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1 <!doctype html> 2 <html lang="en"> 3 <head> 4 <meta charset="utf-8"> 5 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> 6 <title>Biking Japan 2003 - Chris Bracken</title> 7 <link href="/css/site.css" rel="stylesheet"> 8 <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/favicon/apple-touch-icon.png"> 9 <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon/favicon-32x32.png"> 10 <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/favicon/favicon-16x16.png"> 11 <link rel="manifest" href="/favicon/site.webmanifest"> 12 <link rel="mask-icon" href="/favicon/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#140f42"> 13 <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon/favicon.ico"> 14 <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#603cba"> 15 <meta name="msapplication-config" content="/favicon/browserconfig.xml"> 16 <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> 17 </head> 18 <body> 19 <header id="header"> 20 <div class="site-title"> 21 <h1><a href="/">Chris Bracken</a></h1> 22 </div> 23 24 <nav class="site-navbar"> 25 <ul id="menu" class="menu"> 26 <li class="menu-item"><a class="menu-item-a" href="/">Home</a></li> 27 <li class="menu-item"><a class="menu-item-a" href="/about/">About</a></li> 28 <li class="menu-item"><a class="menu-item-a" href="/code/">Code</a></li> 29 <li class="menu-item"><a class="menu-item-a" rel="me"href="https://bsd.network/@cbracken">Fediverse</a></li> 30 </ul> 31 </nav> 32 </header> 33 <main id="main"> 34 <article> 35 <h2 class="post-title"><a href="https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/08/biking-japan-2003/">Biking Japan 2003</a></h2> 36 17 August 2003 37 <figure><img src="/post/2003-08-17-cycling-in-japan.jpg" 38 alt="Brodie bike parked beside vending machines in front of restaurant"> 39 </figure> 40 41 <p>The plan was to travel from Osaka north to the Japan Sea, northeast along the 42 coast to Joetsu, south through the alps to Nagano, then southeast all the way 43 to Tokyo — a total distance of close to 1200 km, entirely by bicycle.</p> 44 <p>Unfortunately for me, disaster struck just over half-way, in the form of 45 150km/h winds and torrential downpours. Typhoon Number 10 ploughed straight 46 through Japan, following a track from the island of Shikoku through Nagano 47 before it died out, dumping up to 650mm of rain a day, and flooding out every 48 town and village in its path.</p> 49 <p>I arrived in Osaka the night of July 28th and promptly hauled my bike, 50 panniers, and tools through customs and immigration, across the airport, and 51 into a hotel. I’m not entirely sure how happy they were to have a 52 grotty-looking guy assembling his bike in his hotel room overnight, but no one 53 said anything, and I snuck out around 6am anyway.</p> 54 <p>It’s unbelievable just how slowly you start and stop when your bike is loaded 55 with 40kg of gear. Sort of the cycling equivalent of driving an 18-wheeler. The 56 weather was a scorching 36C, with the humidity hovering around 85%. Over the 57 first 70km from Osaka Itami Airport to downtown Kyoto, I consumed 8 litres of 58 Dakara, Boku, Miu, and the oh-so-deliciously named Poccari Sweat, crashed 59 twice, and got lost every 5 minutes. Took a break in Kyoto, stopping by to take 60 a look at Sanjuusan Gendo, take some pictures, and chat with Taxi drivers, the 61 police, and anyone else who wanted to know just what the hell I was doing.</p> 62 <p>Eventually, after a few more Poccari Sweats and some ramen for lunch, I jumped 63 on my bike and started the trek to Otsu. Half an hour later, winding my way 64 slowly uphill, along a narrow shoulder on a bridge 30m above a cemetary, I had 65 the first major close call of the ride. Fortunately, through a combination of 66 luck and skill, I deftly avoided flying over the railing and plummeting 30m to 67 my death. Unfortunately, I did so by launching myself headlong into a traffic 68 barrier, failing to release my toe-clips, breaking the seat right off the post, 69 and trashing both my leg and pannier on the pavement in the process. Pretty 70 sure my leg was broken, I lay there for a few minutes contemplating the 71 resounding success of my bike trip thusfar while the last of the Poccari Sweat 72 drained out of my water bottles into my shoes.</p> 73 <figure><img src="/post/2003-08-17-fireworks-in-fukui.jpg" 74 alt="Fireworks in Fukui"> 75 </figure> 76 77 <p>Suffice to say that the rest of the day went uphill from there (both literally 78 and figuratively) and I arrived in Otsu, on the edge of lake Biwa, in one 79 piece. Annie met me at the JR train station, we ditched the bike in a parking 80 lot, and rode the train back to Kyoto, where we met up with the entire 81 complement of Shiga JET Programme teachers at The Hub, an Irish Pub in 82 Karamachi. After a few beers, some fish & chips and edamame, Annie and Brent 83 hauled me back to their apartment in Imazu, where they (and I am forever 84 indebted to them for this) put me up for three days.</p> 85 <p>Although I didn’t get to go to SummerSonic in Osaka, I did get to pick up my 86 bike in Otsu, ride 95km back north to Imazu, and spend the evening at Imazu’s 87 Natsu-matsuri¹ with friends of Annie’s and Brent’s (Josh, Yo, and Hatsumi). 88 Natsu-matsuris involve many elements, but some of the most important factors 89 are: fireworks that put ours to shame, music and dancing, traditional Yukata², 90 and vast quantites of food and alcohol. After the festival, we dragged 91 ourselves to Bumblebee Twist, a local bar, and had a few more before eventually 92 hauling ourselves off to bed to recover.</p> 93 <p>The next day, we were all invited to a barbeque. The one thing that any 94 foreigner will immediately notice about a Japanese barbeque is that you can’t 95 just light the barbeque using zip-lights or lighter fluid. No… the correct 96 way to light a barbeque in Japan is for one person to heat the coals with a 97 torch while the rest stand around fanning the flames with uchiwas³ until the 98 barbeque, in a moment of glory, bursts into flames and the cooking begins. We 99 had music, more food, beer and Chu-hai (a sort of cider), snacks, and more 100 fireworks. It was totally great, even though I was beat over and over at some 101 kind of pirate game by a three-year-old.</p> 102 <p>The next morning, I said bye to Annie and Brent, then hurled myself off 103 northwards up the highway towards the north coast. For 30km, the road winds up 104 through the mountains over a narrow pass toward Tsuruga. In the scariest 105 downhill of the entire ride, I plummeted down the winding road, drafting behind 106 semi-trucks at 70km/h, flying in and out of tunnels and around hairpin turns 107 for the 8km down into Tsuruga.</p> 108 <p>Tsuruga sits on the ocean at the edge of the Sea of Japan, at the beginning of 109 the long road leading northeast to Fukui and Kanazawa. Unfortunately, it also 110 sits at the beginning of a 95km-long leg of straight uphill running along the 111 edge of a cliff with no shoulder. Fortunately, it’s some of the most beautiful 112 riding you could possibly hope for. Even more fortunately, midway through the 113 ride, as I sat at the side of the road huddling in a tiny corner of shade at 114 the edge of a cliff, two motorcyclists from Osaka pulled up and offered me 115 something to drink, a look at their road maps, and some encouragement in 116 Kansai-dialect. This was reinforced over and over throughout my ride by 117 children hanging out of car windows waving and shouting “ganbare!” at the top 118 of their lungs.</p> 119 <figure><img src="/post/2003-08-17-lining-up-for-okonomiyaki.jpg" 120 alt="Lining up for okonomiyaki"> 121 </figure> 122 123 <p>Eventually, I wound my way up through the mountains to Fukui, where I almost 124 had to spend the night camped on a park-bench by the river. Just when I’d 125 almost given up hope of finding a hostel, someone walked up to me and in 126 perfect English, asked if I needed a place to stay for the night. Turns out her 127 family ran a hotel downtown, and she and her sister had spent several years 128 living in Australia. Their mom invited me in for tea and snacks after dinner 129 and we all stayed up late with their little boy, Ryu, yakking about travelling 130 and good Japanese food.</p> 131 <p>The next day it was off to Kanazawa, which it turns out has a lot in common 132 with Kyoto. While it’s much smaller, there were many beautiful old sections of 133 town. There are temples and shrines everywhere, Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen — 134 probably the most famous Japanese garden in the world. There’s also a crazy guy 135 dressed in a cape and John Lennon glasses who runs around dragging people to 136 convenience stores. Too embarassed not to buy an ice cream treat from the 137 shopkeeper, I grabbed some ice-cream mochi balls, borrowed the phone and set up 138 reservations for Nagano.</p> 139 <p>Because of the typhoon, I ended up doing the rest of the trip by train. I found 140 a bike shop and spent the day yammering away in pseudo-Japanese to the little 141 old grandma and grandpa who owned the shop. Turns out that he had done almost 142 the exact same bike trip about 40 years ago! He had also cycled across 143 Australia and much of the rest of Japan. Pretty amazing! If I hadn’t found 144 them, my bike would probably be lying in a crumpled heap in a landfill right 145 now. It took hours, be we did manage to pack everything into an unbelievably 146 small bag that I could haul onto the train with me.</p> 147 <p>From Kanazawa, I caught the train to Nagano, taking local lines and limited 148 express trains the whole way. Nagano was the site of the 1998 Winter Olympic 149 Games, but has since reverted to its pre-Olympic small-town feel. It was a 150 beautiful place to visit, hidden away in the Japanese alps, surrounded by 151 Japanese hot springs and ski hills. I can’t wait to visit in winter. Nagano’s 152 biggest feature is probably Zenkouji, a Buddhist Temple which houses the first 153 Buddhist images to come to Japan from the Asian mainland. Underneath the temple 154 is a pitch-black maze of tunnels that you can wander into, pushed along by wave 155 after wave of school-children on field trips, people on pilgrimmages, and 156 curious tourists. It’s almost impossible to tell just how fast you’re moving, 157 or how far you’ve gone… just disembodied voices in the dark. Eventually you 158 arrive at the “key to salvation”, which you can’t see, but you can feel. A few 159 shakes and rattles, then you’re swept away down the tunnels again.</p> 160 <p>From Nagano, I caught the Asama Shinkansen into Tokyo. At 280km/h the trip 161 takes just about two hours. The train tore through the edge of the hurricane at 162 breakneck speed and we were in Tokyo on schedule to the minute. You can’t help 163 but love the Japanese train system.</p> 164 <figure><img src="/post/2003-08-17-akasaka.jpg" 165 alt="Akasaka at night"> 166 </figure> 167 168 <p>Met up with Yasuko in Tokyo, and we spent the week bumming around town and 169 catching all the sights: Akasaka, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Odaiba, the Tsukiji fish 170 market. Took a side trip to the art gallery a few hours away in Hakone 171 Prefecture where a mix of European and Japanese art is on display. There were 172 some absolutely amazing pieces of Japanese pottery in their collection. Back in 173 Tokyo, we had the chance to see a Kabuki play. I wasn’t entirely sure what to 174 expect, but it was great. The most striking thing is perhaps the movement. It 175 was absolutely incredible. I wish I were able to describe it, but the best I 176 can do is recommend that if you’re even in Tokyo, you go see a Kabuki play!</p> 177 <p>I returned home on August 17th. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo, 178 jumped on the plane at 6pm and had another breakfast and lunch. Arrived back in 179 Canada 8 hours before I left, and had lunch and dinner again, for a total of 180 seven meals on the 17th. Not bad! It was a pretty wild and crazy trip, but it 181 was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I can’t wait to go back.</p> 182 <p>Thanks to everyone who put me up along the way! In particular, Annie & Brent, 183 and Yasuko! You guys are the best!</p> 184 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 185 <ol> 186 <li><em>Natsu-Matsuri:</em> every village’s traditional summer festival, usually in 187 early- to mid-August, near Obon, the Day of the Dead.</li> 188 <li><em>Yukata:</em> traditional light cotton kimonos that come in a variety of colours 189 and patterns.</li> 190 <li><em>Uchiwa:</em> Large, flat traditional Japanese fan.</li> 191 </ol> 192 </article> 193 </main> 194 195 <footer id="footer"> 196 <div class="copyright"> 197 <span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#"> 198 The content of this site by 199 <a rel="cc:attributionURL" href="https://chris.bracken.jp/about"><span rel="cc:attributionName">Chris Bracken</span></a> 200 is 201 <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0">CC BY 4.0</a>. 202 </span> 203 </div> 204 </footer> 205 </body> 206 </html>