Hyoichi Kohno was the first Japanese to reach the North Pole alone on foot in 1997. Now the 42-year-old adventurer has begun a new record-setting journey of walking 15,000 kilometers (6,800 miles) from the North Pole to his hometown of Seto, Ehime Prefecture, via Canada, the United States, and Russia.

Called "Reaching Home," Kohno's latest project will take six years to complete and also contribute to conserving the natural environment. Kohno left the North Pole on March 26 and is now crossing the Arctic region on skis. He will also walk and use a kayak to cross the sea. He hopes to leave Sakhalin Island in Russia and land on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido in 2006.

"It'll be wonderful to knock on the door of my house and tell my wife and kids, 'Hey, I'm home!' after finishing the journey," Kohno said before launching his adventure.

Kohno is very interested in environmental problems. On this mission he will help Ehime University professor Shinsuke Tanabe determine whether chemical pollutants known as endocrine disruptors have already reached the polar region. Kohno and his staff will collect fish and the breast milk of women living there and bring them back to Japan for analysis.

"I hope children will learn a lot from the information I gather on this trip," Kohno said. He will send his findings about nature and the life of local people--many aspects of which are still not well known--to his staff at the base camp, where the information will be uploaded onto a Website every day (Japanese only). A message of encouragement can also be sent from the site.

An office in Ehime Prefecture that is overseeing the trip has launched a "10-yen-per-meter campaign" to help the adventurer attain his goal. As the 15,000-kilometer journey will cost about ¥150 million (approximately 1.2 million dollars), a donation of 10 yen (8 cents) for each meter he advances will help cover the mission's expenses.

Photos: (top) Hyoichi Kohno who plans "Reaching Home"; (middle) Kohno takes time out from training to visit a school in Resulute, Canada; (above)Kohno sets out from the North Pole on March 26. (Hyoichi Kohno Expedition Office)