I'm reading the Genki books and there was this story about an old man who was
poor so he went to the market to sell some hats he had made. He didn't manage
to sell any and is now returning home, which is described like this:

おじいさんは長い山道を歩いて帰りました。

So they used the -ta form: "kaerimashita". I have read in multiple places that
the -ta form, when used with an action verb, indicates something closest to
the perfective aspect and/or a completed action, which in our case would
translate to "returnED home on foot". But the words 長い山道を clearly leave only a
continuous interpretation possible: "was returnING home on foot", plus after
this sentence the story actually went on to describe the man's adventures
while walking so there's NO way the verb here is perfective/describes a
completed action. So can someone please explain to me why "kaerimashita" is
used here and _not_ "kaette imashita"?

The only explanation I can think of is that I know that verbs that affect the
subject in some way (physical motion/change/emotional development etc.) are
most often interpreted with focus on the _result_ of the verb process. Does
this then mean that

...歩いて帰っていました。

would be translated as "HAD returned home" which is clearly wrong so
"kaerimashita" has to be used instead, and is thus not taking its usual
perfective/completed action interpretation? Or is there another reason for why
the -ta form is used here?

Sorry about the long post. And thanks in advance for your help!
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question
grammar tense aspect
Having troubles understanding aspect in Japanese (unclear word choice in this sentence written by native)
I don't understand why you think "長い山道を clearly leave only a continuous
interpretation possible".

As for the story evolving things that happened on his way home, it doesn't
necessarily have to progress according to the exact temporal order, does it?
And I don't think it'd be that unnatural to use 帰った even if you haven't fully
reached home.

帰っていました can be translated to "was going home" (though this usage is less
frequent) besides "had returned home" depending on contexts.
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This is not a real answer but it is way to long for a comment. I translated to
the best I can, the part I suggested in my comment to the original question.
Since I think that the whole part about 「Ｖ－ている」 could be useful to a great
deal of people I post this answer as a community wiki, if somebody wants to
help me provide a full translation of the part concerning 「Ｖ－ている」.

I have read it twice but there might still be some mistakes. Part enclosed in
// are where I was not really sure so take them with care.

* * *

## 24.3.6 Another classification: Verbs which express changes

Well, through the classifications of action verbs with respect to their
relation with time we've seen the rules of application of 「Ｖ－ている」 and its
relation with time. Nevertheless, the concept of "instant verbs" is almost not
used anymore.

The reason is that verbs that does not fit the definition of "instantaneous"
can express the state of a result (of an action). The word that fit best to
express the common points of those verbs would be "change".

For example, the previously given examples of 「ふとる・やせる」gives two verbs that do
not describe something instantaneous; nevertheless, it does not mean either
that 「太{ふと}っている」express something ongoing, it does show the result (... has
grow fat). Let's see,

> この湖の水には大量の塩が溶けている。 In this lake, a great bunch of salt is dissolved.
>
> 台風の影響で潮位が高まっている。 The typhoon caused the tide level to rise.

Again, it needed quite a bunch of time to reach this state; however, those
sentences express the result not the process.

The 「行く」 enclosed in 「デパートへ買物に行く」can show the action of going from home to the
department store, the action of going out from home or the action of reaching
the store. It is all a matter of context to tell the right interpretation.

> ８時にデパートへ買い物に行った。 I went to the store for shopping purpose at 8.
>
> ９時にデパートに行き、１０時に映画館に行った。 At 9 I went to the store, and at 10 I went to the
> movie theater.
>
> デパートに行くのに１時間かかる。 To reach the store it takes one hour.

However, 「行っている」 would not express anything but the result of the situation (~
is gone). Here again, it is not possible to tell whether or not the action is
instantaneous.

Thus, if we were to think again about the shared features of verbs like
「太る・高まる・行く」we would see that a change either in shape or in location can be
observed; we can, thus, say that a change occurred on the subject through the
action of the verb.

Even verbs that we previously considered as examples of "instant verbs", all
express a meaning of change.

> 始まる・変わる・死ぬ・出発する・帰る・着く・割れる

From now on, let's rename, "instant verbs" to "change verbs".

/Even "duration verbs", without expressing something that lasts in time
contrast with the concept of "change". Let's call those verbs "action verbs"
(action can be one of a human being as well as something due to a natural
phenomenon)./

However, even from this stand point, some exceptions are still hanging around.
This is because, some verbs that express an instantaneous action can express
the final state of the action while used in the pattern 「Ｖ－ている」.

> 彼女はその瞬間を目撃している。  
>  She saw this instant. (She witnessed the scene.)

「目撃する」cannot be seen as a verb which shows something in progress (as it is
impossible to witness a scene forever), here 「目撃している」does not express an
ongoing action but the state of the situation.

If we were to look at a transitive-intransitive pair of verbs:

> 紙を燃やしている（燃やす）：紙が燃えている（燃える）
>
> Setting fire to a paper. （燃やす）
>
> Burning paper. （燃える）

In both cases, the action can be said to be in progress but while 「燃やしている」
expresses an action, 「燃えている」 expresses that a change is ongoing. It is not the
situation of the result of the change. (In the case 「火が燃える」 we could consider
it to be an "action" but no matter how you think of it 「紙が燃える」(the paper is
burning) shows a change).

Both methods of classification are not free from exceptions, therefore, it
cannot be considered as a definitive explanation. It might be a bit of trouble
but remembering both classifications (duration verbs/instant verbs and change
verbs/action verbs) could be rewarding. Nevertheless, since the changes
between the two versions is subtle, it may be not very important to bother too
much.

[The object of "change verbs"]

The verbs 「行く」and 「太る」may show that a change happens to the subject. Let's
think again about this kind of verbs which cause changes to the object. For
example in the sentence,

> 彼は部屋の壁に自分の絵を掛けている。 In his room, a picture of him hangs on the wall.

In this sentence, the verb 「かける」 can be interpreted as an action (maintain the
picture always in that state). In other words, it could be said that it
expresses the state of (the result) "being hung". It would therefore express
the change and how the object (the picture here) behaves due to the change.

/Other verbs expressing "changes in the object" can be easily seen as "the
situation ensuing from a result"./

> 学生たちはみな教科書の８ページを開いている。 Students opened theirs books at page 8.

「８ページを開く」is not really an instantaneous action (you've to flip the pages
through the right one), it does not carry the meaning of 「いま、開きつつある」( ~ being
opening it) either. What it shows is the fact that the book has been opened at
the page 8 (the result of the action). There is no other explanation that the
verb here focus on expressing the state of the situation of "opening a book"
(「本を開く」)

> 彼はいつも研究室のドアを少し開けている。 He always leaves the door of the lab slightly opened.

This example illustrates the same as above. Indeed, one could have also used
「開けてある」which will be discussed later on.

> あの喫茶店はテーブルをいくつか前の歩道に出している。 This coffee shop set some tables on the
> pedestrian way.
>
> この会社は省エネのため、廊下の電気を半分消している。 For energy savings purposes, this company light
> the corridor with only a half of the nominal power.
>
> 妻は、買い物に出るとき、空き巣よけにテレビをつけている。 When the wife goes to shopping, she let the TV
> on to drive the thieves away.
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