Barbieri plans to ride his bike along the entire cost of Japan to raise money for the Tsunami relief. The money will be going directly to Second Hand Harvest Japan, which is a food bank for Tsunami victims.

“When you do a fundraiser you have to kind of do something out of the ordinary for people to pay attention,” says Barbieri. “So I decided to ride a bike across Japan.”

Barbieri hopes to raise $5,000 and already reached $600 before he even left.

“I’ve never done a fundraiser or long distance cycling for that matter,” said Barbieri. “We’ll see how it goes, but I still could never have given $600 on my own.”

His journey will start in the small town of Wakkanai, at the northernmost tip of Japan. Barbieri will then spend the next 50 days traveling the coast on his bicycle until he hits the southernmost tip of the island, the town of Miyazaki.

For more info about how to donate money, visit pedalforjapan.com

For the full story, read next week’s print issue of the UP, in bins across campus on Tuesday, Sept. 13.