Twelve years ago Jugatsu Toi set off on an ambitious mission – ride across the five inhabited continental land masses. Five expeditions later, the 61-year-old Japanese writer finished the job with a journey across Eurasia. Fellow countryman and photographer, Yuji Miyazaki, accompanied Toi, who made the trips aboard a pair of Honda motorcycles, the XRV750 (aka Africa Twin) and NX650 Dominator. The Japanese marque is understandably proud of the feat, with a photo-rich feature article on its website.

Toi tackled each continent one at a time. First on the list was North America in 1997. The NA trip lasted 104 days and saw Toi ride from the northernmost road at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, down the through the American west. Descending the western edge of Mexico and Central America, he reached the famed Darien Gap in Panama, the near impassible jungle separating North and South America. After that it was back up the Eastern side to New York, with 19,529 miles traveled total.

The following year was Australia, for a 46-day route starting and ending in Brisbane. In between were 7872 miles of desert outback. After a three-year break, Africa was next, skirting the western edge of the Sahara from Morocco down through West Africa to Ghana. From there a flight to Kenya marked a route south through the interior until ending in Capetown, South Africa.

Toi completed the final two legs in 2005 and 2009, respectively in South America and Eurasia. The South American journey was 14,402 miles in length, following the western coast through Peru and Chile, then up the eastern side through Argentina and Brazil. Eurasia proved one of the longest of all at 18,640 miles, with a route snaking through southern Europe, Turkey, Iran and then the Central Asian nations before crossing China, Mongolia and Russia. Then Toi returned to the final end point, Honda HQ in Tokyo.

It’s a considerable accomplishment and well worth the time to check it out the amazing photos. Visit world.honda.com/RidingFive for a closer look.