Hyōichi Kōno

was a Japanese

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

, best known for circling Japan on bicycle, and traveling to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

. He was born in the town of

Ikata is a small peninsula town located in Nishiuwa District, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,497 in 15638 households and a population density of 90 persons per km². The total area of the town is Following a rec ...

Ehime is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tokush ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Kōno died in 2001 while attempting to walk from the North Pole back to his hometown. A memorial display entitled "Reaching Home" was erected at the Seto Agriculture Park in

to honor him. It includes a signpost noting the names, dates, and distances of locations he traveled to. It reads as follows: 1958 births 2001 deaths Japanese explorers People from Ehime Prefecture {{Explorer-stub