I spent the last 20 years of my life realizing two great dreams: solo trek across the Arctic and the Antarctic. To make these dreams come true, I trained myself physically and mentally and set out on numerous adventure expeditions. Looking back, I was dedicating every minute of my life towards realization of these dreams. I am truly grateful to all the people that I encountered in this process for their heartwarming support.

I now embarked on a project for realizing my next dream, "Global EdVenture: Longitudinal Trip Around the World" with the intent of conveying what I experienced, saw and felt in my past adventures to people around the world.

What I have sensed from traveling around the world on foot is the extent of environmental degradation and loss of natural purification/regeneration process. Phenomena such as runoff of Antarctic ice shelves and glacial recession in the Himalayas and Greenland appear to have been caused by global warming. Depletion of the ozone layer is affecting the ecology of fauna and flora while increasing the risk of skin cancer in high latitudes. Environmental destruction is surfacing as a major problem for the humanity in this manner. We cannot solve these problems of global scale through thoughts and actions of single region or country. Now is the time to demonstrate the challenging spirit that explores our way of life in the 21st Century and open the door for creation of new culture and civilization. Now is the time when the world must become one, take a new look at the whole concept of human society and follow a way of life that harmonizes and coexists with nature.

In this expedition, the members will report on various themes from the field, uploading information on themes such as nature, ethnic groups, culture and health on our website by using their communication equipment. This website will make it possible for children in elementary and junior high schools around the country to learn about many events that are taking place in the world today from a broad perspective. The website also enables children to gain access to experts and ask questions in addition to communicating with the expedition members and receiving live information from the field. My wish is to utilize these studies in deepening common understanding among ourselves about global environmental issues. I sincerely ask for your guidance and support in this project.


Mitsuro Ohba

Project Leader

Global EdVenture Secretariat