SW D3 Matsuyama and Matsudai art

Route : Tokamachi - Shikawatari - Matsunoyama - Matsudai
Bicycle: 43 km
Train: 15 km
Total ascent: 739 m
Average speed: 13,7 km/h
Riding time: 3:10 h
Weather: sunny and getting hit again, 32C

Yesterday at the Monet museum I asked the friendly lady at the reception for suggestions of art work to see plus I had seen a picture of a old house from which an enormous bubble emerges which I found curious. 

Today I didn’t start that early and while a few hours extra sleep where nice it also meant that I was still out there when it really got hot. although truth be told, while it is hot, it isn’t unbearably hot, just about bearable. When I looked at the map yesterday to plan the ride,  I saw a a street on the other side of the valley, which seemed to have potentially less traffic than the road on this side. So I decided to take it, and it was great, part of it was actually kind of closed. Maybe not really closed but definitely again the road that isn’t been transited by anyone. Luckily, I also did not run into a bear. 

From Shikawatashi I started uphill, but soon found the first artwork.

Actually, only the first of these shows an artwork. And only a small piece of that picture is a artwork. Mostly it is a Tepco installation for Hydro power. And frankly speaking, the industrial installation was much more interesting than the art. The second picture isn’t art at all. It is a damn against landslides and avalanches. But in the context of the art triennial anything can seem art. While some of the art doesn’t seem right at all.

I continued further uphill and found three other small exhibition, places within close proximity. I have the impression that except the two purpose built, museums in Tokamachi and Matsudai, anll exhibitions are either in abandoned school buildings, or abandoned houses.And abandoned school houses are very abundant. In general in Japan, and in this area that is very rural, and not well-connected even more so. In one of the buildings, there was a long explanation about the history of the school building, it started as a small school at the end of the 19th century, then grew and grew before reaching its peak shortly after the second world war. From there, it was a continuous decline and probably from the 90s onwards bottomless fall. Number of students diminishing so far that school got combined and closed. I read somewhere recently studied by the Japanese government that says that about 40% of all Japanese municipalities will disappear. 

The other sort of venues are abandoned houses, of which there is no lack in the countryside in Japan. This artwork here with a web of strings through the entire building kind of captured this feeling of loss. 

I’m not sure, but I suspect that some of these houses will only host this one installation, will not survive until the next annual, and no one will remove the installation. This house here already in Matsudai, at the end of my ride today, felt like a capitalist nightmare. The entire house covered in fake gold, Mahjong tiles, game automat, and more gold.Removing all the decoration to reuse this building for something else would seem a total waste of time, knowing how many abandoned buildings there are in this area and in general in Japan.

But back to the house with the bubble. Curiously called China house.I have no idea why it has absolutely no obvious connection with China. This is how the bubble from the inside looks.

Close by there was another abundance school now used as an exhibition facility. Unfortunately, the school was abundant before it got installed air-conditioning so it was actually quite hot inside.

There was a bath inside, but not off refreshing water, but instead of wooden balls. Much harder to get out than the IKEA balls.

I have been recommended another Place in the area, called “the teachers house”, But by the time I had finished with the exhibition and the schoolhouse, I felt quite hot and decided to just ride downhill to Matsudai. The museum there looks a little bit like a spaceship that landed in the middle of rice paddies. In the coffee, I had a cold drink and a small piece of cake, but in an art project even that can look like art.

And thanks to the advancements in AI technology, I was even able to raise my foot that was standing in the picture and disturbing the artistic vibe.

But it was also nice landscape today…

 

… some even without any art in it.

Even at this museum, I was still feeling relatively hot and why it was getting a bit more bearable outside. I also saw that there’s a very long tunnel between Matsudai and Tokamachi, and I have no idea if it is nice to ride with a bike or not. So I gave into the temptation and took the train back to Tokamachi and then only cycled back the last few kilometers to my ryokan.

SW D2 Yuzawa - Tokamachi

Route: Yuzawa - Karekimata - Tokamachi
Bicycle: 62 km
Total ascent: 1007 m
Average speed: 13,8 km/h
Riding time: 4:30 h
Weather: sunny in the morning, rainy after lunch, 30 C

On my second day of this trip I made it over the mountains to Tokamachi. I started extremely early today, not so much because of the heat, but because there was rain forecast starting in the early afternoon, and I didn’t want to be still in the mountains when the rain started.

I had planned a ride on what seemed to be a relatively small road up into the mountains. It wasn’t only small, it was not frequented at all. In the entire time I climbed up I met only one person. 

On the top of the mountain, the small road joined what I thought was going to be a little bit of a bigger road, but it was still very small and very remote. So remote that the school in the village has closed many years ago, but it’s now being used as one of the venues of the art festival.

There is an exhibition inside. But it only opens at 10 o’clock and I was there around probably 8:30 in the morning. But there was also a small shop, if you can call something a shop where as a customer, you are also responsible for collecting the money. But it was perfect. I got a bottle of mugicha, had a second breakfast close to a round rice paddy field/artwork and then climbed up a few meters to a very small shrine in front of which there were some more art works.

From there, it was mainly downhill, except the parts where it was uphill. On the way, I passed a few other artworks some of them didn’t tell me anything.

And some others were simply fun, but it’s probably saying too much that they are art.

On Google maps I had seen a recommendation for a viewpoint over rice paddies, and while I had already seen nice landscape and rice paddies from my small roads, I still went there. The road was quite loose gravel so after pushing the bike for a while I gave up and left the bike on the side of the road and continued by foot uphill until the viewpoint. 

The next art stop was Ubusuna an old kominka straight from a Ghibli film. 

Where some energetic elder ladies have a small restaurant and prepare very good and filling lunch. The artwork itself inside was so so, I would say any school project given sufficient time would be able to produce something similar.

Right after I finished lunch, the rain started. And it started with a downpour. I waited a little bit, but it didn’t seem that it would stop raining very soon so after a while, I donned my Castelli jacket and the rain cap for the helm and started riding downhill to the next Art installation. 

I had bought the ticket for the art festival online, but you still need to get the actual ticket, and it’s only available in a few locations and none of them was in Yuzawa  which would have been very convenient. So at Ubusuna they made me pay again, while at this house already down in the valley the guard took pity on this solitary cyclist in the rain and let me in anyway. 

Finally I made it to the Monet, the main art museum of the area and got my actual ticket. I also looked around a little bit but decided against actually going into the museum. Thinking about doing this on Friday as weather seems to be unfriendly then. 

Last time I was here I remember this enormous pool in the middle. I remember it was a very hot day and it was refreshing to sit on the shores of the museum relaxing and cooling down a bit. Today instead I decided  to go to the onsen that is in the same building. One of the few museums with onsen, I am sure. But not the only “strange” installation with an onsen. In Tsunan station is also an onsen. 

SW D1 - Jomokogen to Yuzawa through Mikunikaido

Route: Jomokogen - Naeba - Yuzawa
Bicycle: 72 km
Train: 170 km

Total Ascent: 1100 m
Riding time: 4:40 h

Average speeds: 15 km/h
Weather: hot and sunny, but just about bearable, 33 C

An other long week of vacation. Next Monday and the Monday after are local holidays (Respect for the Elderly and Autumn Holidays) so with only 4 additional days I am off for 10 days. 

This year again is the Art Triennial in Echigo Tsumari and I both like the type of art exhibited there and the landscape so I planned my trip here several weeks ago. I did plan an alternative trip to Akita and Aomori as well, just in case if the weather here is going to be dreadful for the entire week. but the weather here seems to be OK until at least the end of the week, so a few days ago, I canceled the reservations up in the north. 

For the first day, I went by Shinkansen to Jomokogen. One of the small Shinkansen station that one wonders why they exist, but actually quite a lot of people got off at that stop. From a very full Shinkansen, where there was only standing room and even that was relatively limited.

My end goal of the day was a little beyond the next Shinkansen stop so probably if I would have remained on board, I would have been here 10 - 15 minutes later but instead I assembled the bike, had a second breakfast and then did start the ride over the Mikuni Kaido. 

Mikuni Kaido is one of the historic routes in Japan that the daimyo took to Tokyo (Edo). The modern Street is well maintained and does not have too much traffic. It’s not a remote road, but quite OK to ride. The real traffic now goes through a long tunnel on a highway through a different mountain, so only the more local people and a lot of motorcyclist use this road for local transport and sightseeing. 

 On my way down I came through this ski village outside of ski season, which just looks terrible. Maybe it is my imagination, but European ski villages don’t look that abandoned in summer. 

This picture instead is on its way down. Actually already midway down, but still a great view. 

I am staying in the same village, but different Hotel, as 2 years ago when I last came here for the triennial. Reading back through that post I realize how much I got used to the rinko bag. Now it takes me about 8 min or probably less to get it into the bag. It did help that I bought a new bag that is slightly bigger and much easier to fit. 

For tonight the bike can sleep with the skis. 

O-bon cycling

Day 1

Route: Hashimoto - Miyagase Dam area - Hashimoto
Bicycle: 57 km
Train: 70 km
Total Ascent: 784 m
Average Speed: 16.5 km/h
Riding Time: 3:14 h
Weather: Hot and sunny

Thanks to the very hot ride with ICON in Hungary this year, I discovered a way how to ride also in summer. Not in the total heat... but in somewhat more moderate heat: soak the entire t-shirt in cold water, put it on cold... and repeat every hour or so. 

And well... getting up very, but very early! 

It has been too much time without cycling, so today I got up really early in the morning (around 4:30) took the second train of the day out to Hashimoto and was on the bike already at 6:45 before it is getting way too hot in the plains to cycle. And up I went to Miyagase dam. Stopping by the conbini in front of Ogino pan, which at that early morning hour wasn't open yet. And then further up to the dam. 

I would have wanted to ride up to Yabitsu toge, but unfortunately the road is closed since a few weeks (I kind of knew from people I follow on Strava). So instead I went to explore further some very small roads a bit behind the dam. Roads that lead to absolutely nowhere but are very nicely in the shade and thanks to not leading anywhere have very little traffic. They do get a bit of traffic though as there is a fishing spot which seems to be quite popular. 

I have since been back in this area later in August... but not only wasn't the road to Yabitsu toge yet repaired (they had it closed for quite some time in the winter this year to repair it... just to close it again in early July... probably due to a land slide), nor was the other road cleared yet of the landslide that had come down there back in June/July. Actually when I went again at the end of August, that  road was closed even further down. So while I like the area and these small roads, I'd like the climb to be a bit longer. Let's hope they don't give up on that road and repair the landslide... but not sure... I am not having high hopes, as that small road doesn't lead anywhere... so not sure if the local government really wants to invest money into it. At least the one over Yabitsu toge, I guess will be reopened again, as that one is a proper road. 

I came down the mountain, had an obligatory fried sweet bread at Ogino pan and then down to Hashimoto on the big road (probably not the best decision) and back home where I arrived to a cool shower and air conditioning before 13:00 and then had a good long nap. 

Day 2

Route: Ome - Kosuge - Saruhashi
Bicycle: 56 km
Train: 130 km
Total Ascent: 856 m
Average Speed: 17.6 km/h
Riding Time: 3:12 h
Weather: Hot and sunny

After the success yesterday, I decided to go for mountains again today, this time to the Okutama region, again knowing the roads are nicely in the shadows of the forest. 

Today I got up even earlier than yesterday, as I had a longer train ride and was in the saddle with my soaking wet t-shirt shortly before 7:00 heading up the road to Okutama. I didn't have a precise plan and but thought that if it wasn't too hot on the lake side, I would continue up to Kosuge and then through the long tunnel and down the Otsuki side. I had done that ride with a friend last year, and remembered that the tunnel didn't have a lot of traffic and that the descent on the other side wasn't too steep and on a well maintained, wide road. 

In Kosuge, there is a small shop that sells filled buns, with a surprisingly large variation of tastes. I got myself one and ate it nearly on the top of the mountain in a nice a shady location sitting on some huge sandbags on the road side. 

Before the descent I came by this small shrine on the hillside: 

Surprisingly the descent was quite hot. I had stopped at a toilet on the descent but opted against soaking again the t-shirt (something I had done multiple times on the way up), thinking that a descent shouldn't be so hot with all the wind and not much pedaling involved, but hot air is still hot. Anyway, I made it down to Saruhashi station, where I arrived in good time to pack up the bicycle and head back home for an other long nap in the afternoon. 

Overall very enjoyable and to be repeated. 

D3 to temple #34

Route: Otaki - Temple #34 - Chichibu
Bicycle: 63 km
Train: 70 km
Total ascent: 924 m
Average speed: 15.9 km/h
Riding time: 4:00 h
Weather: surprisingly cool and rainy in the hills, dry in the valley, 20 C

For this last day I was considering various options between riding all the way back to Tokyo or riding more into the mountains. Finally I decided that I would stay here in the mountains and take the express train back from Chichibu to Ikebukuro. After all, cycling on boring Arakawa I could do anytime (but I don't), while cycling in the mountains around Chichibu I can do only when here. 

In the night it had rained, but by breakfast time the rain had stopped and just left atmospheric clouds in the mountains across the road.

The ride started downhill, first on a road with a bit of traffic, but soon I took a turn and traffic became lighter. After a while I came by a temple, that wasn't on my plan... but hey, it was right at the road side. It wasn't anything special, but the guardian deity looked dutifully scary.

Soon I turned on a much smaller street with practically no traffic, so my fear of bears set in again. And up and up it went. 

Until reaching on the very top of that street above the village of Minano (皆野 - literally: everyone's field) a overpriced (at least for a rainy day) BBQ place. This was huge, specially in Japan. A huge outdoor terrace (and actually no indoor part at all) with a live music stage, a woodfired outdoor oven (where my sausages were grilled), and places to have your own BBQ. On a weekend this place must be teeming, specially with bikers. However it was Monday and rainy so I was the only customer. I say rainy, because, well it was wet... but it wasn't really rain. It was simply that I was in the cloud, so it was wet. But further down the valley there wasn't any rain. 

On the downhill I had seen in google maps a waterfall. Just before arriving to it, I saw more waterfalls indicated... and cycled up again... trying to see those. But the footpath in the forest was a bit too adventurous for my liking, so I turned back. Didn't want to fall down in the middle of a wet forest with warning signs of bears. 

However the main waterfall was right at the street. Per their self advertisement it has been selected as one of 10 best waterfalls in Japan. I have no idea who voted for this waterfall. It isn't bad, but for making it to the best 10, the voting must have been rigged. Kind of confirmed by the list of the other 9 waterfalls, which didn't contain Nachi Falls or other very famous waterfalls. Anyway, this one seemed to be famous enough. It had a good sized parking lot (for being in the middle of nowhere), a public toilet, a ice cream seller (on weekends only) and a tea house and souvenir shop (also on weekends only I presume). And there were even other visitors apart from me on this wet Monday. Someone who seemed to dress up to shoot some special photos. 

BTW, note the Buddha figure on top of the waterfall. 

Now finally to temple #34 of the Chichibu pilgrimage. I had done several other temples in the past, but last time I gave up on cycling up to temple #34 as it was too hot for me. Although it was October! 

Now looking at my pictures, I realize I didn't take a single picture of the actual temple #34. But I did take a picture of a buddha on the grounds. Frankly, the temple itself, seemed pretty average. The monk was kind of expecting me to want a goshuin, but I actually don't collect them. 

Down into the valley and then through a secondary valley full with poppy fields (and potato fields), I cycled back to Chichibu station. I was resting on the wayside when a local farmer came home with a big cart full with freshly harvested potatoes. A short time after, she went back to her field, but did bring me a freshly cooked potato, which was very tasty. 

At Chichibu station a few years ago an onsen opened annexed to the station. Which for a cyclist is kind of ideal. The onsen is a new supersento and I can imagine that on weekends it can be quite full, but not so on a Monday early afternoon. It had several pools outside, however they decided to fill most of them with brightly pink coloured water. Artificial onsen water with the best qualities (per their description) and evoking the "shiba-sakura". Call me a traditionalist... but I am not fond of pink coloured water. 

D2 Mistumine Jinja

Route: Otaki - Mitsuminejinja and back
Bicycle: 50 km
Total ascent: 1046 m
Average speed: 14,7 km/h
Riding time: 3:25 h
Weather: cloudy and fresh, 22 C

I came here without any specific plan. So yesterday evening on the suggestion of the owner of the guest house I looked into Mitsumine jinja, which seems to be very famous in the area. He said that the climb up was very difficult, but in Komoot it didn’t look that terrible. Just a few red sections but otherwise similar to a lot of other climbs I have done. So I settled for it.

The day started with breakfast out on the street in front of the guest house  and then I collected my cloths I had washed yesterday under the shower and dried over night using the bicycle as a rack. 

The guesthouse apparently was a ryokan in the past when this village (per the information displayed at its entrance) was a thriving place on the main street between Saitama and Yamanashi. However since this region has become pretty remote, although there is still a considerable amount of traffic on the road. 

The house is very old and for sure outside of any building regulations. One needs to tread carefully but it’s very atmospheric. 

I set off after breakfast climbing and climbing. This was a picture somewhere halfway up the climb. 

Before reaching the top there was a long row of cars waiting for the parking lot, but s as a cyclist I passed them all. Surprisingly there wasn’t any bicycle parking space, at least no official one, and well admittedly I did only see 3 cyclists the entire day. It’s probably simply a bit too difficult to reach from Tokyo. 

The entrance gate is a 3 entrance torii, apparently something quite unique, as are the wolves. 

Here people were praying to the 3 high peaks around. If I understood it correctly this is (yet another) origin of Japan. 

The actual entrance to the shrine is this massive colorful gate.

Also the shrine itself is very colorful and full of carvings. 

While I was still looking at the shrine it started raining ever so slightly plus it was surprisingly cold, so I didn’t linger too long and mar my way back downhill. At the bottom of the climb along a dam I met this local family:

These are only 3 members of the family, there were many more around. 

I had thought about riding a bit more to a dam, but the road I had chosen was so small, that I was a bit unsure if it was a good idea to ride there all alone, so instead I continued downhill, had a break at the only conbini of the valley and then entered into Otaki onsen. A simple onsen with 2 indoor pools, however one with a huge open wi Dow over the river and narrow valley. The water was very smooth and silky. 

After this proper test, I continued downhill for another 6 km and returned to my guesthouse and tonight’s dinner outside on the street. 

The place is incredible cheap. 11040 yen for 2 nights and half board. 

D1 From Hanno to Chichibu Tama Kai National park

Route: Hanno - Sanno pass - Yamabushi pass - Chichibu - Otaki
Bicycle: 67 km 
Train: 45 km

Average speed: 16.1 km/h
Total ascent: 884 m
Total riding time: 4:08 h
Weather: sunny and warm but not yet humid hot, 28 C

It is crazy. I woke up in the biggest metropolis of this planet with nearly 38 million inhabitants (in the entire Tokyo area). Took a train from the third most busy train station in the world (Shibuya station) for just one hour and then cycled 60 km and ended up in a village so small, that the owner of the hostel puts the dinner tables outside on the street as there is absolutely no traffic.

This trip to Chichibu is thanks to me searching a house in Tokyo. That doesn’t sound logical, right. Well , I am looking for a piece of land close to where I am living now and then to build a new house to my specifications there. I went last weekend to see a model house exhibition where there is a house from a company I liked the material they sent me. Very Japanese houses. They had an actual house they just finished building which one could go and see before it is handed over to the new owners. And that was in Hanno . I saw that weather this weekend was still okay, not too humid hot, so decided to make it into a long weekend as I needed to take anyway a day of vacation in June for my “birthday vacation allowance”. 

So off to Hanno it was, where I first visited the house.

Then changed back into my cycling clothes, had a quick conbini lunch and started the ride only at around 12:00. Up it was over Sanno pass (I came up here nearly 2 years ago with some other cyclists I had organized) …

.. and then gradually up into the mountains with a few stops (there were a lot of public toilets along the road) and finally over Yamabushi pass. 

I didn’t take that many pictures. The area is nice, but also not THAT nice to stop continuously to take pictures.

Riding down towards Chichibu I stumbled over one of the 33 (or is it 34?) temples of the pilgrimage. This one in the middle of a cement factory.