In an attempt to demonstrate that even disabled people can contribute to society, 17-year-old Kazuma Tanigawa completed a 380-kilometer walk around Okinawa on Jan. 1 in Naha. Tanigawa is autistic. Tanigawa left Naha on Dec. 22 and walked for more than 10 hours and 30 kilometers a day. Although tempted to quit due to his initial exhaustion, Tanigawa found the strength to persist as a result of the encouragement received from his family and from people he met along the way. Despite experiencing the unfamiliar and unknown, he was successful in overcoming some of the physical and mental obstacles presented by autism.
