A KAYAKER from Falmouth is planning to take on the "challenge of a lifetime" by circumnavigating the coast of Japan to raise money for a children's charity.

Jeff Allen, along with companion Hadas Feldman, hopes to raise money for the Child Growth Foundation, a charity which works on behalf of children with growth disorders.

The 41-year-old lives on a houseboat on the Penryn River and is no stranger to Kayak adventures having paddled around the Cornish coast last year. He also runs Maenporth Beach Kayak school.

The six foot four former Guardsman sets off for Japan today but as well as the variable weather they will also have to be on their guard for drug smugglers and rising tensions between Russia and North Korea in the north of the country.

Japan has more coast line than the entire United States of America with over 2000 islands strung out from the tropical island of Kyushu in the south to the freezing island of Hokkaido in the north, a distance, a distance of 4,000 miles.

"I'm very excited," said Mr Allen. "This will be the challenge of a lifetime. A country where it is said you can experience a thousand years in a day, this journey will be a cultural challenge as much as a physical one.

"There is a lot of unrest in the north of Japan with Russia and Korea. An awful lot of tension with fishing rights and spy ships and drug running, we have only just found out that a lot of the area is out of bounds.

"It is a shame because the north is the most beautiful part of the country. "

Mr Allen sets off for Japan today and expects to finish his journey in May. A record of his journey can be followed by logging onto www.seakayakingcornwall.co.uk