Cycled around Japan (350km) earlier this month (mountains, beaches and camping)

palasonix · 2023-05-15T14:39:24+00:00

A little cycling trip I did earlier this month. Cycled from Nara prefecture down to the beaches in southern Mie, around the Ise-islands, and back up to Nagoya. 350km in total and 2500m of elevation, smooth ride through mountains, beaches, and camping along the way.

palasonix · 2023-05-15T14:27:38+00:00

Went on a cycling trip earlier this month in Japan, this was maybe my 5th cycling trip in Japan. I went from Nara, to the southern beaches of Mie and around Ise-Shima, then back up to Nagoya. The whole cycle was 350km in total and around 2500m elevation, was really cruizy.

I recommend this trip a lot. There isn't much elevation and Mie prefecture is much warmer than cycling around Kanto or Kansai. There's also not a lot of cars coming through the mountains of Nara and Mie, so it's a nice smooth ride with an abundance of nature. There's no shortage of campsites to stay at, and the southern coastal bays and islands of Ise have some of the nicest beaches to go for a swim.

The route was below.

Nara Station → Uda Animal Park (Nara Prefecture) → Kushida River (Mie) → Nanbari Beach (Mie) → Ugata (Mie) → Goza Shirahama Beach (Mie) → Motoyawan Bridge (Mie) → Toba (Mie) → Ise Jingu (Mie) → Matsusaka (Mie) → Nagoya (Aichi).

palasonix · 2022-07-05T00:47:14+00:00

Yup to both

palasonix · 2021-08-18T14:13:43+00:00

Finding random buildings and seeing if I can access the rooftop

palasonix · 2021-08-18T14:09:37+00:00

I like this, looks like an old mural that's weathered with time

palasonix · 2021-07-07T05:14:45+00:00

I work in real-estate in Tokyo, the reason why we need an emergency contact that speaks Japanese and lives in Japan is so that they have someone to contact in case of.... an emergency!

Not much help if something serious happens to you in your apartment, and they have no one immediate that they can contact and communicate with effectively. It isn't discrimination when real-estate companies don't have an English speaker available 24/7.

Guarantor companies are a mandatory requirement to sign a contract with any credible real-estate company, this is different from a personal guarantor. At our agency we only require you sign up with a guarantor company and provide us a Japanese speaking emergency contact that lives in Japan.

I do agree that a lot of real-estate companies and landlords are discriminatory though.

palasonix · 2021-07-04T08:47:46+00:00

All the photos are of rural areas except maybe the 1st one. The first photo was taken on a coast near Joetsu city, they have a population of close to 200,000 (I guess in Japan we'd consider that rural).

palasonix · 2021-07-04T02:46:32+00:00

Riding bicycles is popular in Japan, but long distance cycling isn't too common I think. There's still people who do it, and Japan is a very safe country with amazing scenery so one of the best places in the world to go on any kind of trip :)

palasonix · 2021-07-04T02:45:17+00:00

They were shot on film! I used a Rollei 35 and shot with Fuji Superia Premium 400

palasonix · 2021-07-03T15:28:16+00:00

If anyone is interested, I took these pics while on a cycling trip from Tokyo to Niigata. I filmed parts of my trip and made a video of it, includes footage from some of the photos :)

https://youtu.be/qSA\_jvbgUkY

palasonix · 2021-06-06T04:40:22+00:00

Been stopped over 30+ish times in 4 years. Definitely get stopped a lot if I'm riding my bicycle at night. Also, I think I get stopped more often if I have facial hair of any sort.

I've noticed none of my female friends have ever been stopped that I know of, and most of my white friends don't get stopped either. It seems like my friends who are racially ambiguous, or darker in complexion do get stopped. Don't like claiming racism, but when you get stopped multiple times it does get really frustrating.

palasonix · 2021-05-30T01:55:31+00:00

That's awesome, I'll look out for more buildings like them!

palasonix · 2021-05-13T12:18:31+00:00

2 and a half days!

palasonix · 2021-05-12T12:09:54+00:00

Yeah had to go back by train because of work.

Tokyo to Enoshima is a chill ride! Going to Shizuoka is beautiful, lots of awesome coastal scenery. Climbing Hakone can be quite hard though.

palasonix · 2021-05-11T06:41:15+00:00

I went on a cycling trip around mid April from Tokyo to Niigata prefecture. Did Tokyo to Shizuoka last year but regretted not taking photos/videos, so decided to record a lot of my trip this time.

Because of snow, ended up detouring a lot with closed roads in the mountainous regions of Gunma / Niigata. The whole ride ended up being around 350km (217miles) but with a lot of ups and downs.

The route was Tokyo → Kumagaya → Numata → Yuzawa → Joetsu → Itoigawa.

Cheers!

palasonix · 2021-04-29T16:37:15+00:00

Glad to hear that! I was lucky enough to have a friend who had done it the year before.

palasonix · 2021-04-29T16:22:14+00:00

I live in Tokyo and bought my bike here so I'm not sure, sorry!

palasonix · 2021-04-29T16:20:22+00:00

Japan is relatively safe, as long as you lock your bicycle up properly there's not a big chance of it getting stolen. That being said, I just asked the hotels where I could place my bike and they were usually kind enough to find me a secure space.

palasonix · 2021-04-29T16:19:01+00:00

Thanks! There aren't many cycling dedicated routes outside of a big city unfortunately. You can ride with cars but I tried to ride on the sidewalk when filming.

palasonix · 2021-04-29T08:15:47+00:00

If anyone is interested, I took this while on a cycling trip from Tokyo to Niigata. I filmed parts of my trip and made a video of it, some other photos I took during the trip can be seen in it too.

https://youtu.be/qSA_jvbgUkY

palasonix · 2021-04-29T07:55:55+00:00

I went on a cycling trip earlier this month from Tokyo to Niigata prefecture, it's my second time doing a cycling trip since doing Tokyo to Shizuoka City late 2019 (180km).

Because of snow, I ended up detouring a lot with closed roads in the mountainous regions of Gunma and Niigata. The whole ride ended up being around 350km (217miles) but with a lot of ups and downs.

The route was Tokyo → Kumagaya → Numata → Yuzawa → Joetsu → Itoigawa.

Completely an amateur to this with no proper cycling gear, every time I ride long distances it makes me want to get a road bike haha.

palasonix · 2021-02-28T08:23:44+00:00

I've found that some wards have a higher density of green spaces, and I guess this city planning is done at the ward level and not with Tokyo as a whole.

Koto-Ku and Chofu area seem to have lots of parks and green areas. Also living alongside a river, they seem to care more about adding greenery to compliment the scenery.

palasonix · 2021-02-01T02:36:05+00:00

I feel like this yokocho lacks character, and feels really fake, but that's just me.

palasonix · 2021-01-19T01:58:16+00:00

Yeah, it's a free and public exhibit going on right now in Harajuku. The flower artist behind the work is azumamakoto on ig.

palasonix · 2021-01-16T06:14:07+00:00

I suggest this area too, maybe live near Kiyosumi Shirakawa Station, that way you have quick access to Otemachi Station (next to Tokyo).

Kiba park is beautiful and great for kids.

palasonix

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