Obon D1 towards fresh air

Route: Yokokawa - Usui pass - Karuizawa
Bicycle: 28 km 
Train: 140 km
Total ascent: 999 m
Average speed: 8,7 km/h (not helped by all the walking I did)
Riding time: 3:15 h
Weather: Sunny and kind of warm but tolerable in the mountains and nice in Karuizawa (at 940 m elevation) 33-28 C 

While you’re up this year is baking in the heat with heat wave upon heat wave, in Japan, it is surprisingly fresh this year. I did write to the office until quite late in July and then again this week it became fresh enough to be able to cycle to work without melting away. So I thought that I would give it a try to have a long weekend away. Since several weeks, I’m kind of feeling that I didn’t take enough vacation this year and really need some time off. Next Tuesday is a local holiday anyway (mountain day), so how better to celebrate by doing a long weekend in the mountains.

Thus, on Thursday, I set out with the help of ChatGPT to check where around Tokyo it would be the best temperature. Initially I had thought about going to Nozawa onsen, A village have been already several times in Nagano prefecture. But the problem is getting there because unfortunately, there are no local trains from Tokyo that go towards Nagano city. You need to take the Shinkansen, which obviously was sold out weeks ago. After all, it is Obon, a traditional holiday in Japan, where many people take off maybe visit the mountains or traditionally visit the grave of their family. By pure luck I found one room at an agreeable price in Karuizawa. Karuizawa is the classical high class summer vacation spot of Tokyo elite. It was “discovered” by an Anglican missionary in 1886. From there, it quickly grew into the favorite spot for the rich and cultured elite of Tokyo to spend their summers. His own summer house has been well maintained and is now open to visitors.

As a exemplary missionary, he obviously also built a church:

Karuizawa is a very peculiar village. It doesn’t feel Japanese.I don’t really know what isn’t Japanese about it but the summer houses are scattered through the forest and it kind of feels like an ideal summer retreat from a 19th century novel.

Quite centrally in the village is also this famous pond:

To get here, I came by train first to Takasaki and then Yokokawa which is the furthest that the normal train line that once existed between the Tokyo area and Karuizawa is still running. Although this week, it was surprisingly fresh in Tokyo, it actually got hotter now. So I did decide against cycling up from Takasaki and took the train as far as possible, just to the base of the climb.

At the station, I went through my summer cycling routine, soaking my T-shirt, completely in water and holding my head under cold flowing water before starting the ride.

There are various roads over the pass towards Nagano prefecture from highway to small winding road over Usui pass. This road is famous for the train bridge that supposedly is evoking glasses:

As the train line no longer runs, one can now walk on the line and through the train tunnels. I have to admit a cycled until the bridge, also it was officially prohibited. But there were only very few pedestrians so really no issue. At the bridge, however there were many more pedestrians and crucially a few guards who insisted that I walk. 

The train road now ends at an abandon station. From there, I had to carry the bicycle over some stairs down to the road. That road is extremely curvy. Quite similar to this tree:

A few meters behind the pass, I found a vending machine and got some cold drinks and had one onigiri in the shade. Until here I had only written about 12 km and it would have been only another 2 km down to my hotel at the station. But I saw a tourist map on that pass and it called out a shrine that wasn’t too far and perfectly reachable from where I was.

A very nice road through the vacation house forest did lead me with many more curves to the shrine. When I first had lunch, some soba noodles, before visiting the actual shrine. The shrine itself to me seemed pretty normal. But it must be quite well liked, because it had a huge shrine shop. 

This was actually a shrine where you kind of needed to walk through the shop to get to the small devotional shrines to pray for the health of your dog or car. 

D3 - back from Kawaguchiko towards Tokyo

Route: Kawaguchiko - Otsuki
Bicycle: 29 km
Train: 80 km
Total ascent: 206 m
Average speed: 15.2 km/h
Riding time: 1:55
Weather: very sunny and hot, 29C

I had so many plans how to return from Kawaguchi to Tokyo:

• through Doshi michi to Hashimoto
• over Ashigara pass to  ShinMatsuda
• over Nagao pass and Kintaro Hakone line to ShinMatsuda
• ...

But finally none of them were put into action due to the heat. While yesterday the temperature was perfect for climbing up Mt. Fuji today it was definitely too hot to enjoy cycling. I got side tracked early on in my route to Yamanakako by the clearly visible Fuji and the pagoda... so I went first to the pagoda to get an iconic picture.

As an iconic place it gets a lot of tourists. But today at least there was a very clear view of Mt. Fuji. Yet some tourists complained that the place was overrated. Well, I guess if you are by train or by car, it is quite cumbersome to come here, just for one picture, but as a cyclist it is kind of okay. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here... but I was in the area anyway. 

But the better view I had on my roll down towards Otsuki at this rice field reflecting Mt. Fuji: 

Otherwise the ride was eventless. I have done this ride down to Otsuki already a number of times... So far I only managed once to cycle back from Mt. Fuji in a meaningful way (I cycled down to the city of Fuji on the Pacific coast), but else I always took a train or just rolled down to Otsuki. I really want to get over Mikuni pass some day. But today was not the day and I was happy with my decision to just get down to Otsuki and home early. It even allowed me to do some gardening tasks in the afternoon in Tokyo and some other things at home on my day off. 

D2 - Fuji Subaru Line

Route: Up to the 5th station of Mt Fuji
Bicycle: 68 km
Total ascent: 1509 m 
Average speed: 13,6 km/h
Riding time: 5 h 
Weather: Sunny , not too warm, not too cold, around 20C

Living in Japan means going up Mount Fuji. Hiking I tried once 31 years ago and only got from the 5th to either the 6th or the 7th station. But by bicycle today, I managed to get up all the way to the 5th station where the road ends.

I had some trepidations about this long climb, but finally it was easily rideable, just very long and I have to admit a little bit boring.

The gradient is relatively stable, I think the steepest section of 1 km was slightly below 9%. There are pillars every kilometer so you have a good idea where you are and they also tell you the expected average gradient for the next kilometer.

Although there are a lot of cyclist going up, and maybe this weekend even more than normally, because next weekend is the  big hill climb challenge… However, there is no vending machine or water up until to the fourth station at 2020 m of elevation. 

The bottle I bought down still in the village at the convenience store was empty after about 6 km. Actually, it wasn’t empty, but I tried not to empty it until I knew where I could find some water. I found on the map a glamping site and was able to get additional drinks from their vending machine. I also asked a cyclist on the route, if he knew some vending machine up, but it turned out that the machine he remembered didn’t exist anymore. Surprisingly, there was no vending machine at the toll gate, where even as a cyclist you need to pay ¥280 as entrance fee. Which is only a 10th of a car.

After that, the “stations” of Mount Fuji start. When I attempted to hike up Mount Fuji back in 1995 it was a very frustrating experience. I knew we started at the fifth station and the tenth station is on the top so you start hiking, and we hiked at night, and after a while you start seeing some lights in the distance and think “okay, great there comes the sixth station”. And so far so good. Then you continue and relatively swiftly after, you see some more lights so I thought “okay, well that’s going better than I thought that must be the seventh station”. But that is not true. It is simply that the sixth station has a lot of different accommodations. I don’t know if I would have managed to get all the way up if I had known in advance, but it was extremely demotivating to be still at the sixth station even after passing so many huts that I always thought “okay, now this must be the seventh station”. So finally, we spent the night on a bench in front of one of those stations. 

For the cyclist cyber this problem doesn’t exist. There are markers every 100 m how much kilometers are missing to the fifth station and also the 1st to 4th station are generally only one. However, really only at the fourth station there is a place where you can buy food and drinks. I actually don’t know about the food. The place was already closed.

I’m writing a lot about drinks rather than my cycling experience. But I have to admit I’m paranoid of running out of water while cycling. I don’t think I ever actually did run out of water and I always have two bottles which probably together are a little bit over 1 L. When the first bottle gets about half empty, I start with my paranoia where I can find some more water. Normally in Japan, this paranoia isn’t very strong, because there’s vending machines everywhere so there is really no risk to run out of drinks. But when I’m in more remote places or on climbs, but I don’t know yet where the vending machines are my paranoia takes hold of me.

Overall, I would say that the climb was relatively boring. It’s never really challenging, which obviously is nice, but except for the last few kilometers there are also no views. So essentially, it’s a long, long road with a median gradient, riding up through a forest. Plus cars, plus buses. While I was riding up, I wasn’t really enjoying it, between my paranoia for the vending machine and the relatively boring uphill. But maybe now that I know where the vending machine is, I would enjoy the ride a little bit more. The downhill was actually quite okay, while long (30 km), it’s not steep. Thus, once I was back at the foot of the mountain, I already wanted to climb up again.

On one of these stations, I ask some cyclists if they knew where to find a vending machine and their tip with the fourth station was correct. As they were already riding downhill, they even shared some of their water with me. Which was very reassuring.

Enough about water, vending machines, and boring climbs. Now some pictures of the day: 

Before starting the climb proper, I had a good view on the target: 

While climbing generally, you do not actually see Mount Fuji. Which makes sense after all you are on the mountain.

 

The second station was the only one without any amenities at all. At the first and the third there was at least a toilet and at the forth: a toilet, a vending machine and a small bar, which had already closed for the day.

Further up one could see the crater. 

And from the fifth station one had a view over the northern Alps, Tokyo, Hakone, etc., etc. it’s always impressive how high mountains can look so low if you are on a much higher mountain.

Back down from the mountain I passed through the Mount Fuji exhibition area. I wasn’t interested enough to actually dedicate some time to it, but maybe for a rainy day. It’s something to keep in mind. Although I wouldn’t really know why I would be here on a rainy day.

 

Before finishing the day, I wanted to have a last look on Mount Fuji and gave a quick spin around a small part of lake Kawaguchi. Before heading back to my hotel and soaking in the hot onsen. 

D1 - Fuji 4 lakes

Route: Kawaguchiko - Saiko - Motosuko - Shojiko 
Bicycle: 67 km
Train: 100 km
Total ascent: 392 m
Average speed: 18,9 km/h
Riding time: 3:32 h
Weather: very sunny, windy, 25C

My company gives an additional day of vacation during the month of your birthday. I can see in the weather forecast that from mid next week the rainy season seems to start, and it is going to get humid and then probably hot.well, this weekend it is very sunny no rain forecast at all and not yet too hot. So I took my birthday leave day on Monday 1st of June. I also still had some vouchers from furusato nozei for hotels in Kawaguchiko. Surprisingly, it was no problem to find a relatively cheap room at short notice in a hotel with a rotenburo right in Kawaguchiko.

I had originally planned to take the train only to Hashimoto and then to cycle on Doshi Street over the mountains to Yamanakako and then over here to Kawaguchiko. But when I arrived at the station close to my house to take the train and disassemble the bike, it was already relatively warm at 8 am in the morning. So instead, I decided to take the train all the way to Kawaguchiko, which is much higher and presumably a little bit colder.and I think that was a good decision. Not only because of the slightly lower temperatures but also because I could cycle today around four of the lakes around Mount Fuji and have absolutely splendid views of the mountain. While I actually don’t really like Doshi Street as it has its fair share of cars and trucks.

I have been here before around all these lakes, both with very good views of Mount Fuji, as well as on a very rainy summer day with absolutely no view of the mountain. Today initially at Kawaguchiko Mount Fuji was partially behind clouds, but as the day progressed the clouds were swept away by very strong wind and a naked Mount Fuji appeared in the distance over the lakes.

Recently on Netflix, there was a Japanese TV series about an alien  living and working in a simple hotel around Mount Fuji. I always suspected that the hotel was on lake Shoji. And today I passed in front of it. It’s a typical hotel of this area quite outdated, but in a beautiful location.

I had no idea that this television series was so famous, and that people come here to take pictures of the locations where it was filmed. But I was clearly not the only person taking a picture of that hotel.

At the lake in front of the hotel, I had my onigiri and then continued back to Kawaguchi to my hotel.

I didn’t only see this apparently famous film location, but also the much more famous Lawson with Mount Fuji in the back. I had always assumed that that Lawson was somewhere around Gotenba but instead, it’s a few meters from Kawaguchiko station.I did not take a picture, but took a picture of another Lawson much closer to my hotel where I got my dinner and breakfast for tomorrow.

For tomorrow, the plan is to ride up Mount Fuji. Let’s see how that will go. 

GW2026 D8 coast line of Kunisaki peninsula

Route: Kunimimachi - Oita airport - Kitsuki
Bicycle: 32 km
Bus: 15 km
Total elevation: 351 m

Average speed: 14,8 km/h
Riding time: 2:10 h
Weather: Sunny, 20C , very windy but tailwind

Today the plan was to cycle on to Kitsuki, about 40-50 km from my lodging of the night for the last two days of this Golden Week trip. I hadn’t fully decided if to cycle along the coast or halfway up on the “orange road”, but the lady from the accommodation recommended the coastal road at least initially, and yes, it was very nice. Probably the one yesterday was also nice, but as I was riding through the rain much less enjoyable. So to the first village and conbini I cycled down along the coast and even found after a few kilometers a cycling path. 

On the side of the bicycle road they were also sun drying the local seaweeds we had for dinner yesterday.

From there I tried the “orange road”, but it was just a normal hillside / countryside road. No oranges and crucially no views of the sea. So after a bit I returned down to the coast. 

There were some nice stone formations on the shore…

… one called “buttocks stone”:

 

After not too long however my gear cable snapped leaving me stuck in the hardest gear. I replanned my route to have as little elevation gain as possible and probably would have been able to make it to Kitsuki under my own “steam”… but I had an accident at the UFO sight. Yes, Oita airport has a real UFO and “red men”… and a sight of departing aircraft.

When I was just about to depart the chain got stuck between the frame and small gear and I fell off. Luckily it was on a very quiet parking lot, so no danger and a biker was at hand who helped me deentangle from the bike. At this point I had lost my confidence in riding with broken gears and had a bleeding knee, so I walked the about 500 m down to the airport where the friendly ladies at the information desk gave me disinfectant and wound tape. 

I packed up my bicycle already in “Shinkansen” position, ie with both wheels removed and took the bus to Kitsuki. By pure luck, the beer is a bus stop right outside of my lodging and they let me in early. So really perfect place to fall from my bike. And perfect timing as I don’t need to move anywhere tomorrow before returning on Wednesday by train to Tokyo. 

 

GW2026 D6 TOTO toilet museum

Route: Shimonoseki - Kokura - Buzen

Bicycle: 82 km

Walking: 780 m (from Honshu to Kyushu)

Total ascent: 818 m

Average speed: 15,1 km/h

Riding time: 5:26 h

Weather: Sunny but overcast, 26C

 

Today only had one highlight and a lot of lowlights. 

Highlight: TOTO toilet museum

Lowlights: 

• all the traffic between Shimonoseki until way beyond Kokura. It took 50 km+ to get into a region without big streets and lots of cars, and only because I managed to veer off the coast to a road halfway up to mountain. 
• The chemical smell dominating well beyond Kokura and being extremely strong in Kokura city. Not really sure how people would want to live there. 

Starting from my hotel I road a few more km in Yamaguchi, taking in the view of the bridge connecting Honshu with Kyushu…

… while I took the pedestrian tunnel. 

On the other side of the tunnel is Mojiko, a port city that seems to have some Western history. At least around the port and station area there are multiple Western style old houses. 

From there it was a struggle through traffic to get to the toilet museum. I had known about this museum since I first cycled in Kyushu during my Tour of Japan in 2017, but back then I was nowhere close to it. A few years ago when I was cycling around Mt Aso and Oita I had considered going, but again it was out of the way. So finally! 

The museum is in the middle of the TOTO plant, a modern building.

The museum explains the story of Toto and its associated companies producing everything with ceramics, from plates to construction material and parts of electronics, but also toilets and full baths. 

This is the first sitting toilet produced in Japan:

And this the first washlet, now omnipresent in Japanese houses. 

What is always surprising how much ceramics shrink firing:

There was however also a Sumo wrestler and a children option:

When I built my house last year I had so many choices to make, but for the toilet I had decided ahead of time to go with TOTO, as TOTO is for me the definition of Japanese toilets. I am sure that the LIXIL toilet would have been just as good. While with my TOTO bathroom I am really happy, as it has a slightly soft floor. 

After the toilet museum it was back to the traffic and the air pollution. Frankly the roads or route got a bit better, but still not really enjoyable for a cycling trip. I had even considered taking a train to my final destination, but weather was good so I did work up the courage to continue cycling. Only the last 20 km or so were in small vials and the countryside but only because I managed to swear off the main roads onto a tertiary road through the foothills of some mountain. 

PS: so now I finally made it to THE toilet museum, which I thought was unique… and what does the competition do? Open an other toilet museum! https://www.japan-guide.com/blog/raina/260313.html

GW2026 D5 onto Shimonoseki in the rain

Route: Ichinomata onsen to Shimonoseki
Bicycle: 57 km
Total ascent: 596 m
Average speed:15,4 km/h
Riding time: 3:42 h
Weather: mostly rain, 15 C 

Today more rain. It didn’t rain all the time , but enough to not allow for any real sightseeing. I think the biggest “discovery“ of the day was , how much traffic there is around Shimokoseki. After the last few days where even some national roads were small tracks, this came as a bad surprise. Cycling out of Yamaguchi was much better, not a lot of traffic and quickly outside of town. While Shimonoseki is a very long town, that O needed to cross completely. 

I started the day with a quick visit to the onsen before ryokan breakfast. By the time I was ready to depart the rain had stopped since a few minutes  but it wouldn’t stay so. 

My first goal was a wisteria tree I found on Google Maps, but not in reality and on the rain I wasn't motivated to search for it, shortly after I had my first conbini stop. While getting something hot to drink the rain had stopped. Shortly after the conbini stop was the highlight of the day: 

According to an app on my phone it’s a tung oil tree and apparently poisonous. But those flowers were magnificent. I don’t remember ever seeing this tree before  , at least not with flowers. 

Shortly after was a stop in a gorge. It was however too slippery with the rain and fallen leaves to walk alongside the stream. I got “on the road” (aka “very small path theoretically passable for a car”) and walked a bit up until I came to a small waterfall. 

It’s probably nice in autumn with some colors on the trees.

After lunch it started raining again just to cease once much closer to Shimonoseki. The town seems to be famous for this tower and for fugu!

Fugu simply everywhere. As a lamp in the onsen of the hotel, on the manholes, on an other lamp in the onsen and there is the statue to the fugu in front of the main station.