Golden Week 2015: Shikoku, Chugoku and Kansai cycling tour

In Japan, Golden Week is a week of 3 or 4 consecutive national holidays and is a popular time to travel for Japanese people.

This year I decided to see Shikoku which is the only main island I hadn't been to in Japan. I went by bicycle and carried my tent and sleeping bag with me. The only other tour I have done with the tent was around Lake Biwako and that was only 3 nights or 400 km!

You know what another goal of this tour was? To visit 29 prefectures before I turn 29. So now I have visited 29 prefectures!

Day 1: April 29th, 2015

I left Nagoya late, at 11:30 am. oops. I took the Shinkansen to Okayama and transferred to a local line going to Shikoku. I got to Kagawa Prefecture, at Sakaide station (you can take the train across to Shikoku, by bridge) and rode for about 3 hours before finding a place to camp.
Kagawa is Japan's smallest prefecture, at a whopping 1876.73 square km. (2nd smallest: Osaka; 3rd: Tokyo; 4th: Okinawa)

Tent Sweet Tent.

 Day 2: April 30th, 2015

On my second day I went from Kagawa to Tokushima Prefecture. The weather was perfect. Originally I had planned to go to the coast, but I decided to cut down on time and go inland, across the north area of the prefecture. I found this to be an easy and pleasant day.

By the way this is what my setup looks like. (very minimalist!)

I found a castle there... Kawashima Castle

I think it was around 5 pm I found a spot to camp on a trail in Miyoshi city, Oboke Gorge (literally in the middle of nowhere). The area is famous for rafting tours and I went to an onsen there in the evening! Unfortunately I didn't go rafting!
This is near the site and I took these photos in the morning.

 Day 3: May 1st, 2015

Next I went from Tokushima to Kochi Prefecture. This was a very difficult day because there were two large hillclimbs, one halfway in and one when I was almost finished! But it was also a very enjoyable day because there was beautiful weather and very little traffic. In fact, it is the 3rd least populous prefecture in Japan!

Also, I had a scary discovery in the morning as I went to pump my front tire. The tire had a weak spot and was bulging out, and I had a spare tube but not a spare tire. This means if I hit a rock, or inflated it further and the weak spot broke, I could get a flat. I did not inflate it and hoped I could hold out until I got to Ehime.

I came across this nice temple and got a sticker for my bike

on the final hillclimb... almost at the top

Day 4: May 2nd, 2015

On the fourth day I went from Kochi to Ehime Prefecture. This was a very pleasant day, except for the first 10 or so minutes going from Kochi to Ehime. There was a 5 km long tunnel that was all downhill and I did it all the way going 40-50 km/h. I've done that before but not with a sketchy front tire and carrying camping equipment. Oh well safety 2nd!

Ehime is the prefecture that is connected to Hiroshima Prefecture via the Shimanami Kaido. I planned to set out on the Shimanami Kaido but I had already ridden 50 km from Kochi to Imabari, the north tip of Ehime. Also, around noon I took the opportunity to get my tire changed at Banff Cycle shop (a good Canadian name). I also did laundry (phew) and went to see the castle (just looked at the outside). The Shimanami Kaido is over 70 km long so I wasn't sure if I could do it. However, lo and behold I got to Onomichi, Hiroshima before 8 pm. 

Ehime is very cyclist friendly. This is a regular convenience store that caters to cyclists. The sign says "Conbini cycle oasis: air pump, water, washroom, rest area, info"

In Imabari I took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing.

In front of the entrance to Imabari Castle

Imabari Castle

I started out on the Shimanami Kaido around 3:30 pm

The Shimanami Kaido connects 9 islands with Shikoku and Honshu. It is like a 70 km long Seawall!

Some of the bridges are about 1 km in length

Day 5: May 3rd, 2015

Day Five was a bit difficult. I was going from Onomichi, in eastern Hiroshima prefecture to Okayama Prefecture. I guess I was just frustrated with the bad state of the roads and the drivers. To top it all off, it started raining around 3 or 4 pm so I decided to get to Okayama city quickly to find a place to camp. After I got my tent all set up I went to Arashi no Yu which is an onsen and ganbanyoku. Ganbanyoku is like a hot sauna where the floor is warm stones, and you just lie and relax.

Before I got to Okayama city I passed through Kurashiki which is a city with a famous historical district. It is also famous for Bizen pottery.

 Day 6: May 4th, 2015

According to my iPhone, it was going to rain on this day too, so I put my camping equipment in a large Air Canada bag before packing on my bike rack. However, the weather was quite fine and by noon I stopped and took everything out to dry. I continued on from Okayama in to Hyogo Prefecture (home of Himeji Castle, Kobe city, and the Hanshin Tigers).

In Himeji I considered skipping the castle to save on time, but I figured why not since it is a world heritage site and literally only hundreds of metres from where I was riding by. I decided not to go in, but just take a picture because the crowds were insane (that's Golden Week for you).

Himeji-jo Castle, a world heritage site which was restored last year

Me outside Himeji Castle

Day 6: May 5th, 2015
CINCO DE MAYO!!!!! Just kidding, this is the last stretch of the trip so I rode over 200 km! I could have split it and got home on the 6th but decided to push myself.
So in the morning I started from my campsite in Miki, Hyogo and went through Ibaraki, Osaka; Kyoto, Kyoto; Otsu, Shiga; Inabe, Mie; and Aisai, Aichi (just to name a few of the cities I passed through).
To date, this is the only double century I've ridden with a tent and gear. It's also the first time I've cycled 6 prefectures in one day!
I didn't do much on this day except eat rice at convenience stores and try to figure out how much longer it would be.

Next Tour

I am hoping to possibly do another tour in August, of Tohoku.

A Public Service Announcement from Emma

When you are a bicycle tourist, or simply meandering around the countryside in Japan, always take your garbage with you! Since there are convenience stores everywhere, you're never likely to be more than 10 km away from a garbage can. So DON'T throw it even if there are other pieces of trash lying around. That trash has been thrown by some stupid Yanki kids. (Perhaps I will make a blog post ranting about them later)

On this trip I threw every little bit of my garbage away. (except for the time I forgot my bike bag in Kagawa... oh and my hammer in Okayama...) And now I'm really cool and you can be too by throwing your garbage in the proper receptacle. 

Love the earth and the earth loves you too!

summer break #1

so at my school we get quite a few breaks throughout the year, for a total of about 6 weeks over the year. one of our breaks was in july from the 13th to the 21st. I decided to take a bike trip to Shizuoka prefecture and I stayed in a town called Omaezaki.

here is the map of where Omaezaki is. the route I took on the way back went through Hamamatsu, Shinjiro, Toyota, Miyoshi, and Nisshin. (going there I went through Okazaki, Toyokawa, Toyohashi, and Hamamatsu)

I spent July 16th riding, and I stayed in a hotel that night. 

the next day I headed over to the youth hostel.

 On the 17th I did a bit of exploring around Omaezaki, went swimming at the beach...

The beach has a giant slide near it, so I went on that. super funn!!

Omaezaki is right on the pacific ocean, with no islands obstructing the view. I've rarely seen views like this--living in places like Wakayama, Vancouver, and Nagoya the ocean always has a coast on the other side or some islands obstructing the view. That night I stayed in the hostel in Omaezaki. It was really peaceful and the owners were really kind.

So on my second day, I did something I've wanted to do for a long time. I went surfing! I just found a little shop called Morey Surf where I could rent a surfboard and wetsuit... and the owner taught me a surfing lesson too! it was really fun! I didn't get to stand up on the board but am hoping to go back soon and try it out again :) I have found a couple places along the Chita peninsula (south of nagoya)

after my surf lesson I was all salty and sandy so I really wanted to go to an Onsen. but the only onsen was about 19 km away. although that was nothing to what I had ridden two days before, so why not go to it? the Onsen was called Ko-umare and it was one of the nicest I've been to. they even have a scented oil bath which changes every month. I was really surprised to find the price was cheap--only 500 yen for 3 hours.

these pictures were taken on the way to the onsen!

the very next day, I left the hostel before 7 am and had breakfast of a rice ball, block of tofu, and oolong tea in front of a convenience store. then I headed about 40 km to Hamamatsu city. There is nothing to see there but I wanted to send my heavy backpack back home by express delivery. Which only cost about 1000 yen.

Inland sea in Hamamatsu

then I headed up into the mountains which I would cross over into Aichi prefecture and back home. the mountain going up was really high, and I finished off my bottle of tea just going up! thankfully at the top there were a couple of vending machines waiting for me. After the top I thought I would have a really long downhill ride. but it was more like a plateau, going straight across and through most of Toyota city (yes, the car company started from there). then, I had a really fantastic ride down into Toyota's city centre. after that it was a hour or two on the highway back home to Nagoya city.

This was the longest trip I've done so far; I probably rode over 350 km in 4 days.

the plateau part of Toyota

now here are all the prefectures I've been to... not counting the ones I've only passed through: 

Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Tochigi, Hyogo, Osaka, Nara, Wakayama, Gifu, Nagano, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Niigata, Aichi, Mie, Fukui, Shizuoka, and Shiga 

(just went to Shiga on August 13th, but that's a story for another post) 

That makes 19 in total! there are 47 in all, so I only have 28 left to visit.

cycling across Japan's Kii peninsula in 1 day

so when I moved to Nagoya, i wanted to keep it light. I only brought my two backpacks and sent 2 medium-sized boxes of stuff when I moved.
So naturally I had to leave a lot of stuff behind in Wakayama, at the Egawas. (just temporarily)
That included my beloved road bike!
But to tell the truth, I actually kind of left it there on purpose.
My plan was to cycle across Kii, Japan's largest peninsula, during Golden Week... and go home to Nagoya by the power of my own two legs.
Sounds reasonable, right? well... it meant that on my first day I had to cycle across three whole prefectures, from coast to coast. Wakayama, Nara, and Mie! I would also have to leave before 5 am (I actually left at about 4:37). Could I have done it in three days and stayed in Nara on the first night... yep. but after my 150 km ride to and from Koyasan I was looking for a bigger challenge.
From seeing Japanese towns, you may think Japan is quite flat. But actually Japan is mostly mountains, especially the inland areas. and I knew Nara is a basin, so I would have a range of mountains to go up when entering Nara and another exiting!

Day 1

in Kinokawa city, Wakayama

the road from Arida to Kainan is relatively easy, but I thought I would also have a hard time getting from Kainan to Hashimoto in Wakayama prefecture. There are a lot of mountains around there.  actually, however, I found a road, Route 424 I think, following a river. It went through Kinokawa city. Quite a lovely ride through there, and I got to Hashimoto around 8 am, long before all the shops opened. Speaking of stores... thank the gods for convenience stores, with their long hours and immaculate bathrooms. I love Lawson.
My next stop from Hashimoto was Gojo, in Nara prefecture. In Gojo there's a temple called Tenporin-ji so I stopped by there and got a kewl sticker. The man selling omamori at the temple also gave me some snacks, a grab bag of offerings. so I stopped there to munch on potato chips and my home made rice balls. yum.

this is in Nabari city.

From Gojo I went to Sakurai. I got a bit confused about the route a couple of times but no major mixups. Nothing much to see around that area... there was a bit of construction here and there so it wasn't too pleasant. After Sakurai I headed to Nabari, which is the first town I would enter in Mie, passing through Uda. Between Sakurai and Nabari there are a lot of trees and mountains but the road wasn't so steep. It was just pleasant. and I was also getting excited because this was the last half of my ride!

In Iga city.
my bike is somewhere in this picture.
try to find it. (hint: it's on the bridge)

this is a river in Iga city

this is a cherry tree in Iga... and the blossoms still haven't fallen?! what is this, Hokkaido?

just before starting up the mountain road.
hey that's a sweet bike, I wonder whose it is :D

Iga was the last city before I got to Tsu, my destination. Going through Iga was my biggest challenge. Normally I think I could've ridden it without stopping, but at this point (130, 150 km?) with no 30 minute lunch break I was kind of worn thin. so I stopped for about 10 minutes to rest and then continued to the top of the mountain. at this point it was maybe 3 or 4 pm! When I got to the tunnel at the top, I was ecstatic! Needless to say I had never done something like this before. Then I saw the sign that said "Tsu" and enjoyed the beautiful views and a leisurely cruise down the mountain... (okay, I actually yelled Yatta! all the way down going top speed!)

just entered Tsu city, at the top of a mountain!

oh hi guys I'm in Mie

I got to Tsu, the town area, around 6 pm. I was actually going to stay in Hisai, which is closer to where I was coming from than central/downtown Tsu. But when I got there I decided to go a bit further and go right to the ocean, before checking in to the hotel. after all, what's a coast-to-coast ride if you don't go right to the coast?

my love.

after that I went back to the hotel and immediately took a bath in their Onsen, a hot spring public bath. that is the best feeling ever.
Everyone should have the chance to go on a super long bike ride and then relax in an onsen after. It's one of my favourite pastimes!

Here's a map of the route I took. I also took some video and photo footage with my gopro so I will be uploading that to Youtube soon.

View Larger Map

[Edit 2012-06-22] here is the video I put off editing for so long. hope you enjoy it. the video is of wakayama to mie (day 1) only.

[End edit]

Day 2

From Tsu, Mie prefecture to Nagoya, Aichi prefecture it's only about 70 km. I planned my trip like this on purpose, so I would have an easy ride on the second day. But actually I found the first day more enjoyable because I got to go through so many mountains and see all the pretty trees. From Tsu to Nagoya I had to take the highway, and despite being a stat holiday it seemed like every trucker in the Tokai region was going the same way. So there was a lot of traffic! But what the heck could they be bringing from Tsu city, the one place in Japan with no special exports and nothing interesting to its name whatsoever?

All those trucks made me kind of nervous so I tried riding on the shoulder, or on the sidewalk (yes you can ride on the sidewalk in Japan!), but that was really bumpy and not fun at all. so near Yokka-ichi city I stopped to take a rest once and happened to see these two guys fixing their bikes in a parking lot. I went over and asked for directions and it turned out they were going the same way! so we decided to ride together. They had actually ridden from Kyoto that day! One of the guys, Eiji was riding to Tokyo over 4 days. I want to do that someday :D but maybe I'll stick to shorter rides for now!

me and Eiji in Nagoya

Nagoya.

So, today I am in Nagoya (until about 12-1 pm). When I applied for my passport so I can extend my visa, my guarantor was rejected so I have to visit the consulate in person, fill out another form and get two additional non-family references plus two more documents supporting my identity. Phew! The hoops they make you jump through. And it's only good for 5 years :( maybe I should start making friends with Japanese doctors, lawyers or police officers... Well anyhow, now my application is complete, and I've sent it to Tokyo.

I rented a bike for the day and went to see Nagoya castle. It is not open Thursdays so I just rode around the outside. Then I went to the consulate. (I was traveling from 9 pm to 5 am by train and bus, so my hair is a bit messy!)

Also, I found some kitties around the castle. There was an old man who came to feed them.