One of the biggest stories of the day was that of a 25-year old man who had his cell phone and wallet stolen in Fukuoka, and then decided to walk the 1400km from Fukuoka to Sendai in order to get home.

While the man’s journey was certainly epic, netizens can’t help but point out that the should have just contacted the police or made a phone call to someone using some of the 2000 yen [approx. $20] he had hidden in his shoe…

From Yomiuri Shimbun:

Man Has His Wallet Stolen in Fukuoka; Makes It Home To Sendai By Himself After 11 Days

On September 5, a male company employee (25) from Taihaku ward, Sendai, who had gone missing in Fukuoka at the end of August returned home to Sendai by foot.

A distance of approximately 1,400 kilometres separates Sendai and Fukuoka. The man, who took 11 days to make it home, says that “I panicked when I had both my wallet and mobile telephone stolen on the street in Fukuoka, but I’m so glad I made it home”.

According to the man, after he missed his flight on August 25, his mobile phone battery died. He searched for an internet cafe so that he could spend the night in Fukuoka. At around 10pm that night, the man was threatened by around 5 men on the street, who said “Give us your wallet and your phone”, so he put down his wallet and phone, saw a gap, and escaped.

After that, he slept rough as he headed back towards Sendai. “I bought bread and water with the 2000 yen that I had hidden inside my shoe, and endured the hunger”.

At just past 7pm on September 5, the man came back to the snack bar that his mother (46) runs in Iwanuma. Afterwards, his mother contacted the South Sendai division of the Miyagi Prefectural police. The man said “I never thought that there’d be such a big fuss over me. I’m so sorry to have caused everyone such trouble”.

The man’s mother cried as she saw her son, returning home with his skin deeply tanned from the sun. She expressed joy at his safe return: “I was so surprised, I thought a ghost had appeared. I’m so happy. And I’m deeply sorry for all the worry we’ve caused everyone”.

The man, whose hobby is card gaming, had left Sendai on August 23 to attend a national competition that was being held in Kitakyushu. Putting his precious cards in his shoulder bag, he brought them home safely.

Comments from Twitter:

まゆすけ:

This is the thing where his younger sister was looking for him on Twitter. I also shared it. I’m so happy he’s safe. I do wonder “why?” though…w

DJ-tube:

Wow, something like this happened in Fukuoka.

Unforgivable.

Still, he walked miles and made it back to Sendai.

omo:

Impossibleeeeeeeeeee wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

せきじま:

This guy’s amazing.

北のMig21:

At the age of 25, didn’t it even occur to him to go to the police? Did he have some reason not to go to the police? Or perhaps he’s just simply an idiot?

ラーマ:

There must have been some other way…I wonder if they’ll arrest the perpetrators by finding out where the stolen cell phone is…

矢野享:

Card gamer gets done over, walks home on foot from Fukuoka to Sendai? Don’t get the point.

まゆ:

This is amazing w(゜o゜)w

3413_Y:

That last sentence is absurd.

mikiofuku:

This is amazing, but is it true? I’ve walked from Ko to Higashi Nakano and

Aobadai to Shibuya through the night when there were no trains, but the 20 — 30km took me about 5 or 6 hours. Can you really do 1400km in 11 days?

mission296:

Well, I’m glad he made it back safely, but usually you’d go straight to the police if this happened. I wonder if it was some kind of forfeit game?

コンス：

Contact someone using the 2000 yen!www

ぐっちゃん＠しにあ:

I’ve done 1400km on a bike in 11 days. Pretty amazing to do it on foot in 11 days.

MIZOGUCHI Kozo:

He’s 25? He probably just thought “What the hell, I’ll walk”.

＊MIHO＊: