Yasuyuki Ozeki (27) may go down in history as the man who travelled the greatest distance to secure a pint of Guinness. The distance, 12,000km (7,500 miles), is farther than most people's local, and Yasuyuki did it on a bike.
Yesterday morning he arrived amid the flashing lights of a Garda escort at the Guinness Hopstore in Dublin, where his considerable thirst was finally quenched.
He was feeling "very tired but very happy," he said, as he completed the final leg of his journey. It began in his home town, Osaka, in Japan last April.
He cycled alone through China, Mongolia, Siberia, Russia, Germany, Belgium and the UK, arriving in Rosslare on Thursday. And there the man who had successfully negotiated the Gobi Desert on his bicycle promptly got lost.
Throughout his journey he kept Irish people informed of his progress through the Gerry Ryan radio programme and The Irish Times. In Russia he stayed with the mother-in-law of Irish Times Asia Correspondent, Conor O'Clery.
It was on a previous Irish visit that his Pedal Power to Ireland project first got rolling.
"There is no Guinness in Japan and there is lots of Guinness in Ireland," he said, downing his second pint. He loved the country and wanted to foster good relations between Europe and Asia.
"It's great that it is all over," said his girlfriend, Ms Maria Tsalapatis (27), who had travelled from her home in Denmark to form part of the welcoming committee.