Japanese man completes '40,000 km round-the-world walk' in over 4 years

A 32-year-old Japanese man has completed his 40,000 km 'around the world walk' with a two-wheeled cart, on Sunday.

Masahito Yoshida, who hails from the city of Tottori on the Sea of Japan coast, returned to Shanghai, where he started the journey, after about four and a half years, the Japan Times reported.

Yoshida left Shanghai on New Year's Day in 2009, heading west with around 50 kg of luggage, which included a sleeping bag.

He told the publication that he opted to walk because he hoped to visit small towns that he would bypass if he travelled by a train or a bus.

After covering around 16,000 km from Central Asia to the western tip of Portugal's Cape Roca in a year and eight months, Yoshida flew to the east coast of the United States and started his 6,000-km walk from Atlantic City in New Jersey.

He spent eight months traversing Australia from Melbourne in the south to Darwin in the north via Alice Springs and completed his 5,000-km walk across the continent in June 2012.

Yoshida also took up part-time job in Canada and Australia to meet his daily needs.

In Asia, he started from the southern part of Southeast Asia, visiting countries such as Singapore and Vietnam.

He suffered a heat stroke in Vietnam, before reaching China but continued to walk 30 km a day as his visa was expiring.

Yoshida, who also plans to walk another 500 km in Taiwan before returning to Japan in August, said that he hopes to convey his experiences to Japanese children after returning home.