Lake Kaeaguchi to Tokyo

June 1, 2023

Our Tokyo adventure started with a long morning at Lake Kaeaguchi with time to explore while we waited for our bus and two hour ride into Tokyo. Japanese hotels are very strict about check in times so arriving too early was not a good idea. Riding bicycles into to Tokyo, while possible would have taken us through some very industrial areas and heavy traffic. The wise folks at TDA Global Cycling decided to have us avoid that part of the Japanese experience.

Mount Fuji is very shy. Most of the time she hides her mighty peak in the clouds only allowing the most brief glimpses this time of the year and those during the cooler early morning hours. Between 4:00 and 6:00 am she decided to shed her misty cloak and reveal herself. I missed the earlier show but managed to catch the 6:00 final act. It was worth waiting for.

A walk around Lake Kaeaguchi is a walk through an area devoted to tourism. Hotels upon hotels take up all the good real estate with some cut into the side of the steep hills that line part of the lake. Still, there are some hidden local touches such as the two shrines that I found in my travels. One was well up a somewhat unused path behind our hotel. I was told the idol within it was a Buddha but that Japanese frequently invoke both Buddhist and Shinto images in their shrines. This small one may have been to honor the spirits of that hillside. Further along the lake was a more elaborate shrine with a well defined path leading to it. This shrine was used to pray for easy childbirth as well as grandchildren.

My final stop in my walk around the lake was at an amazing sculpture depicting two women as polar opposites dancing around a vase. One signifying the positive and the other the negative but combining to portray the drama of two opposites coming together to become one in the never ending renewal of life. A yin-yang moment. The sculpture was created by Seibo Kitamura, Japan’s greatest sculptor, who at the age of 101 visited Lake Kaeaguchi and was so moved by its beauty that he created this statue to symbolize man’s quest to understand the eternal essence of the universe.

June 2, 2023

We arrived in Tokyo to warm weather and sunshine but Mother Nature had other plans for the next day. A typhoon out in the Pacific decided to confound 99% of the storm tracks and slip along the coast of Japan, well out to sea but close enough to blot out the sun and deliver tropical like rains with some strong winds thrown in for kicks. Fortunately, we did not have to ride in it but walking we did.

I had two events scheduled for this day. One was a day long walking tour of some of Tokyo’s sights and the other was tickets to a Japanese major league baseball game. The tour happened but the valiant Tokyo Sparrows refused to fly.

With rain coming down in sheets our indefatigable tour guide Ivette met us at the hotel lobby with a smiling face and a disposition so sunny that it nearly drove away the showers, nearly! With her ten charges in tow she led the way to the train station and through the maze of turnstiles and platform to our first stop, the shrine to Emperor Meiji. Emperor Meiji’s reign marked the end of the era of Shoguns and Samurai and the beginnings of modern Japan. With a bit of a nudge through American gunboat diplomacy courtesy of Commodore Matthew Perry, Japan recognized that it needed to modernize and the Samurai and Shoguns were not getting the job done. Emperor Meiji recognized this and led his people into the modern area. For this he is venerated as a god like being with a shrine dedicated to his spirit. People visit it to ask for various support and favors. You can buy various talismans there to promote all sorts of good things such as healthy mind and body or doing well on exams. Rather or not they work is up to you and the power of positive thinking.

From the shrine we visited other sites such as the busiest street crossing in the world at what some call Tokyo’s Times Square. Here the busiest mass transit hub in Japan spits out over 2 million people each day, all of whom need to get across the street. Luckily, we visited during torrential rains and at a slow time of the day so we did not experience the full crush of the masses. However we did get a moment to look at a statue of a loyal dog who waited nine years, sitting outside the station every day waiting for his master to return. His master had passed away while at work but no one could convince the dog to abandon his daily wait for the man who never returned. Such loyalty must be rewarded and his image is now as eternal as his patience.

Our final stop was at a recreation of a Saga Town as it would have looked at the end of the Edo period around the year 1840. It faithfully recreates and and tells the story of town life complete with sound effects and docets that were able to fill in the few details that our guide was unsure of.

For a drippy, wet day it turned out to be a great experience with a nice lunch added to the bargain. Our guide, Ivette was a Hungarian married to a Japanese and living in japan for nearly half her life. Her knowledge and language skills were excellent and she turned a gray day into a bright experience.

June 3, 2023

Typhoon Mawar decided to sleep in this morning and was reluctant to leave the Tokyo area. After pounding the city with rain for the the last 24 hours she decided to give it another ten to remember her by. In actuality she did next to no damage to The City of 808 Villages as she swept by but she did make for an unpleasant day and night. My evening walk for dinner turned into a mad dash to a convenience store for whatever I could grab. This morning when the downpours finally tapered down to some sprinkles, I decided to head out for some last minute gear replacement before starting my day. That short delay cost me a chance to buy tickets for an attraction I was interested in but while disappointing, was no great loss.

Instead I went to Tokyo’s impressive Skytree, the tallest structure in Japan and platform for communication arrays, shopping and gawking from a height. With the final addition of a communications mast in 2011 it became the tallest tower in the world at 634 meters (2,080 ft). There are observation decks at the 350 and 450 meter levels which are reached by high speed elevators that can lift 40 people at 600 meters (1968 feet) per speedy minute or 22 vertical miles per hour. While the view was not great with the Mawar’s last gasp still swirling around, it was still quite impressive. I have included a downloaded view along with what I was actually able to see for comparison.

After a stop at the Skytree food court for a surprisingly good and inexpensive lunch, I decided to do a Crocodile Dundee style Walkabout and just see where I wound up. I picked a direction and started out eventually coming upon a linear park that went on through a number of blocks of tall residential apartments. Within its confined spaces I found a very industrial urban fishing spot as well as a landscaped area complete with waterfall and rocky stream. It seems as though this park like every green space in Tokyo is a mecca for dog owners. I guess the pooches have to make do with what they can find for toilet facilitates. To a dog, all were of the smaller breed sizes, compact dogs for compact green spaces.

Where the park ended I went up onto surface streets and just kept walking through some of the former 808 villages that mostly looked to have been rebuilt into modern mid-rise residential areas with shops at street level. This occasionally melded into business like concrete canyons as I headed mostly south and west. Occasionally, I stopped at a bench, when I could find one, to read a bit, glance at Google Maps and do a bit of people watching.

Eventually my travels took me to the Imperial palace, home to Emperor Naruhito, who acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan’s traditional order of succession. (this from Wikipedia) Like the former Queen and now current King of England, his role is ceremonial and he is forbidden to make political statements. Still, he lives in a nice house with lavish grounds on the former site of Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 until 1867. His palace is surrounded by a mote and the grounds outside the mote are popular with joggers. It is not known if the Emperor ever tosses a line over the palace wall to catch fish but given the Japanese interest in this sport, it would not surprise me to know that he might when no one is watching.

From the palace I decided to skip the long and somewhat boring walk back to the hotel so I ducked underground and took my chances at following Google’s subway directions. Despite my penchant for sometimes heading the wrong way, I made it back without a single inadvertent adventure.

Nasu to Aixawakamatsu

June 5, 2023

The folks who organize this tour call this segment, “Wild Japan.” We were told that we might now see monkeys, bears and other wildlife including the Japanese raccoon-dog. Having already seen monkeys in some other less populated parts of Japan, I was not sure what made this segment different and I still don’t. I did not see any monkeys but someone did see a mother bear and her cubs; however, I did see Japan’s raccoon-dog also known as the tanuki. This strange beast is what its name implies a creature that looks as though a raccoon and a dog got together in conjugal bliss and produced offspring. According to Japanese folklore, the tanuki have had a significant role since ancient times. The legendary tanuki are reputed to be mischievous and jolly, masters of disguise and shape shifting but somewhat gullible and absentminded. The animals have also been common in Japanese art, particularly as subjects for statues.

As for bears, Japan has two species, the Asian brown bear and the moon bear which is basically a black bear with a white crest on its breast. I did not see either one but one of our riders did see a mother and her cubs.

Our lunch was on the shore of Lake Inawashirowith a view of two active volcanoes. Across the lake is Mount Bandai, an active volcano that in 1888 killed over 5,000 people. Much like the Mount St. Helens incident in the United States, an exploding water vapor event blew out the side of the caldera creating a landslide wiping out everything in its path. If you look at the photo, I have indicated the area that blew out. If you look closely you can still see some signs of current activity.

Once out of the hills I was back into rice farming country where I was able to get a picture of a woman using a specialized tractor to plant rice sprouts. I also stopped into yet another shrine where I snapped a picture of a statue of a man speaking with a bird discussing the speed of the bird and the need of the man to move along a path that was pestered by snakes.

Even though we had a 100 kilometer ride with around 1,500 meters of climbing I arrived at our hotel an hour before our rooms were ready. It was a perfect moment to visit a nearby sake distiller. After two sake samplers we took a tour of the distillery and sampled their various products afterwards. In Ian Flemmings, You Only Live Twice, Tiger Tanaka tells James Bond, “First you drink the sake, then the sake drinks you.” I now understand that quote.

Fukushima to Tendo

June 7, 2023

There are climbs and there are climbs or to put it another way, all climbs are not created equal. Back at home the climbs tend to be steep but short. Some, like the Foymount climb are so steep that many cyclists avoid it but just as many seek it out for the challenge. Japan is something completely different. To begin with, Japan’s geography is hilly to the point of being mountainous. Don’t go looking for the wide open Oklahoma plains here. Sure, Japan does have some flat rides but if you are going any significant distance, you are going to need your granny gears. This brings me to my point, some climbs are long and fairly steep grinds where you may have ten to fifteen kilometers to rise up over a thousand meters of elevation. On those climbs I just tuck in and keep cranking until I get to the top and try my best to ignore the various complaints coming from various body parts.

However, other climbs can be leisurely with the grade ranging from one to three percent with a small four or five percent every so often. Anyone who has done a lot of climbing on two wheels would find such a climb a bit taxing but enjoyable with plenty of time to soak in the scenery and with the knowledge that there may be a nice gentle downhill to follow.

Traffic can also make a difference as can road conditions. Worst case scenario for me is a steep climb on a road with no shoulders, a deep ditch and heavy traffic. I hit one like this and Korea and it caused me to walk my bike for most of a kilometer, something I have never had to do on any other long trip. Today we had a long climb using a road along a man made lake above a dam. It was generally uphill and while the total climb was around 500 meters, it was so gradual that it conserved plenty of energy for gawking at the surroundings. This held true until our directions told us to turn right and the only thing to our right was a very steep hill that seemed to go on forever. The turn took us up at a much greater rate but we rode past some major engineering where Japanese engineers have designed massive reinforced cement structures that are drilled and tied into the rock surface to control landslides. Impressive!

We also rode rode through a logging area where Japanese loggers seem to harvest trees from some of the steepest hillsides. They do this in Canada and other parts of the world as well but it is still impressive to see it. Of course, in a land where earthquakes and flash floods are common you can also see the scars where improper logging has altered the landscape.

Our destination today is the city of Tendo. From what I have seen of it, it appears to be a working class community that is also home to a famous temple. This temple is reached through a climb of a thousand steps. For me, it was one climb too many. However, I do have a lovely, traditional Japanese room to relax in.

Tendo to Hiraizumi

June 8, 2009

A ride on a bus took us to our starting point today and once on our bikes we began the longest climb of a day that featured nine climbs worthy of note by our navigation software. Nothing like getting the biggest and baddest out of the way first. As climbs go, it was scenic, taking a less traveled and as a result, steeper route. After zig-zagging through numerous switchbacks and densely treed forest, we came out into an alpine meadow that covered the apex of our climb. This meadow was home to a small farm and cattle ranching homestead and offered some outstanding vistas to go along with its outstandingly unending switchbacks. It offered plenty of excuses for stopping to just take it all in.

While this was the big climb of the day the remaining eight climbs made up for their shortness by often being fairly steep. It is good that we now all have strong climbing legs that get us up the hills even if that journey is a slow one. I just try to do my own ride and not worry about who passes me. I know that it is inevitable that some will. However, we all get to the same place and even the slowest of us is doing something that 99% of the world’s population will never try.

Along today’s route I was able to see more of Japan’s charmingly different way at looking at road and other signage. Cute cartoon characters seem to be mandated for nearly every cautionary sign, advertisement or possibly because someone just feels like adding a personal touch to the landscape. I have some examples below that represent only a few of the multitude that I have see and taken time to photograph.

Tomorrow, June 9th is a rest day at a resort spa some distance from the nearby small village. It will be pouring rain and the resort has all that I need to spend a comfortable day relaxing. I may not post anything about it and instead get caught up with my email and maybe write these words.

Hiraizumi to Kakunodate

June 10, 2023

Today was our longest ride of the tour at 138 kilometers or about 86 miles. It was not a flat route with Ride With GPS (RWGPS) showing about 1650 meters of climb in the route compared with over 2000 meters actual. The reason for the difference could be tunnels. There were four tunnels on then route where GPS was cut off and maybe RWGPS just filled in the missing elevations from the map rather than the actual climb registered. In any event, 138 kilometers with even 1650 meters of climb was enough to satisfy me.

Our route took us above a large dam that creates a massive reservoir to supply drinking a irrigation water as well as hydro electric generation. The route around was a bit of modern engineering so the 420 meters of climbing was spread out over a fairly gentle route. It still took a good and constant effort but was easier than many of the climbs we have had previously.

Along the way were numerous waterfalls that created deep chasms that were spanned by quite a few bridges as we snaked our way around and gradually up and over the surrounding mountain. Tunnels also helped to limit the amount of actual climbing required.

Once out of the mountains we moved into an area of somewhat industrial scale rice plantations fed by a intricate irrigation aqueduct network. One curious addition to this landscape were the billboards and bridge art that were apparently erected by the various local communities. I am not sure what the dogs on the billboard were eating but the ones on the left seem to have ingested hallucinogenics, while the ones on the right appear to be auditioning to become sled dogs. It might also be because they are the Akita breed which originated in this area. As for the narley guy with the beard, your guess is as good as mine.

Our evening town is also home to another group of cyclists doing a tour of Japan. By chance, one of those cyclist is Wallace, a man that two of us know from doing the Trans Europa tour in 2021. As I have said, the long distance cycling community is a small but tightly knit group and you almost always meet someone you know when you venture forth boldly and broadly.

Our town tonight is also know as Samurai City, having once been home to a legion of samurai warriors. Today many of the homes here war still owned by the proud descendants of these skilled and lethal warriors. Some even are maintained in the traditional style and open to the public for a small fee. Unfortunately, I arrived too late and left too early to visit one.

My high point occurred right at the end of the ride when I pulled into the hotel and one of the TDA staff, Chris, handed me a cold beer. Happy endings!

Kakunodate to Kazuno

June 11, 2023

If there is something less apostatizing for breakfast then a platter of cold, bony fiI was determined to experience foods outside of my comfort zone on this trip and I think I have done a pretty good job of eating most things that were placed in front of me. Having eaten nearly this same meal, only warmer, for dinner the night before, I was reluctant to just dive right back in for breakfast. This was even more true when I saw what the vegetarian breakfast offered. They received a hard boiled egg, a fresh banana and a nice looking salad. Unfortunately, I did not sign up for the vegetarian fare and there were only enough made to feed those who had requested them in advance. If I only had the foresight to see this meal, I might have jumped ship and become a non-meat person. Instead I said, “Domo arigato,” (thank you very much) and walked next store to a Lawson’s convenience store for an egg salad sandwich, bown of fruit and a pastry.

The result was an early start for me and a brief period as the lead rider of the pack. This was a lead that vanished at around kilometer twenty when speedy Glen zipped by me with a whoosh, a hello and a see you later. Others were not far behind him as I took my lazy time riding around Lake Tazawa where I missed finding the statue of the Golden Lady in the Lake but found something more interesting than some flashy, watery tart soaking her feet. Under a Sister City program the people of Lake Tazawa are paired with the folks at Lake Chungqing in Tiawan (Republic of China) They donated the statue shown here to commemorate the preservation of safe drinking water, something important to all of us who love our lakes.

We also followed a series of rivers into the mountains and into a series of dams that have been built to supply Japan’s need for rice irrigation, hydro electricity and drinking water. One was a recently completed project that was still filling with water. It’s waters were sky blue and we could see submerged trees, still in leaf as the rising waters slowly changed their environment to one in which they will not survive. There was a strange beauty to this none the less.

After lunch came the big climb of the day and we slugged our way through bear country with little chance of actually seeing a bear. It was a Sunday and traffic on this parkland road was heavy enough to discourage even the boldest of bears. Warning signs and closed off parking spots prevented people from enticing them with food that could easily make them as the main course. The climb was scenic with numerous tunnels and landslide shelters that snaked their way up the mountainside. I was glad to see the summit.

Kazuno to Aomori

June 12, 2023

It looked to be a ride like all the other rides at first. I was wrong. While it started in an ordinary way with a ride on a somewhat busy road out of town and through the inevitable rice plantations, thing began to change after the first climb. On the down side we began to encounter tour busses that seemed to stop at exactly the spot that we planned to, However, at the bottom of the mountain at Lake Towada we came upon a coffee shop known for their apple pie. If there ever were something that could stop a cyclist on a downhill glide it is fresh apple pie. We stopped, we ate and it was delicious!

We turned from Lake Towada to follow the Oriase River Gorge downhill for about ten kilometers. The gorge is fantastically beautiful with dozens of fairy like waterfalls feeding the clear mountain stream that flows from the lake. It is a popular tourism destination and appears to be on the ‘must stop and see’ list of every tour bus in Japan. During my passage through the gorge I counted 16 parked busses and another eight busses coming into the gorge from the direction ahead of me. While there were people everywhere, hiking, taking pictures and at least one plein-air artist capturing a scene, I was able to take my time, stop where I wanted and enjoy what natural Japan had to show me.

With the waterfalls and rapids behind me, I turned and began a trek uphill for over 700 meters into the mountains. It was a long climb and I rose quickly into the low clouds, heavy with moisture. Surrounded by white mist I pushed my way upwards feeling the pressure in my ears build and pop from time to time. The fog that surrounded me gave everything a surreal, Twilight Zone quality that was both mysterious and beautiful. Eventually, the pedaling became easier and I could see I was headed downhill for a long and fast glide through switchbacks and hairpins that were both fun and more exciting than the best roller coaster. As the grade lessened and my speed slowed, I found myself in an open valley with low vegetation and a surprising display of wild flowers. The mist was slowly lifting and my downhill speed increased until I was once again flying at highway traffic speed the remaining downhill grade with the wind whipping at my face and a smile on my lip as well as a shouted, “Ya-Hoo!” as I hit sixty kilometers per hour.

Amori to Hakodate

June 13 – 14, 2023

Our final travel / rest days started with a four hour ferry ride across the Tsugaru Strait between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. We had a short bike ride as a group on both ends and our TDA para-medic, Chris had the chore of herding us cats from hotel to ferry and then ferry to hotel. The ferry ride was typical of our experience so far of being directed to a room without any place to sit and then being chased out of the comfy, premium seats that we all tried to migrate to. We settled for some less comfy chairs that the ferry crew seemed to not care about so long as we did not spread out too much, which we eventually did anyway. The ferry was not crowded and no other passengers were denied their choice of seating, so I guess the crew decided to just ignore us for the rest of the trip.

Hakodate is a southern city on the island of Hokkaido. It lies north of the Blakiston Line, a faunal boundary line that marks the division of Japan’s animal species between northern and southern Asian species. For example, no monkeys, Asian black bears or Japanese giant flying squirrels north of the line and no Ussuri brown bears or red squirrels south of it. No wolves on either side as both distinctive species that once existed are not extinct.

My “rest day” began with a trek up the 334 meter height of Mount Hakodate. Mt. Hakodate is the remains of an long extinct volcanic eruption from the seabed that began 25 million years ago. Over time the volcano stop pushing its way out of the sea and sand filled in the space between it and the main island to from today’s mountain. The hike was a shady climb through cedar and deciduous forest to the observation station and antenna farm at the summit. The forest that I walked through is a recent creation the island having been denuded of its trees in the past for lumber and smoking herring. In 1899 Fort Hakodate was completed here to protect the harbor and city. During World War Two it continued this function by housing well protected shore batteries. Until 1946 it was illegal for citizens to visit the mountain, take pictures of it or even sketch it. Today it is a botanical garden containing over 600 species of plants as well as being a sanctuary for many animal and bird species.

There is a cable car that will take you to the top of Mt. Hakodate and back for a fee but I, like the many Japanese that I encountered on my morning hike preferred the beauty and solitude of an early morning walk to the summit. It also avoided the crowds that form at the observation deck once the cable car starts to run. I took the longer and less traveled rugged route back down to the city with the reward of a delicious banana and ice cream crepe for my efforts. Now to finish my day of rest and then five more rides to the finish line in Sapporo.