An academic who turned 106 Thursday was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to have completed a round-the-world trip using public transportation.
Saburo Shochi, an educator and professor emeritus at Fukuoka University of Education, arrived at Fukuoka airport the same day from a monthlong round-the-world lecture tour.
"I submitted an application to Guinness World Records in the hope of allowing many physically and mentally handicapped children the chance to receive an education and to give energy to people," Shochi said. "When I saw Mount Fuji from the airplane, I was crying (with joy)."
Shochi, who began making lecture tours when he was 100, traveled some 56,700 km this time. After departing from Fukuoka airport on July 16, he visited six countrie,s including Canada and Bulgaria as well as South Africa, where he spoke at the International Congress of Psychology in Cape Town.
The latest trip was Shochi's seventh lecture tour.
