• Category Archives Japan
  • Dragon Tour – Day 1 of 4 – Tokyo to Matsumoto

    (Pictures and/or video will come later, so check back in a week or two..)

    Up quite early to get going as I wanted to beat the traffic. I had already packed the bike the night before, so it was just getting geared up and go. I followed the same route out of Tokyo as last weekend as we were going to meet up again at the Miyoshi PA.

    I arrived well ahead of schedule, grabbed a coffee, and chilled. Wilson was next to arrive, and not long after Ben showed up as well. We briefly discussed the first part of the ride and then set off. As feared, the highway was already pretty chockers by now but, being a small group, we filtered through the worst of it and were soon at our exit and heading down the 299.

    The first part of the 299 is nice, good quality road with sweeping bends, but with heavy traffic and no real overtaking opportunities, making progress slow. I took the guys on a small detour to go past Bike Bento, a motorcycle-themed restaurant, but it was still closed so we didn’t stop.

    We kept going up the 299, sometimes wide with sweeping bends, other times almost one-lane twisting through forests, and finally up and over the mountains. At one stage there was still lots of snow beside the road and under the trees, epic.

    When we reached an intersection on top of a mountain I stopped to take a picture of the view and there happened to be a small diner there as well, so perfect timing for lunch. Wilson and I had the local specialty, katsudon with a special sauce. It was pretty good.

    The top of the mountain was the middle of a section of the 299 called the Märchen Road – german for “the road of fairytales”, and it really looked like it. Pine forests, moss-covered boulders, little huts nestled amongst the trees, snow and ice. I will need to come back in a few months when the path to the Mononoke Forest is open again.

    We kept following the 299 back down the mountains and turned off onto the 192, one of the many sections of the Venus Line, an amazing set of roads over sparsely forested mountains leading to some fantastic views. At the end of this section is Lake Suwa, where I had an ice-cream and we stretched our legs.

    Wilson decided instead of continuing on with us to Matsumoto that he would head back to Tokyo after all, as it was still fairly early. He would come to regret this decision later as he got caught in a big thunderstorm while we enjoyed a cold beer in an izakaya …

    Ben and I continued on towards Matsumoto ,enjoying some more amazing roads before getting into town. Once there we headed straight to Matsumoto castle, parked the bikes nearby for 100 yen, and went in. The price has nearly doubled since I was there last when I paid 700 yen entry, now it’s 1300 yen! Still, I couldn’t even remember I’d been there until I accidentally found the entry ticket while packing for this trip, so it was still fun to visit again.

    Matsumoto castle is one of, if not the, oldest castle in Japan, having been built sometime in the 1500’s. Unfortunately it was pretty crowded despite it being quite late in the afternoon, so it was more of a very long moving line instead of being able to explore and experience it properly. But it has some medieval gun exhibit and other bits and pieces dotted throughout it. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

    After the castle we rode to the minshuku and checked in, then walked to town for an izakaya dinner where I ordered the local specialty, chicken pieces marinated in a garlic and soy sauce before being deep-fried. I also enjoyed some basashi (horse-sashimi) as well as some other more standard izakaya fare.

    After dinner we walked to the castle to take some night-time pics, and then headed back to minshuku for a quick onsen before bed.

    We had a fantastic day to start our tour!


  • Rideout with Arch

    Arch of Japan Motovlog fame had posted an open invitation for some people to join him on a ride around Saitama prefecture.

    Unfortunately we encountered a few minor trials and tribulations which caused the ride to take a bit longer and people headed back to Tokyo before finishing the tour. Nevertheless we had a fantastic ride-out with great scenery and good laughs along the way.

    Unlike the others I continued on to do my own thing and along the way my bike also hit its next major milestone – 20,000km.

    Weekend Route Map

Blue - Saturday
Red - Sunday

    [Photo Gallery] [Arch’s Video]

    Day 1 – Saturday 2025-04-19

    Pre-ride meetings

    Up early, I reached the meeting spot at Miyoshi PA shortly before 7am to find several people had already arrived. There was some meet-and-greet, a bit of banter, and general carrying-on while more people arrived. I took the time for a very necessary coffee and a bite of brekky.

    Arch was trying to share his route with some people but one had a brand-new bike and hadn’t gotten his phone mount sorted yet, and another wasn’t able to load his GPX file. When I mentioned that I’d created the route for OsmAnd he asked me to help guide the group so that he could drop back for filming from time to time.

    Once everybody was ready we set off down the highway which was its usual busy self. While it mostly moved along there were a few sections where it was pretty much stop-and-go. Being in a larger group it wasn’t really feasibly to filter.

    Luckily Arch was leading at this point because when he took the exit off the highway I discovered that I had set up my route the wrong way around.. oops! At a traffic light I let Arch know and he said he’d stop at a kombini, which he was wanting to do anyway to change batteries on his cameras, giving me time to fix up the route on my phone. Luckily OsmAnd has an option to reverse a route and I only had to tweak a couple of waypoints to get it all sorted..

    The other hiccups were one guy running out of petrol just in front of the longest tunnel on the entire route – lucky and unlucky in equal measures, and another guy had a fall on some gravel in the middle of a corner. Thankfully he was uninjured, and there were only some minor scrapes on the engine guards of his bike.

    Apart from that the ride went smoothly and Arch’s planned route had us going along some amazing roads, with a combination of larger roads and fast sweeping bends, as well as minor forest roads bringing us close and intimate with the japanese mountainous wilderness. Along the way there was fantastic scenery, often a river or stream alongside the road and great vistas and quaint villages.

    A highlight for me was a section of the 462 with a big dam and a bit further down the road a huge boulder lying in the river with a small shrine next to it. From the 462 we turned onto the 45, and then the 93 which is a fantastically windy little forest road running alongside a stream.

    Due to the various incidents we had not yet reached Arch’s intended stop by lunchtime, and after the shock of the fall, we stopped at a kombini to recover and have a quick bite to eat. Funnily enough another couple of bikers were there, one with an RS1200 in 40-year anniversary colours! So of course there was a chat and obligatory photo shoot..

    Sakura ice-cream's at the half-way point

    By this stage we were down to only 5 people and one said his good-byes and started heading home as the rest of us continued on. We then had a nice quick blast along the 254 and turned up the 196 which is another great curvy road over the mountains going past a temple complex with a big golden statue before reaching the original lunch stop. As we had eaten not so long ago nobody was very hungry and so we had very delicious sakura ice-cream instead!

    By now it was getting on and the intended route was another few hours in the opposite direction from Tokyo, so people decided it was maybe better to start heading back. As I had no other plans and the weather forecast for Sunday had improved I jumped online and booked a hostel to continue the weekend on my own. The cheapest I could find in a hurry was in an onsen town a couple of hours away.

    The golden statue at the Nakanotake Shrine.
    Nakanotake Shrine - climb to the rock above the shrine
    Nakanotake Shrine - climb to the rock above the shrine

    After leaving the rest of the group, I headed a few minutes back up the way we’d come to visit the temple with the golden statue which I’d spotted as we went past earlier. As well as having a quick wander around the temple complex I also went on a little hike. I thought it was going to be a walk around a huge rock which the top temple had been build under, but it turned out to be quite a bit of a climb to the top of the rock!

    So much for health-and-safety though! The very last bit of the climb to the top of the rock only had a couple of metal chains hammered into the rock to help people clamber up. No wonder a small group going up had a guide, hard-hats, ropes, and clamps with them.. not entirely sure what they were thinking as a gaijin clambered past them in motorbike gear! The view was worth the effort though.

    Some more great roads and a couple of picture stops later and I made it to Kusatsu, where I’d actually been before. The previous time I had stayed in a hostel on the outskirts of town, and when I got there there was another guy in my dorm who’d just had a bad fall on his motorbike and was all bandaged up. It was also his birthday! So I went to a kombini, grabbed some food and beers, and had a party with the guy in the hostel.

    The Kusatsu spring waterfall
    Dinner in Kusatsu.
The local specialty is maitake mushroom tempura, which I had with soba noodles.
    Kusatsu tempel tower

    This time around my accommodation was a bit closer to town. The hostel owner/manager was very kind and let me park my bike out the front even though they don’t offer parking – in my hurry to book I had forgotten to check. He gave me a good overview of town and made a restaurant and onsen recommendation. After checking in and freshening up quickly I made my way into town.

    Amazing!

    The town is actually build around a natural hot spring which comes out of the ground in the middle of the town. Maybe I should do a bit more research ahead of time when I go on trips, but it turns out Kusatsu is one of Japan’s most famous onsen towns.. this was my second time here and I still had no idea until afterwards!

    For dinner I had the local speciality, maitake mushroom tempura, which I ate with soba noodles. The restaurant I ate at (Tabelog) is part of a hotel and right on the town square with its hot spring. After dinner I visited the Ohtaki onsen for a nice relaxing hot bath after the long days’ riding and then wandered around town a bit more. It has very impressive wooden hotels in the roads leading up to the square, and there is a temple with a traditional japanese wooden tower overlooking it all.

    400km and a fair bit of sight-seeing. Oyasuminasai!

    Day 2 – Sunday 2025-04-20

    Kusatsu Onsen Hotel Gyoten

This is where I stayed overnight. It is very convenient to the town centre, and the owner/manager very kindly let me park my bike out the front.
    Breakfast in Kusatsu onsen

I wanted to get going early, so breakfast was a 7-11 coffee and sandwich, rather picturesquely in Kusatsu town square.
    The natural hotsprint at Kusatsu onsen.

    As I’d gone to sleep quite early I was awake again pretty early, which I like when touring as it gives me a chance to explore roads before the traffic starts up. I quickly got ready and crept out of the dorm, then rode down to the town square which, unlike the evening before was nearly empty. I sneakily parked the bike next to the 7-11 right on the square and had a quick cuppa and sandwich to get me started.

    Even though it wasn’t raining the weather had become a lot more cloudy and hazy than the day before. Still as long as it’s dry it’s great riding weather!

    I had planned to head further up into the mountains to Mt Shirakane, an active volcano, but the roads leading up to it were still closed. At one road closure I chatted to a couple of guys that were about to set off up the mountain on eBikes with cross-country skis strapped to their backs, so I guess there’s still quite a lot of snow at higher altitudes.

    Instead I found some other places to visit, including Shimagawa Dam, a flower festival, and Onouchi gorge.

    A couple of girls dressed as kitsune - the magical fox spirits of Japan.
    Fox wedding in Misato Moss Phlox Park
    At Misato Moss Phlox Park
    Enjoying an ice-cream at Misato Moss Phlox Park

    I had bought some extra food and drink at the 7-11 and was hoping to find a nice mountain pass with nice views to stop at for a light lunch. But unlike in Europe, the mountains passes here in Japan are often barely marked and just go through forests with no viewpoints, let alone cafes or restaurants.

    So I kept going and when I accidentally saw a small fair in a side road just after lunch, I did a u-turn and stopped there, thinking it was a sakura (cherry-blossom) festival. It turned out to be a flower festival, and I had arrived just in time for a kitsune no yomeiri, a fox’s wedding. Kitsune are magical creatures resembling foxes in japanese folklore and are known for playing tricks on humans. It was amazing watching the procession and dances.

    Gorgeous mountain roads..
    A random forest shrine.
    Shiozawa Dam
    Onouchi gorge waterfall

    From there I enjoyed a few more nice mountain roads and stopped at Onouchi gorge, which is famous for icicles in winter. In summer, not so much, but at least there were no crowds there either and I could wander down to the small waterfall enjoying the peace and quiet of the surrounding forest.

    What a fantastic weekend!


  • Motorbike weekend with Wilson

    Friday

    Tokyo to Kawaguchiko via Route 56.

    Taking a half-day Friday, a friend of mine and I planned a quick trip to the Fuji Lakes area as he needed to be back on Saturday evening.

    We left Tokyo separately and met up at a restaurant in Sagamiko as it’s quite picturesque near a lake, at the end of the highway, and the start of the more scenic roads leading west. I left the highway a little bit earlier to take in a short twisty section and, of course, immediately took a wrong turn after a rather convoluted exit ramp and had to backtrack through a long tunnel. And then, of course, got stuck behind a car during the twisty bit.

    After lunch we headed off towards Yamanakako taking a small road to Route 56 which we then followed all the way to the lake. On the way we had a quick fuel-stop in Doshi but otherwise just enjoyed the ride. I wanted to check out Nijinomotsu bridge, so from Yamanako we headed up a small road. After a mile or so it got covered in debris and small rocks, and Wilson didn’t want to go on with his street bike, so he turned around to find somewhere to wait for me.

    I kept going and after another corner, the road turned into a dirt/rock track. Unfazed I started up it, but after two hairpins and the incline getting ever steeper I decided that this was probably not a good idea.. and anyway, after glancing down at my GPS I realised I wasn’t even on the road anymore! Doh! So turning back and finding the right road, I headed up it. No debris and tarmac. However, after a couple of miles, it was blocked off, presumably due to a landslide or something. Bugger!

    After messaging Wilson that I was on my way back and texting him the location of a parking lot to meet up, I turned around. When I got to the parking lot I had a message from Wilson that he was waiting at a McDonald’s a few miles away. Battling the rush-hour traffic, I eventually got there and enjoyed a chocolate shake for my efforts, yum!

    From there it wasn’t far to our final destination, a hotel in Kawaguchiko, which we found after an accidental detour over the bridge. Following check-in we wandered off to find dinner and ended up in a chinese restaurant. Well, that was a bit different! The crispy-duck pancakes came with four pre-cut pieces of duck and a tiny bit of hoi-sin sauce, and the sweet-and-sour pork was what seemed to be soy sauce.. Finally back at the hotel we enjoyed a nice hot sentan (unfortunately no onsen) before rolling into our futons for a deep sleep.

    Saturday

    Kawaguchiko to Utsubuna for lunch; around the Fuji lakes, scenic forest roads, and some fast curvy stretches.

    We got up around 7am, geared up, dropped the key into the check-out basket, and headed off. First stop was a service station on the other side of the lake for Wilson to feed his hungry steed, while I wandered across to a 7-11 to feed myself. Wilson’s not a big breakfast person, but I do like my cup of coffee in the mornings!

    From there we followed the road around the lake, then looped around Lake Saiko, Lake Shouji, and Lake Motosu before heading along Route 300, a fantastic curvy stretch. Nearly at Fuji River we peeled off onto the 413 which is a small road leading through forests. There was a bit of debris on the road, so we took it nice and slow until we got to the top where there was a nice look-out. We stopped for a couple of pictures, and a guy arrived from the other direction on a Postie Bike. He said his other bike was a GS, and also mentioned that there was more debris on the road from the direction he had come from.

    We continued on and it was actually not as bad as what we had already done, but when we got to an intersection Wilson said he’d had enough of the tiny road and wanted to get back on something more decent. Unfortunately the road leading back to the main road, while starting off nice and wide and clean, quickly turned very narrow, very bumpy, and very mossy, so slowly, slowly.. nevertheless we made it back without mishap and then proceeded to follow Route 9 beside Fuji River.

    We stopped in Utsubuna for lunch in a small restaurant beside the road. Although we had both initially wanted Tempura we opted for soba bowls instead, and they were very delicious. After lunch Wilson and I split up – Wilson was wanting to head back to Tokyo, and I was wanting to check out a small road leading to Tenshi Lake.

    Utsubuna to Shirakaba Lake via dirt roads, Shizuoka, and the fantastic 152; long dash to the hotel at night.

    The road to Tenshi Lake, rather predictably by now, got narrower, covered in debris, and eventually turned into a rocky track leading deeper into the forest. Less daunted, I kept going and it was quite a nice ride, I even saw a deer grazing beside the road. Eventually the track turned less rocky and more gravelly, but developed a centre grassy hump which was a bit tricky to negotiate at times. Still, I made it through without mishap and had a good time of it!

    From there I had wanted to ride Route 152 further west, but to get there required riding through quite a bit of town and major roads, which were full of cars and people. I miss the quiet countryside already! After slogging my way through Shizuoka I turned off on Route 362 which was much nicer. I also wanted to take Route 32, but this turned out to be closed a few miles in, so I had to backtrack. Still, 362 was mostly ok for traffic and most cars let me past.

    I eventually reached 152 and, after passing the detour in Isuka due to a landslide I had managed to get past all the cars and could really enjoy the road leading up the Funagira Dam Lake. This was a well-paved road with great sweeping corners, fantastic to ride. Eventually though, as seems to always be the case here, the road turned into a single-lane narrow road through the forest. My aim was to get over the Bungui-toge Pass, but this was thwarted…

    After reaching the Hodono Castle Ruins (which I actually didn’t see as I didn’t realise I was there at the time – I was running a bit behind schedule to reach my hotel for the night at this stage…) I ended up taking a wrong turn through a long tunnel.. which I then had to backtrack. The 152 was closed here, but there was a smaller road which should detour around and meet up again with the 152 later. Except, after a few miles, yep, you guessed it, it was also closed!

    Checking for alternatives I realised there really was nothing.. and by now I was _really_ behind schedule. I had originally wanted to get a place somewhere in this area, but they were all booked out, and I accidentally ended up booking something near Nagano, which was still a couple of hours away.. so I just told the GPS to route me to the hotel, fastest route, and gave up on going over the Pass. Funny story: the new route took me through the tunnel I had taken a “wrong turn” through an hour earlier…

    Here followed a mad dash to the hotel. I should have spent a bit more time trying to plan the route instead of trusting the GPS as, instead of routing me over highways, it took me via Route 152 and other quite small roads. During daytime this would probably have been really nice and picturesque, but as it was getting dark, the highway would have been a lot more comfortable. Still, I got to try out the auxiliary lights on the bike after dark and damn, are they impressive! I was still able to make quite good progress even on small twisty roads through the forest. I’m really glad I reprogrammed them to be dimmer before setting off as otherwise they would have been blinding to oncoming traffic even on low-beam.

    I eventually reached my destination, the “Petit Hotel Kurumi No Milk” without mishap, despite having to stop to let a few deer cross the road on the very last stretch. As it was already nearly 9pm by now there was no point trying to head out to find dinner as the closest places would be a 15 minute ride away or so. Unfortunately I lucked out again and the place had neither an onsen nor a sentan – and after my epic ride (over 500km, mostly over small roads) I was a bit beat. So I folded myself into the ofuro and soaked before collapsing in bed. Still, it’s a nice enough place and, as it turned out, was on the Venus Line, which is one of the best roads in Japan for motorcycling!

    Sunday

    “Petit Hotel Kurumi no Milk” to Tokyo; via the last bit of the Venus Line, various other small roads; 2 caves, and a rather horrid last stretch back to Tokyo..

    I left quite early again as the hotel didn’t have breakfast – I really need to start booking through Jalan again as the places it has usually have breakfast options! A very nice trundle along the last bit of the Venus line followed, in very comfortable 18C at this altitude. After various great mountain roads I stopped for breakfast at a kombini – not my favourite, but it was too early for anywhere else to be open, and I needed coffee!

    I was mostly just moseying back towards Tokyo, but realised that I was well and truly too early as I had originally expected to be starting at least 100km further back and was wanting to check out the “Median Tectonic Line Museum” in Oshika this morning. In retrospect I could have had a great blast up the Venus Line and had breakfast at the top.. oh well.

    Instead I did a sudden U-Turn when I saw a sign for Fujido Cave and headed up the side-road to that. I already got a sneaking suspicion on my way up the access road, which was confirmed when I reached the top – I had already been here! Well, no point going in the cave again, so I traipsed across the Ueno Suspension Bridge in search of ice-cream. Unfortunately it was still too early for that, so I traipsed back and got an ice-cream out of the Cave shop freezer instead. The view was nicer on this side anyway.

    From here I did a big loop through a small forest road just for fun, and then tagged another cave as my next destination. The ride to Hashidate Limestone Cave was mostly along Route 299 and overall great, although the last bit through Ogano was a bit painful with traffic. FWIW, Hashidate Cave isn’t worth it as a specific destination.. it’s quite small and there’s barely any indication of stalactites or stalagmites. It’s also a bit of a scramble to go through, so only recommended if you’re reasonably fit and flexible. It does seem to be quite a popular tourist destination though with a big eatery and other touristy stuff. The only hint is to drive up to it instead of parking at the top carpark.

    I tried to keep going up the road past the cave to get to Arima Dam, but, yep, it was closed maybe 10 miles later.. so back I went and had to take quite a long detour to get there, some of it through busy towns. I made it eventually and discovered it’s a hot-spot for bikers! Lots of bikes parked up on the dam wall with people lounging about.

    From here there was really nothing else except back to Tokyo. I tried to take a smaller road for a bit but, again, closed, so again, backtracking.. the main road leading down into Hanno got busier and busier, and, coming out of the mountains and onto the Kanto plain, the temperature soared to 30C+. I was getting quite hot in my gear, and the neverending lines of cars did not help. After various attempts to reroute myself off the busy main roads I eventually got onto the highway back to Tokyo.

    Unlike the south, there were no major hold-ups and apart from not taking an exit when I should have (the GPS and road signs disagreed with each other; the GPS turned out to be correct..) it was a mostly reasonable ride back. Still, I was more than happy to finally get home and have a shower!

    What a fantastic weekend 🙂 Looking forward to the next ride.. although I definitely need to invest in some summer riding clothes!

    Photos:

    (Click on a picture to go to the album..)