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For me, Japan is one of the most fascinating countries in the world. Japan has so much to offer to foreign tourists: great towns and cities, beautiful countryside, mountains, history, and food. Above all, these are the Japanese people who are most special and welcoming.

Bicycle Trip in Japan in Numbers

#	Date	From	To	Via	Distance	Climb
1	May 12	Kyoto	Takayama	Train
2	May 13	Takayama	Gero	Route 98	53 Km	897 m
3	May 14	Gero	Yaotsu	Route 83	72 Km	1214 m
4	May 15	Yaotsu	Gifu	Minokamo	70 Km	533 m
5	May 16	Gifu	Hikone	Route 303	93 Km	1191 m
6	May 17	Hikone	Takashima	Route 303	65 Km	542 m
7	May 18	Takashima	Kyoto	Route 367	82 Km	1308 m
8	May 19	Kyoto	Kyoto		28 Km

Bike Trip in Japan – Day by Day

Day 1: Kyoto to Takayama – By Train

After renting our bicycles, we took them by hand from our hotel (El Inn Kyoto) to Kyoto train station, and boarded on the morning direct train to Takayama. It takes the train about 4 hours to reach its destination. We disembarked the train at Takayama station, unpacked and rebuilt the bikes and rode to our Hotel. On the way, we stopped for a short coffee break at a lovely local coffee shop.

It was rainy in the evening, and we decided to leave the bike stored in the hotel and went for a short visit to the lovely city of Takayama. Later in the evening, we spend a quiet evening in the Takayama Kanko Hotel's Onsen.

Day 2: Takayama to Gero Onsen – A Warm-up Day

The rain was over, and finally, we were ready for our bicycle trip to Japan.

The first riding day was the right time to get used to our new bikes and to riding on the left side of the road. During our trip, we tried to avoid the main roads and to use side roads. Although our bikes were equipped with road tires, there were times when we rode on unpaved surfaces.

Route 41 is famous for its spectacular scenery. Luckily, there is a long and quite wide sideway designed for bicycles (not marked, though) that we could use. On some parts of the road, the sideway appears on the right side of the road, and sometimes it discontinues and continues on the opposite side.

Trying to avoid the busy road (and to please Dror, who is always looking for steep climbs), we've road along route 98, a mountain road that is climbing on steep mountains, visiting lakes and ski areas, and descending back to the valley, joining route 41 and route 88, directly to Gero Onsen, for a great welcome in our hotel - Suimeikan.

It was a long, enjoyable riding day: what an opening for a great riding week!

Day 3: Gero Onsen to Yaotsu – Losing my wallet, Steep Climbing to Yaotsu

We've started the day visiting Shirakawago Gassho Zukuri Museum. Then we rode again along Route 41, visiting small villages along the way.

At one point in time, I realized that my wallet was missing. We have suspected that it was left near a 'nimono-machine' (drinks machine) in the village of Hida Kanayama, but we were not sure if this was the place. It was too late to return to Hida Kanayama from where we were. We've decided to challenge the Japanese people's reputation to bring back lost valuables that they find.

At Shirakawa junction we left Route 41, turned East via Route 62 to Route 68, and started climbing the mountains north of Yaotsu, along the steep curves of Route 83.

After (almost) every long climb, there is a long descent, and though we've found ourselves, at the end of another challenging and enjoyable day in the warm and welcoming hands of Sato San, 4th generation of managing lovely Matsuya Ryokan. Sato san heard the story about the lost wallet: her advice was to contact the local 'Koban' (police station) and file a claim. We were so tired and hungry, and it was very helpful that the policeman did not force me to visit the station. Instead, I gave him all the details over the phone.

15 minutes after – the message came: The Wallet Has Been Found!

Day 4: Yaotsu to Gifu – From Chiune Sugihara Memorial Museum to Shirakawa River

Today's weather was hot and humid. We climbed the hills of route 418 towards Suguhara Hill of Humanity, to visit this important Chiune Sugihara Memorial Museum. It tells the heroic story of Sugihara San, a minister in the Japanese foreign office that was stationed in Lithuania during the 2'nd World War. By doing his brave actions, Sugihara San saved the lives of around 6000 Jews.

Trying to clear our disturbing thoughts, and while descending back along routes 418 and 83, we were looking for a place to rest: a coffee break would be perfect!

Kato San is a retired JAS Captain who decided to fulfill a long-time dream and to open a coffee restaurant. It is located in front of the gasoline station just after crossing the Kiso River, on Route 83. If you have the time to visit Kato San's place, you will find there not only good coffee and excellent homemade cheesecake but also a warm welcome.

After this short break we continued our ride along villages and rice fields, towards Minokamo city, as my wallet was waiting there in the local 'Koban' (police station). Did we talk about Japanese efficiency?

During the rest of the day we rode along beautiful countryside roads and along Nagara River, which led us to our next rest station: Nagaragawa Sports Plaza, in Gifu.

Day 5: Gifu to Hikone – Urban Ride, Steep Climbs, Steep Descends

There is a quite flat road that goes from Gifu to Biwa Lake, but again we have decided to take a much quieter and more picturesque mountain road. The first flat 15 miles of urban ride did not give us the right clue about what to expect in the 2'nd half of the day. As we left the urban area and headed south, along Route 365, the calm weather changed and became very windy. At some parts of the ride, we could not develop more than the minimum speed to stay stable on the bikes.

The way up to the mountain pass along route 306 was steep and long, but there was another difficulty: a flat tire that I had on the way up, one that developed slowly and was hard to recognize until a late stage. Going down from Taga Pass to Hikone was a great reward for our climbing efforts. We spent the night at Hikone Castle Resort & Spa.

Day 6: Hikone to Takashima – Along Biwa Lake, Coffee with the French Guy

We've started the day visiting Hikone Castle. Take a look:

We rode along the east bank of Lake Biwa, trying to stay near the water. It was a lovely Sunday, and many families and couples were out traveling. We met many bicycle riders on the way.

At some point we left the coastal road and rode along a nice peninsula on scenic route 557. On the trees and near the lake many monkeys probably wanted to spend some quality time with their families on such a sunny day.

As we left route 557 we found ourselves in a very nice coffee shop that is lying just on the waterfront of Lake Biwa, in Makinohigashi. Quite music of Lora Johns in a Japanese antique shop a very welcoming Japanese couple, and the calmness of Lake Biwa were the perfect cast for our meeting with a French guy who has decided to take a several-month break from his intensive life as a civil engineer in Tokyo and to cross Japan on his touring bike, just before making some important decisions in his life.

We spent the night at Grand Park Hotel Okibiwako Makino, near Makino station, east of the city of Takashima. It is a lovely place, located just 100 yards from the lake.

Day 7: Takashima to Kyoto – Along the Holly Valley, Up and Down to Kyoto

We left Lake Biwa heading north along route 303, then headed west along route 367 which is lying on a long valley, on the way to Kyoto. As always, we've decided to be "creative" and from time to time we've left the main road and taken the small, countryside roads so that we could see the "real" Japan and the Japanese people living in the countryside. If you plan to follow this route you need to be aware that unlike the rest of the main roads, route 367 does not have any bicycle sideways.

After crossing the pass, about 650m above sea level, we've started a long and nice descent to the historic city of Kyoto. The scenery of the countryside was changed to a more populated area, but Kyoto does not look like other cities: in many parts of the city it still has the look and feel of a small village.

Day 8: A day trip in Kyoto – Visiting Kyoto's Temples

Today was our last riding day in Japan, so we planned a relaxed and enjoyable urban bike ride.

We’ve started by visiting Ryoanji Temple. Thereafter we've visited Kinkakuji Temple. After crossing the city from West to East along small roads, canals, and coffee shops we visited Jinkakuji Temple.

Going down from Jinkakuji Temple we rode along the "Route of Philosophy" and some other temples. It was a great day that left us with a hunger for more days like this in Japan.

To finalize our day (and our 8 days of bicycle trip in Japan) we've returned the rental bikes to Kevin from CycleOsaka.com, who together with his business partner Sam, are expanding their bicycle rental business from Osaka to Kyoto as well. After celebrating our achievement by drinking a cold bear with Kevin ("Kampai"!) – we returned to our special Ryukan in Kyoto to spend a quiet night in Japan.

Trip Preparations

Bicycles

Renting bikes in Japan was a complicated task. As our trip was relatively short, we thought that it would be best to avoid bringing our bikes with us and to rent touring bikes locally. However, it was very difficult to find a bicycle store or a bicycle rental agency that rented any bicycles other than simple city bikes suited for urban day trips.

Luckily there was one positive answer to our unusual Email request. It was from Sam, who runs with his business partner Kevin a successful bicycle renting business in Osaka: CycleOsaka.com. Sam arranged for us three quality Trek bikes that were perfect for our needs.

The Bike

'Kampai' with Kevin from CycleOsaka.com

Accessories

The bikes came equipped with rear racks to hold our panniers; In addition, the handlebars were equipped with quality ergonomic grips. Other than these two additions, the bikes did not have any extra accessories. We've brought with us panniers, to carry most of our stuff. In addition, two of us also used handlebar bags to carry handy items, such as video cameras and wallets.

Clothing

Although May was not supposed to be too rainy, in Japan there is always a possibility of rainy days. Luckily, public laundries are very common, so you can count on washing your used clothes at the end of each riding day. On most of our riding days, the weather was dry so we did not have to carry any rain resistance clothes. Each of us brought two or three sets of bicycling shorts, two bicycling shirts, two pairs of socks and three under wears. In addition, one set of cycling gloves was sufficient, as well as cycling head skull cap.

Personal Equipment

The list of personal equipment to carry in such trip is long, and includes personal papers, money (most ATM machines accepts all major credit cards), video and still cameras, mobile phones (I suggest to carry with you an external battery chargers), first aid kits, bicycle repair kits and a travel size Kleenex moist wipes.

Note: for more information on how to prepare yourself for a touring trip you a invited to visit my page about bicycle touring preparation.

How Did We Carry Our Bikes on the Train?

In Japan you are not allowed to carry your bicycle on public transportation if it is not being stored inside a bicycle bag or a travel case. The good news is that you can wrap your bike in a plastic bag, and even carry it with you on your rear rack to be used later on if needed. Just remember to bring with you a utility duct tape. Take a look:

Before

After

How Did We Navigate?

The planning Phase

For planning our bicycle trip in Japan we searched for maps that are made specifically for cyclists. To our surprise, we did not find any cycling maps, at least not ones that covered the area of our trip (mainly Gifu prefecture). The only option was to buy maps that are designed for motorcyclists, called Touring Mapple (you can buy them on eBay). We used Google Maps for planning our trip: it was enough for our needs. A list of all Touring Mapple maps can be found here.

Finding Our Way

Since the introduction of the GPS, navigation has become so simple. We used an offline GPS navigation program called MAPS.ME, which was perfect for our needs. In addition, we used enlarged printout maps of our final destinations, taken from Google Maps.

Bicycle Trip in Japan - The Movie

Last Word about Our Bicycle Trip in Japan

We had several bicycle trips around the world. Some of the most enjoyable trips were our Rhine River Tour, Cycling in New York and many bicycle trips near Zurich.

Although we rode only 7 days during our bicycle trip in Japan, it was a lifetime experience. Besides the scenic views, the small country roads, and the food, these are the people, the Japanese famous hospitality that bought our hearts. So the only word that we can say now is:

Arigato!

The Riders

Dror	Yalon	Davidi

Useful Links

• CycleOsaka.com
• JapanCycling.org
• BikeToursJapan.com
• KanCycling.com
• KinkiCycle.com

More Pictures

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."
Mark Twain

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