“Every person has the incredible opportunity to contribute to peacekeeping and environmental protection across the globe. No matter how insignificant or minor our actions might seem, if these actions unite us, we can make a difference and change our planet”. With this message of peace and clean environment, 29-year-old Yuji Miyata from Japan has been traveling across the world on foot. He started his journey four years ago in China, covering a distance of 9,000 km, and at the end of September, he crossed the Bulgarian border at the checkpoint between Bulgaria and Turkey at Svilengrad. Young Miyata has already visited Haskovo and Plovdiv. In Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second biggest city, he visited a home for children without parental care to which he made a donation. Sofia is his last stop in Bulgaria. Here, he has met with Bulgaria’s Environment Minister Nona Karadjova and with students from 1st English-Language High-school.
Along with Minister Karadjova and graduates of the 1st English-Language High-school in Sofia, Yuji planted several rose bushes in the school yard. Violeta Ruleva from the 10th grade was one of the students who met with the young Japanese environmentalist. “I think that more people should be like him. We need to stop talking and start acting”, Violeta said.
“I try to plant a tree every spring. I think that this is very important for the ecological balance not only in Bulgaria but across the world, and everyone should be doing this. In this way, we can achieve a lot because, as I far as I know, a human breathes the amount of oxygen produced by seven trees. So, if every person on the planet plants at least seven trees in his or her life, we will not harm the environment”.
Yuji has already learned several words in Bulgaria, including “blagodarya”, meaning thank you. He describes Bulgarians as kind-hearted, good-natured, and hospitable, having a lot in common with the Japanese people. For the period of 4 years of traveling across the world, Yuji has crossed China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Syria and Turkey. He says that local people treated him very well, invited him to their homes and offered him home-made dishes. During his journey so far, he has planted more than 3,000 trees. He will now continue his trip along the international route E-80 via Serbia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and France. His final destination is London where the young Japanese is planning to take his message of peace and clean environment during the London Olympic Games in 2012.
Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova
