Long way home: The man was mugged in Kitakyushu, Japan, 800 miles from his house in Sendai (Picture: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images)

A man walked 800 miles to get home after being mugged because he ‘did not want to cause problems for anyone’.

The 25-year-old, who was attending a playing card convention in Kitakyushu, south Japan, was stopped on the street by five men who demanded he give them his wallet and mobile phone.

But rather than contact his family or ask the police for help, he embarked on an 11-day journey to get back to Sendai, in the north-east of the country.

He said: ‘It was good to be able to get home, but I did not want to cause any problems for anyone. I’m sorry to everyone that I inconvenienced.’




It turned out the playing card enthusiast had concealed an emergency stash from his muggers, having hidden Y2,000 (£12.80) in his shoe.

But rather than use to it phone home, he spent it on food to fuel his journey.

The alarm was only raised when the man’s mother contacted police after he failed to catch his return flight.

‘I was shocked and thought I was seeing a ghost when he arrived,’ she told the Yomiuri newspaper. ‘I’m just thrilled that he is back and I’m very sorry to everyone who was worried about him.’

Luckily, both she and her son agreed there were a few silver linings to his trip.

At the convention, he managed to snap up a rare card, which the muggers failed to steal.

And his mother pointed out that despite the length of his journey, he got a good tan along the way.