is a Japanese solo

yachtsman A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

. In 1962 he became the first person to sail solo and non-stop across the Pacific Ocean. He has made other significant solo voyages, usually involving boats exhibiting some sort of environmentally friendly theme, including his 2008 voyage across the Western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in a wave-powered boat.afp.google, Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat
In 2022, he became the oldest man to sail solo non-stop across the Pacific. He began his journey in San Francisco, USA on March 27, arriving in Japan on June 4.

Book and article

Horie wrote a book about his voyage, titled ''

Alone on the Pacific is a 1963 color (Eastmancolor) Japanese adventure film directed by Kon Ichikawa. It was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the book , Kenichi Horie's account of his 1962 solo voyage across the Pacific, which was ...

'' (Kodoku), which was made into a movie ''Alone Across the Pacific'' (also titled ''My Enemy, The Sea'') in 1963 by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won ...

. The movie was nominated for a Golden Globe award. The ''Mermaid'' is currently on display in the

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. The park used to be r ...

Maritime Museum. He also translated the book ''Ice Bird: The first single-handed voyage to Antarctica'' by Australian adventurer David Lewis into Japanese.

Voyages

Horie has made numerous solo voyages.

First solo voyage across the Pacific

In 1962, at the age of 23, Kenichi Horie sailed alone across the

from Japan to San Francisco aboard a plywood

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

called the ''Mermaid''. He departed

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of ...

, Japan, on May 12, 1962, and arrived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, U.S., on August 11. Despite Horie's best effort to legally depart from Japan, and because of the lack of precedent for international travel on a small sailboat, he was not able to obtain a passport or an adequate amount of foreign currency. He arrived with no passport or money and was initially arrested. After learning of his voyage, San Francisco Mayor George Christopher arranged for him to be freed. He was given a 30-day visa and the key to the city.

Other voyages

In 1974, he circumnavigated from east to west, and in 1978 he circumnavigated from north to south. In 1985, he sailed a solar boat from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

Chichijima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

. From 1992 to 1993, he sailed from Hawaii to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in a pedal powered boat. In 1996, Horie sailed from

Salinas, Ecuador Salinas is a coastal city located in the Province of Santa Elena, Ecuador. It is the seat of the canton that bears its name. The westernmost city on mainland Ecuador, Salinas is an important tourist center. Salinas, Ecuador's largest coastal res ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in a solar boat made of recycled

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

. This crossing covered in 148 days which earned the Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing of the Pacific in a solar-powered boat. The ''Malt's Mermaid'' is on display at

Kotohira-gū (also known as , , or Konpira Shrine in English) is a Shinto shrine in the town of Kotohira in Kagawa, Japan. This shrine is patron of sea ship transport and sailors. Located at halfway to the top of Mount Zōzu, the shrine stands at the en ...

Shrine in Shikoku, close to the main hall. In 1999, he sailed from San Francisco to Japan aboard a boat made primarily from recycled materials. The boat, ''Malt's Mermaid II'', designed by Kennosuke Hayashi, was a long, wide, catamaran constructed from 528 beer kegs welded end-to-end in five rows. Horie joked that 500 of them were empty. The rigging consisted of two side-by-side masts with junk rig sails made from recycled plastic bottles. This boat is on display in Okura Beach,

Akashi Akashi may refer to: People *Akashi (surname) Places *Akashi, Hyōgo *Akashi Station, a Japanese railroad station on the Sanyō Main Line *Akashi Strait *Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, crossing the former *Akashi Castle *Akashi Domain * Akashi, the name ...

. In 2002, Horie sailed from Nishinomiya to San Francisco aboard the ''Mermaid III'', which was a replica of the original ''Mermaid'' constructed from a variety of recycled materials, including whiskey barrels for the hull, aluminum cans for the mast and plastic soda bottles for the sails.

First ocean wave-powered voyage

In 2008, Horie travelled solo from

to the

Kii Peninsula The is the largest peninsula on the island of Honshū in Japan. It is named after the ancient Kii Province. Overview The area south of the “ Central Tectonic Line” is called , and is home to reef-like coral communities which are among ...

in western Japan aboard the 9.5-meter, 3-tonne catamaran '' Suntory Mermaid II'', built at . The voyage was the first in a vessel propelled on ocean

wave power Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by win ...

alone. Horie took more than three months to sail from Hawaii to Japan in his wave-powered boat, arriving in Japan on July 4, 2008, but said he was blessed with good weather and tasty fish. Horie ate mostly rice and curry, squid and

flying fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird d ...

he caught. Kenichi left

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on March 16, 2008, and completed the 110-day solo voyage at the port of

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...

in the channel between

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island se ...

and

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

islands before midnight (1500 GMT) Friday, July 4, 2008. He covered the 7,000 kilometres (3,780

nautical miles A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today t ...

) from Hawaii without a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

call. His

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

used

wave energy Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by wind ...

to move two fins at its bow and propel it forward, and sailed at an average speed of 1.5

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

. His final home harbour is in the port of

. As an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

, he promotes the use of environmentally friendly boats including those powered by solar

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

, are made from recycled materials. He is quoted as saying: "Throughout history, mankind has used wind for power, but no one has appeared to be serious about wave power. I think I'm a lucky boy as this wave power system has remained virtually untouched."yahoo.com, Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat

Footnotes

References

* http://www.solarnavigator.net/kenichi_horie_voyages.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20041216173203/http://www.op97.k12.il.us/cyberteen/2000/summer/voyages.html * http://news.sawf.org/Lifestyle/37910.aspx
IMDB entry for "Alone on the Pacific"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horie, Kenichi 1938 births Japanese sailors Single-handed sailors People from Osaka Living people Kansai University alumni