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Kazuo Kojima traveled a total of 22,000 kilometers across the Arctic, from Irkutsk in Siberia to Angmagssalik in Greenland, by dog sled over an 8-year period. The romanticist that he is, his dream was to retrace by dogsled the footsteps of the Mongolians when they traversed from the Eurasian continent to the North America over 20,000 years ago. He battled fierce snow blizzards that blew days on end, as well as polar bears who stalked him in complete silence, as his powers of judgment fell and his risk of exposure to life-threatening frostbite rose in the freezing minus 50-degree Arctic cold. His only companions were his dogs and a small red Honda generator.
Kojima used the Alaskan Malamute, because they are gentle and obedient. In addition, they can withstand the cold to a high degree and can continue running extremely well, even when food rations are low. It was a journey that took thousands of miles across bleak snowfields with no other human being in sight, and his dogs were what kept him alive. Kojima took special care to maintaining the dog's health and to their diet, even keeping a medical record for each dog. He paid minute attention to their daily diets, making sure they ate at least 10,000 kilocalories a day when they were pulling the sled, and then feeding them even higher calorie meat when the temperature dropped especially low. The GPS receiver and satellite telephone he used to keep in contact with his support team were his lifeline to civilization. He didn't think twice about bringing along a Honda EU9i generator to recharge the communication equipment. "It is an absolute requirement that any equipment you bring along be lightweight and compact. Next, it has to be rugged. They must also be reliable enough to work without fail in any conditions. In the end, that's how they really become of use to you."
When the Chuetsu Earthquake struck in October 2004, Kojima wasted no time in gathering up his EU16i generator which he had been keeping for emergencies, as well as tents and sleeping mats. He rushed to the town of Kawaguchi-machi which had been hard struck by the earthquake, a place he had many dealings with in the past. The generator ran for two and half months after that, a total of 1,700 hours of trouble-free operation, helping the townspeople recover from the disaster. He is always prepared for every conceivable circumstance. That's the philosophy he developed from his adventures.
http://world.honda.com/power/
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