Photo/Illutration Fumihiko Sato, left, poses with a local man at a stop on his bicycle trip around the world. (From Sato’s website)

SAKURA, Chiba Prefecture--Fumihiko Sato was passionate in wanting the children he taught to follow their dreams, but in his case that endeavor ended in his death.

All he ever wanted was to cycle around the world. He began that journey in Alaska in June 2018, three months after he resigned from the elementary school where he worked.

Over the following 10 months, the 31-year-old would bike all the way to Peru, returning home to Japan only once for a break in March last year.

Along the way, Sato uploaded video, photos and posts to his website to share the adventure with his former pupils, hoping to excite their young minds with thoughts on adventures abroad.

Wherever he stopped, Sato visited schools and mingled with teachers and students. Other moments found him snapping photos with strangers he met or studying Spanish.

After traveling through South America, Sato intended to venture on to Africa and Eurasia, expecting to take four years or so to pedal the globe.

But he never made it out of Peru.

On Aug. 4, 2018, while cycling in Guadalupito in the country's north, Sato was hit by a trailer truck.

He died the following day, three days short of his 32nd birthday.

Posts from his adventure still feature on his site, “Sato Fumihiko’s Sekai-ka Gakushu” (Fumihiko Sato’s class on world studies), where he published stories and videos about the climate, history and culture of his destinations.

Some photos Sato shared on the site are also displayed at the Inzai city-run Kikari Elementary School in Inzai in Chiba Prefecture, where he last taught.

Sato's father, Hiroaki, 62, hasn’t decided what to do with his son's website.

“I can’t sort out my feelings just yet,” he said. “It is a great study material, so I do want many people to see it.”

When his son first broke the news of his ambitious travel plans, Hiroaki needed time to adjust to the idea.

After graduating from college, Sato followed his parents' career footsteps to become an elementary school teacher in the prefecture.

Though that had been a long-time goal, he became consumed with a new one: biking around the world.

In January 2017, five years after becoming a teacher, Sato told his parents over dinner one evening he wanted to quit in a year to make that dream happen.

“How can I go through life without making my dreams come true!?” he asked, when quizzed over why he was sacrificing his career.

After he saw Fumihiko preparing to sell his collection of video games and comic books along with the car he used to commute to work, Hiroaki realized his son was set on leaving and knew it would be selfish to stop him.

In June 2018, Fumihiko headed to his boarding gate at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture with a broad smile on his face and told his father: “Thank you for raising me. I’ll stay safe, no matter what.”

During his trip, his mother Mayumi, 61, touched base with him daily using the messaging app Line to confirm he was okay. During one exchange, she recalled, he shared a photo with her of a quetzal, a bird with strikingly beautiful feathers.

On Aug. 4, just before arriving in Peru, Sato posted the last entry on his site, saying how happy he had been to observe a math class in Ecuador and spend time with children at a school there.

“They let me observe a class on the final day. Yes!” he wrote.

“I still feel like my son is continuing his journey,” Hiroaki said.

Visit Sato’s website at (http://satofumihiko.info/).