This blog is about travelling through Japan on a bicycle. Initially on a foldable bicycle (Brompton) and more recently mostly by road bike (Spezialized)... but also by train, ferry, plane, bus or any other transport, if sea, weather, mountains or the like come between me and my desire to ride.
I have tried to summarise information that could be potentially helpful also for other bicycle travellers through Japan, such as list of bicycle roads, helpful web pages etc.

Saturday, 25 May 2024

Around Hakone

Day 1

Route: Matsuda - Sengokuhara - Owakudani - Hakone
Bicycle: 45 km
Train: 70 km
Total ascent: 1397 m
Average speed: 10,5 km/h
Riding time: 4:22 h
Weather: warm but definitely not too warm , cloudy


A few weeks ago I already cycled here to Hakone but didn’t get down to the Hakone valley, instead went down to Gotemba after a look at Ashinoko from Nagao pass. This time I came over to Hakone and am even staying here. 

From Matsuda I took a different road over to Hakone (with less climbing) but still clocked nearly 1400 m of ascent on a very quiet but very well maintained road. Hakone Kintaro line. 

The downhill wasn’t very long, but surprisingly cold. And I didn’t bring my rain/wind jacket thinking that I wouldn’t need it anymore for the cold and no rain was forecast for today (but it did rain very slightly for a short time just before arriving in Motohakone). So mental note: bring rain jacket always can be useful for a cold downhill as well. 

I am also always surprised how high the area around Mt Fuji already is. Ashinoko is at about 700 m, and it’s noticeably cooler here. 

During lunch I looked up what to do in Hakone (I came quite unprepared) and discovered that there was a temple right behind the restaurant where I was eating and that another sightseeing spot (Sengokuhara grassland) was on my way. 

I first visited the temple. The temple itself want interesting but the hill behind it was covered with status of very funny gods.



The next stop were some grasslands… well… green…


From there surprisingly it was still uphill and then I added even more uphill by going to Owakudani, a place o have fond memories of from 1995, when I arrived there by cable car and then walked on the volcano with boiling mud besides the path. Now all this is off limits and only accessible with a guided tour. It was off limits for a long time due to too much volcanic activities and now seeing the crowds up there it’s probably off limits because of the sheer number of visitors. There aren’t that many places on earth where you can conveniently get to the crater of an active volcano by public transport.

In typical Japanese fashion they are trying to control the volcano by building structures within it. I wonder what the volcano thinks of all this.


From there down to Ashinoko with a shy Fuji hiding behind some clouds, along the lake on a bicycle path…

… and into an onsen with great views right over the lake.

From there it wasn’t far to Motohakone and my hotel, but I did stop briefly at the famous torii in the water, which even at this relatively late hour still had a queue for taking pictures.

Hakone was always a very touristy area but it’s surprising how many foreigners are here. In the capsule style hotel I am there are only foreigners, in the restaurant I had dinner was only one table with Japanese guests and even in the onsen I went there were more foreigners than Japanese. 

So now making a plan for tomorrow… where should I go from here? 



Day 2

Route: Hakone - Nagao pass - Ashigara pass - Kaisei 
Bicycle: 70 km
Train: 75 km
Total ascent: 1365 m
Average speed: 13,8 km/h
Riding time: 5:02 h
Weather: surprisingly cold, cloudy and this no Fuji


For the second day I made it back to Odakyu line but not through the descent from Hakone to Odawara, which frightens me a bit (plus it was way too close to where I started my day), but instead crossing again the entire caldera of Hakone passing over Nagao pass down to Gotemba and then up again to Ashigara Pass before finishing the day in a wonderful onsen.

My hotel was a kind of hip interpretation of a capsule hotel, but actually quite okay and at a bit over 8000 yen a cheap solution in Hakone which is totally overpriced (and overrun). After breakfast I went to the pier to see the pirate ships (but no Fuji) …

… before cycling back along the shore to the opposite end of the lake. There is a cycle / pedestrian path along most of the shore and relatively early in the morning it was still cyclable. I’d imagine later in the day on weekends it is so clogged by pedestrians that it wouldn’t make for a nice experience. 

On Komoot I saw a recommended route from the lake to the start of the climb to Nagao pass and it was a wonderful small road through an enormous golf course. Not really sure if it is one golf course or several ones, but most of that inner area of Hakone is just golf course. Back in the day it must have been a swamp. 

From there to the start of the climb to Nagao pass and then up. I did ride up from the other side to this pass a few weeks ago and it was such a nice climb. Gradually and with a great view. From the Hakone side it is an equally enjoyable climb with great views of the entire caldera (and its golf courses in the valley and smoking volcano) 

As it was cloudy this was the best view of Mt Fuji that I got. 


After a nice downhill of Nagao pass it was up again over Ashigara pass which even from the Gotemba side is hard (but not that long). A rest on the top, again no view and then some curry udon halfway down. After some more downhill it was uphill again to the onsen of the day. Which was a wonderful onsen with two big pools outside in what seemed to be pure nature. I am sure it’s nature that got some help but it was really feeling like sitting in a hot pool in the middle of the forest. There were also relax areas in similar positions. 







Saturday, 11 May 2024

GW2024 D9 Buddhism on Kunisaki peninsula

Route: Nakayamaga - Futagoji - Usa 
Bicycle: 62 km
Train: 65 km
Total ascent: 1491 m
Average speed: 12.2 km/h
Riding time: 5:05 h
Weather: warm and sunny later cloudy, 25 C


For what will be the last day of cycling in Kyushu (because tomorrow it will rain all day) I went to Kunisaki peninsula. Apparently it is famous for its special Buddhist temples. Not that I actually understand anything about Buddhist temples, but who knew that there were large stone carvings of Buddha in Japan?

The way up to these carvings was over a staircase that seemed to be stones thrown at random, but at least there was a handrail to hang on.


Since they burned some old grass there were light fit swathes creating a suggestive atmosphere.

The next stop was Makiodo temple. Which was a bit underwhelming for me, but that is probably only testimony to my total lack of knowledge about buddhist statues. 

Further into the peninsula was Fukiji temple. If I remember correctly this was the temple that enshrines the same god / figure  ??? as the Byodoin in Uji and the temple in Hiraizumi. Two rather famous temples. But I forgot what it actually is that connects these three. To me it seemed a rather normal temple. 

From here it was up and up. I had seen a restaurant indicated on the shores of a dammed lake and had called to check if they were really open. They were. Run by two elderly ladies (a bit younger though than the ones yesterday) selling mainly soba dishes, which are great while cycling anyway. After this test the probably steepest section of the ride started, up and up on to the volcano (which doesn’t seem to be active, but very volcano shaped). The last temple I visited is inside the caldera of the volcano, which means that after all the ascent there is a descent to get into the caldera. It seemed to be quite some work to cycle all this up again, but it turned out to be easier than anticipated. 


Cycling up here I came through some very noisy bamboo forests. It was again quite windy today and with the bamboo swaying with the wind they actually get quite noisy.


After I had made it out of the caldera it was one long downhill to Usa. Originally I had planned to visit also USA shrine, a very famous shrine for the Hachimangu shrines… but it was getting too late. So something for the next visit in the region. Apparently the temples in Kunisaki peninsula somehow are connected to Regis Hachimangu shrine. If I understood correctly the idea is that Shinto and Buddhism did mix specially well in Kunisaki peninsula, because someone decided, that the deity enshrined in a Hachimangu shrine was a devout Buddhist. 

I however am neither a devote Buddhist nor Shintoist but do adhere to the “religion” of soaking in an onsen, which I did not too far from the station in a small supersento that seemed to be visited only by the local elderly ladies who seemed to know each other and were chatting away incessantly. It was an onsen with 3 outdoor pools  one properly cold, one refreshingly non-warm, non-cold and one warm. The tepid pool, when I first came out, was full of gossiping old ladies. 


Friday, 10 May 2024

GW2024 D8 Yufuin to Nakatsu

Route: Yufuin - Kusu - Yamakuni - Nakatsu
Bicycle: 96 km
Total ascent: 1105 m
Average speed: 16,2 km/h
Riding time: 5:53 h
Weather: very sunny, warm but not too warm, 26C


I had read about a cycle path in Northern Kyushu years ago when I prepared for my 2 months cycling adventure through Japan on my brompton, but I didn’t spend that much time in Kyushu back then and that cycle path seemed to be out of the way. However this time I managed to build it into my course. 

But I wouldn’t say that this cycling path was the highlight of the day. It want bad, but Kyushu mountain roads are better.

I started the day with this view from my hotel window. 

A small lake in Yufuin, which seems to be a nice onsen town, a bit different from your normal onsen town as the center of the city doesn’t have ryokans all lined up but rather a shopping street and a park and the onsen are more on the outskirts where this small town already merges with the farmland.

I didn’t linger in Yufuin and started my ride, the longest of my rides here in Kyushu but with the last 40 km or so downhill or flat. However I still managed to rack up over 1000 meters of climbing. Yes, there was some climbing straight out of town, later in it was more an up and down affair. 

Climbing out of town I came through a vast training ground of the military. It probably took me about 1/3 of the ride to cross that area. Not only due to that training ground this area was mostly void of population. Just rolling hills without forests, which is special for Japan, where elsewhere it seems there are forests everywhere (or fields). Wide open grass landscapes I so far only connected with Hokkaido. 

I had lunch in a very old , small restaurant in Kusu. Run by 3 very old people, probably all of them into their 90s that seemed to use the restaurant more as their living room rather than a restaurant business. At least they were pretty surprised to have a client, but managed to cook a curry.

From there you nice again into the mountains and countryside on roads with names but with hardly any traffic. In some areas so few traffic that one wonders why such a road would even exist. And this lack of traffic is also a reason why the cycling path wasn’t such a nice discovery. That said, where the cycling path is the main road actually has a lot of traffic, so definitely very good to have the path. 

But before that through the mountains I came by two places with these rock formations. 

The cycle path is on an old railway track that was decommissioned in the early 1970s and winds it path through the valley, through tunnels and over a few old railway bridges.

The day ended with an other view over water, this time the ocean.

However, what could be a very nice view of the ocean is actually hard to get to and totally cordoned off. Quite typical for Japan, a country too afraid of natural disasters to just enjoy the nature. Most rivers are heavily regulated, the view of the ocean often blocked by flood prevention dams (instead of nice green dikes like in the Netherlands) or the highway runs along the shore and blocks all views and sounds of the ocean. It’s strange for a country with so many hikers and so engrained appreciation of nature and the change of seasons. But control of nature is more important than nature itself. Probably because of that Japanese flower arrangements are ikebana, a very controlled way to represent nature. 



Thursday, 9 May 2024

GW2024 D7 Through onsenlandia

Route: Kurokawa onsen - Sujiyu onsen - Tadewara wetlands - Ukenokuchi onsen - Yufuin
Bicycle: 59 km
Total ascent: 1193 m
Average speed: 11,3 km/h
Riding time: 5:15 h
Weather: blue skies but surprisingly cold, maybe around 12 C


What a view!

Mt. Aso in the background with the smoke coming from the caldera, a few other mountains connected to Mt. Aso, the rolling hills and high plateau in front and the edge of the caldera that surrounds Mt Aso. 

And all this by chance as I took the “wrong” road. I wanted to take Yamanami highway, but the small connection road that Komoot saw didn’t exist in reality, and the next option that wahoo saw didn’t exist in real life either. So I continued on the small road I was on until it joined a bigger road but at that point I was already at least halfway up the mountain and cycling down just to join Yamanami highway didn’t seem a good idea, when this road was going in the same direction and had hardly any traffic.

This ski slopes were the highest point of the ride, I donned my rain jacket to not freeze on the downhill and down I went  … 


… until turning towards the Tadewara wetlands.

Not sure if I was impressed by the wetlands themselves (they were green but no special flowers in bloom) but the backdrop of Mt Kujo, apparently an other active volcano, was majestic. 

From there it wasn’t very far to the next attraction, a swinging bridge over a small and very deep river with its waterfalls. And although this place is quite hard to reach, it seems relatively popular with bus loads of foreign tourists. 

From there on through small streets, one actually a bit too small (and steep) to be enjoyable to ride… but it fooled me as the beginning of that road (only the first 100m or so) were newly build and thus in perfect shape… to my destination: Yufuin.

Once here I went to the local onsen on a hill behind the main city, with a huge rotenburo (but no internal tubs) ..


… and with the boiling hot onsen water coming out if the ground around it.


And then down to my accommodation 




Wednesday, 8 May 2024

GW2024 D6 through rolling green hills to Kurokawa

Route: Asoshirakawa - Namino - Milk Road - Yamanami Highway- Kurokawa onsen
Bicycle: 59 km 
Total ascent: 1197 m
Average speed: 13,6 km/h
Riding Time: 4:22 h
Weather: surprisingly cold and in the first half of the day some light rain, 14 C


Back on the move after 4 nights in Southern parts of Aso now onwards to Kurokawa onsen, where I stayed a few years ago in a previous trip to Kyushu and enjoyed soaking in different onsen. 

My route today brought me through some very unique landscape, kind of more what I would expect in Hokkaido rather than Kyushu: Rolling green hills. 


Until I came to Yamanami “Highway” the roads had barely any traffic but were good roads. Probably needed for agriculture or they were built when there were more people in this area, but now there is hardly any traffic at all. 

Right when it started to rain I found this school bus stop where I took a rest, ate and onigiri and by the time I had finished the rain had stopped and I continued. 

Rain did restart a bit later, still quite light but for mid May it was surprisingly cold. At the point where Milk Road (probably named after all the dairy farms) joins Yamanami highway (called so probably for the wave-like rolling hills) there was a farm which offered horse riding but also had a restaurant. And warmth! And protection from the drizzle.

Per the weather forecast it should have become more rainy as the day went on, but rather after lunch the rain had stopped and occasionally there were even a few sun rays piercing through the clouds. However I had decided to head directly to Kurokawa onsen to have more time to soak (knowing that the one onsen I wanted to visit closed at 15:00) rather than riding more and potentially getting soaked by rain instead of hot sulfuric water.

Someone build this garden with hundreds of trees carefully carved into shapes. Mostly birds, but also some other forms.

Through more rolling hills to the bottom of Kujo mountain and then downhill to Kurokawa onsen and right into the bliss of Yama-Mizu-Ki onsen. 

They did change the layout a bit since last time o was here but the rotenburo is still very much in the middle of nature. Today even with wild wisteria blooming in the forest across the small stream. When I arrived I was the only person, so took the opportunity for a picture. 

I was there probably around 13:30 and left shortly before 15:00 (when they close for day guests) soaking blissfully in the warm water on a coldish day. And then on to my ryokan in town, which obviously also has an onsen, where when I passed no one was using so I took a picture of that one as well. 

After checkin a quick stroll through the village …

… and then some relaxation time  and more onsen before an early dinner.

Tuesday, 7 May 2024

GW2024 D5 Full circle of Mt. Aso

Route: full circle of Mt Aso
Bicycle: 70 km
Total ascent: 946 m
Average speed: 14.2 km/h
Riding time: 4:57 h
Weather: quite windy, cloudy, 20C


For today my plan was to do a full circle of Mt Aso. There are different ways how to go about it, I took the easiest. 

The day started with a fountain, that gushes out 60 tons of water every hour. If I calculated correctly that’s 1 m3 every minute. And this is only one of the many fountains around here. Not really sure why, but it seems that at the foot of this volcano there are a lot of water fountains in addition to all the hot water fountains. 


My next stop was a strategic stop at a conbini which here are few and far between to stock up on onigiri in case I don’t find a place to have lunch. And then onwards through this very rural landscape that in many places reminds me of Bavaria. Without the riches though. This area here is clearly depopulating and although there is great tourist potential it isn’t enough to keep the place afloat. The other day there was a study published saying that more than 40% (!) of Japanese municipalities will disappear. The ones here seem to be on a straight road to that unfortunate end. 


My third stop of the day was at a shrine that was recommended and has a name impossible to remember: Kamishikimi Kumanooza shrine. A long staircase, even longer than its name leads up to the shrine …


… and then further up to this hole in the mountains ridge. 


From here it was another 6 km or so to the highest point of the ride today.  Unfortunately though the ride down wasn’t very enjoyable due to the strong winds. But the landscape is really nice. 


In Aso I went to visit the famous shrine, which to me looked like any of the bigger shrines in Japan. This one was heavily damaged by the 2016 earthquake and they just completed reconstruction of the big gate. 

From here it was a long ride through the valley battling against the wind. 

My Minshuku owner had warmly recommended a visit to the earthquake disaster museum. The museum was closed today, but one can enter freely the area and see the old Tokai university that was sitting right on top of one major fault line that burst open. 

The day ended with yet another fountain, very close to my Minshuku.