This entry is actually from a while back, but I’ve slapped a couple of photos in and added some more content.

I lived in Japan for nearly 10 years, and rode a lot. Unfortunately, I only did a few ‘real’ trips, the rest being up and down (and up and down, and up and…) the Tama river near our place in Kawasaki. Japan, at least where I lived, was less than ideal for cycling. Chiba, Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama (really just one immense city) have a population of over 30,000,000, or around the total in Canada. That should explain it. But once you do get out of the urban sprawl (get up early!) the countryside is pretty nice, and the roads are excellent, if mostly shoulderless.

In the fall of 1999 I took a ferry from Tokyo to the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, for a 700 km circuit of the east side of the island. Unlike Kanto (where Tokyo is), Hokkaido is very cyclist friendly. Lots of space, lots of nature and not lots of cars (at least in September..). It’s like a mini Canada only with better food. And for those who think Japan = $$$, check this out. I stayed at these things called Rider Houses; very basic accommodation (really just a space on a tatami floor) mainly used by motorcyclists. The most I paid was 800 yen, and the cheapest was 500; or max $10. This is what you get at a Rider House. Pretty spartan, but always clean and always cheap.

The food was amazing, as is typical all over Japan, the scenery really is spectacular (Shiretoko is a World Heritage area), and most nights I had a hot spring bath (each municipality seemed to have one) waiting for my aching legs at the end of each day’s ride.

But it’s not all fun and games. The islands lying off the coast where I was riding were taken by Russia after WWII and Japan wants them back.

Er…Japan, maybe if you yelled at them in their own language you’d get someplace?