks didn’t have those inclusion preventive bars like the ones on Japanese trucks. Battled-hardened Kasori! I escaped from having my head hit by protecting it with my right hands. All I got was a bang on my whole body.

To realize that I was alive at the accident scene, and my new plan

I stood motionless on the road feeling extreme pain all over my body, and waited for the police to come. I though about a lot of things while I was waiting. December 10th could have been my death anniversary, and I was so grateful that I had survived.
But then I reconsidered. “Wait a minute, I’m not alive. I’m made to be alive.”
I arrived at a deep awareness of things at this moment. It was as if some invisible yet powerful force had protected me and told me to “live!” “Right. I still have some things to do. OK, I’ll go on a trip and visit all around China next time.” And that’s how I came up with my next China trip plan at the accident site.

The Chinese police made a prompt action. In less than ten minutes, two police cars came over, checked the accident site, and took me to the city hospital in Leqing. My right hand and knee were bruised but the bones were OK. I just suffered a two-stitch wound on my right knee.
Then I went over to the police station and reported the accident. Since the truck driver had admitted his fault, I had no problem here also. The police officer told the truck driver to pay 5,000 Yuan (approximately 75,000JPY) to me as the monetary compensation. The officer acted as though he was a judge.
I affixed a seal (like signing a paper) using my right forefinger. But then the driver begged me for mercy, saying that he had four kids to look after. “How on earth could he have four kids? Aren’t Chinese allowed to have only one child?” I thought. Well, it was no use complaining. So I reconciled with him by paying my own hospital bill, 2000 Yuan.

Gripped the steering handlebar with my bruised right hand, and headed for Shanghai

Still, ADDRESS was incredibly tough indeed. Though its front part had suffered some damage, its rear part, where the engine was mounted, remained intact. The engine started without difficulty.

I gripped the handlebar of the rigid ADDRESS with my right hand that was swollen like a baseball glove, and drove through Tiantai, Shaoxing, and Hangzhou. I finally reached Shanghai on the next day, December 11th, 14:45. It was a 2,252km trip from Guangzhou.

[Reached Shanghai after driving 2,252km from Guangzhou]

[Entering the main city of Shanghai]