FUJISAWA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--
“Blind Sailor Single-Handed Pacific Crossing Project 2027” is a world-first initiative in which Mitsuhiro Iwamoto, a completely blind Japanese yachtsman (blind sailor) based in San Diego, will attempt a solo, non-stop trans-Pacific crossing in the spring of 2027. Sailing a 28-foot yacht single-handedly, he aims to cross the Pacific Ocean from San Diego on the U.S. West Coast to Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, without making port.
Iwamoto will speak about this project at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026, to be held in January 2026.
Project URL: https://hiros-choice.com/
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The message he most wishes to convey at the WEF is the power of choice.
He lost his sight at the age of sixteen—a moment when he nearly gave up on life itself. Nevertheless, he chose to live. In 2013, he made his first attempt to cross the Pacific with a partner, but the voyage ended in failure after a collision with a whale. The incident drew intense public criticism and plunged him once again into deep despair.
Six years later, in 2019, with a new partner, Iwamoto successfully completed a non-stop Pacific crossing of approximately 13,000 kilometers, sailing from San Diego to Fukushima, Japan. At that point, he made another choice—to move even further forward. That choice led to the launch of this new project.
At the WEF, Iwamoto is scheduled to deliver his speech on January 21, 2026 (Davos, Switzerland time).
How did he come to choose this extraordinary challenge? We invite you to listen closely to his words.
WEF URL: https://www.weforum.org/
This ambitious project depends on a wide range of support systems that will serve as “his eyes.”
These include continuous satellite communication via Starlink, high-sensitivity cameras, voice-based navigation systems that convey critical information, a shore-based support center monitoring the voyage, and—most importantly—the collective support of people around the world who will guide and assist him.
Together, these elements aim to create a new form of sailing, gradually transforming what has long been considered an “impossible adventure” for a blind sailor into a possible one.
Hiro Iwamoto / Global Keynote Speaker, First Totally Blind Sailor to Cross the Pacific
DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing, trying to counter fears about a weakening job market and worries that still-rising prices are taking a toll on Americans' pocketbooks.
The day trip will include a tour of a Ford factory in Dearborn that makes F-150 pickups, the bestselling domestic vehicle in the U.S. The Republican president is also set to deliver a speech at the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino.
It comes as the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has sparked an outcry, with defenders of the U.S. central bank pushing back against Trump's efforts to exert more control over it.
Federal data from December released before the president left Washington showed Inflation declined a bit last month as prices for gas and used cars fell — a sign that cost pressures are slowly easing. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said, the same as in November.
“We have very low inflation,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he left Washington, adding “and growth is going up. We have tremendous growth numbers.”
November's off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere illustrated a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about kitchen table issues persist. In their wake, the White House said Trump would put a greater emphasis on talking directly to the public about his economic policies after doing relatively few events around the country earlier in his term.
The president has suggested that jitters about affordability are a “hoax” unnecessarily stirred by Democrats. Still, though he's imposed steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners around the world, Trump has reduced some of them when it comes to making cars — including extending import levies on foreign-made auto parts until 2030.
Ford announced last month that it was scrapping plans to make an electric F-150, despite pouring billions of dollars into broader electrification, after the Trump administration slashed targets to have half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, eliminated EV tax credits and proposed weakening the emissions and gas mileage rules.
Trump's Michigan swing follows economy-focused speeches he gave last month in Pennsylvania — where his gripes about immigrants arriving to the U.S. from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation — and North Carolina, where he insisted his tariffs have spurred the economy, despite residents noting the squeeze of higher prices.
Trump carried Michigan in 2016 and 2024, after it swung Democratic and backed Joe Biden in 2020. He marked his first 100 days in office with a rally-style April speech outside Detroit, where he focused more on past campaign grudges than his administration's economic or policy plans.
During that visit nearly nine months ago, Trump also spoke at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and announced a new fighter jet mission, allaying fears that the base could close. It represented a win for Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and the two even shared a hug.
This time, Democrats have panned the president's trip, singling out national Republicans' opposition to extending health care subsidies and recalling a moment in October 2024 when Trump, then also addressing the Detroit Economic Club, said that Democrats' retaining the White House would mean “our whole country will end up being like Detroit."
"You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” Trump said during a campaign stop back then.
Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said that “after spending months claiming that affordability was a ‘hoax’ and creating a health care crisis for Michiganders, Donald Trump is now coming to Detroit — a city he hates — to tout his billionaire-first agenda while working families suffer."
“Michiganders are feeling the effects of Trump’s economy every day,” Hertel said in a statement.
Weissert reported from Washington.
President Donald Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, reflected on door, leave to board Marine One, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
