Walking is the best. Amen!
Kind of an irony that a conversation about walking takes hold on a thread about Boeing 787 Dreamliners and their long haul potential. LOL.
Many people from the far east find their way to the Pacific Crest Trail, and even more can be found on the John Muir Trail.
Great job on your well established walking routine. Puts you in the upper percentile of the world’s population. Walking ALWAYS transforms one’s thoughts from what is rattling around inside our heads before we start, to something else guaranteed to change our attitude for the better.
It’s great to always have a camera with you too. You never know what you may find throughout the year. I carry my Nikon D300, but it can start feeling pretty heavy. I do my walking home from work, so usually have all kinds of junk from the office, change of shirt or sweater, etc. in the bag. Traveling light on the weekends is best. Fortunately we can drink on the streets and booze is sold 24 hours at convenience stores, which are literally as often as several per mile, so it makes the nights rather pleasant ;) not to mention that there is no crime and no “bad neighborhoods” in Japan, so you can go anywhere, any time of night or day without one single worry.