[INTERVIEW] Just with a bicycle and coffee. “can we be free from money?”❹

The long interview[Part4] with Japanese cycling adventurer Masanori Nishikawa (Masa) highlights a short documentary on free coffee that took place from Japan to Korea.　

It was created and edited by Koichi Kuwabara, a professional free-hugger, who coincidentally lead the "free" movement in Japan as well.

It has been reported in both countries that Japan and Korea have long been involved in political and historical disputes, and that there is a mutual attitude of hatred and restraint.

But Masa wondered how the people who actually live in Korea really feel about it?

He is conveying the real voices of people living in Korea, not through the media, but through “free coffee”.

by Sakiko Setaka

It all started with a comment from one of the children during a class on the theme of researching the country around Japan.

“I heard that Korean people don't like Japanese people.”

“I've also heard that they are mean.”

Seeing the children say these things without hesitation, Masa had a hard time thinking.

They had never been to Korea before,and even met any single Korean in person.

And yet, they treated them as if they were someone bad.

Who (or what) could have led them to such thinking?

Masa was shocked and kept thinking.

It could be the media, social networking, and the adults around children.

Then, Masa decided to go to Korea, because he wanted to tell the children what he had experienced firsthand through his real voice.

This time, he brought the minimum amount of money with him.

But that didn't change the fact that he would be serving free coffee on the street with his bicycle.

Masa confesses with a wry smile that he was very nervous and scared at first, just like when he left all his money at Shinbashi station,one of the biggest office town in Tokyo→Details in Part2.

The venue he picked up for free coffee was on the center of Seoul, the largest city in Korea.

Do you think the free coffee experiment was really accepted in Korea too?

Watch the video here to find out.

＊Subtitles are provided in Japanese, English and Korean. Please watch it with your family and friends who speak different languages.

To add to this, Masa had no idea what kind of reaction he would get in Korea, and the more he learned about the history and politics matters before he went, the bigger the lump of confusion became, and there was no reassurance that he would be accepted.

However,he was able to be sensitive to and appreciate the “mental savings” that will sit deep in his heart for the rest of his life,because of his fears and insecurities, and the Korean people opened their hearts to him, sometimes gradually, sometimes directly!

Around the world. Dreams and goals. A series of challenges.

In the past few years, Masa's goal has been to move away from these a bit flashy and grandiose clichés that are common to adventurers.

His goal is not to conquer high mountains or unexplored regions, but to meet and ordinary people in Japan, Korea, and the world through his free coffee.

Thearefore,he believed that he has been able to break down the boundaries of country, language, and race to meet people's hearts.

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As a Japanese living in the U.S., where all kinds of devides are becoming more and more apparent after 2020, I can't help but wonder if I am able to make a journey like Masa's, connecting with individual hearts and minds on a pure horizon.

Different skin of colors. Different religions. Incompatible political ideas.

Are we not unconsciously judging and distinguishing such people by lumping them together from afar?

By listening to the small assumptions and feelings of discomfort in our minds, we may be able to jump into the adventure of everyday life.

And how can we sublimate these small insights?

Again, Masa gave us a tip.

While he was unable to travel anywhere, a fatal situation for an adventurer, the Japanese government responded with an aid package of "two cloth masks[many of which were moldy and inadeqate] for each citizen”. Even the always mild-mannered Masa couldn't help but feel indignant.

However,what he did was not to raise his voice in anger.

Rather, his energy was directed in the opposite direction.

“I gave free coffee to everyone who wanted it," he said. I gave free coffee to everyone who wanted it. Even though my body can't travel, the coffee that I put my heart into will travel for me and pass it on.”

The antithesis through the cycle of abundance.

Hundreds of bags of Masa's alter ego traveled not only throughout Japan, but also to Korea and Hong Kong, where the free coffee was held.

【PROFILE】

Masanori Nishikawa

A Japanese Bicycle Adventurer. Masa started traveling by bicycle after graduating from college, and has traveled 97,200 kilometers in 37 countries.

Since 2019 visiting Korea and Hong Kong on a free coffee trip to create human connections through coffee.

He also does talk shows, live lessons from overseas, and bicycle adventure trips with children,and is a traveler who conveys the current state of the world as seen from the street.

https://www.earthride.jp

＊All photos are licensed to Masanori Nishikawa.