7 Tips For Cycle Touring in Japan (2018)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- My top tips for cycle touring in Japan! How to find free campsites, route planning, and more.
Since posting four videos about my Japan Bike trip from Cape Soya to Cape Sata, some people have been asking me questions about cycling in Japan.
So here are my tips for cycle touring in Japan. There's also an FAQ section at the end where I cover a few more questions.
If you have any other questions, ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.
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My next trip starts in July and I'll cycle the Americas. I'll start in Vancouver and cycle towards South America
If you're interested, please subscribe here and follow me on Instagram!
/ ciaranrawlinson
My Japan Bike Trip Route - www.google.co.uk/maps/@35.588...
Links and Search Tips:
Best info about Hokkaido - www.14degrees.org/hokkaido-cyc...
Free camping and Onsen Facebook Page - / wildcampingjapan
Ferry Guide - www.japan-guide.com/e/e2355.html
Search tips: (from video)
Onsen - 温泉
Sento - 銭湯
Camping ground - キャンプ場
Park - 公園
Roadside station - 道の駅
Internet Cafe's:
インタネットカフェ
Jiyu Kukan - 自遊空間
Kiakatsu Club - 快活CLUB (Another one that I didn't mention in the video)
Thank you 😊
Awesome video mate!
This is something I wanna do in the future for sure, thanks!
Thanks! Definitely tour Japan if you get the chance!
Great Tips and spectacular sights! Planning my first Bicycle tour in Hokkaido this August. The legendary Bicycle Tourer Heinz Stucke inspired me 21 years ago when he approached me to sell his "Around the World by Bicycle" booklet 300yen in Osaka back In 97'. My only child is finishing college, now is the time to fulfill my bicycle dreams and face my fears of traveling. Thanks Ciaran for the tips and wonderful insights of Japan!
Amazing! You'll have a great time in Hokkaido! It's a great place to start touring.
Did you buy his book?
Great news that we will hopefully see more videos of you in America! Thanks again for putting this together.
No problem. Looking forward to seeing another part of the world.
And yes, hopefully making more videos of that trip!
Thanks for this video. I didn't know there was such a thing as free campsites!
Thank you for putting this video together. We're planning to head to Japan in 2019 and your recommendations will come in very handy.
Japan is great. You'll have fun there!
Good luck on your big trip!
Your series of videos are great. Hope you are enjoying your time in Japan now as well! Cheers
Thanks a lot. Yeah, it's great to be back here!
Great info man, thanks for the video
Thanks! Good to know people are finding it useful.
What an amazing journey! I am hoping to do a Hokkaido bike trip with my family soon. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
Have fun. Hokkaido is amazing!
Thanks for sharing champ! Appreciate sharing the tips. I’m planning to do a Tottori & Shimane visit next year.
Sounds great! Good luck!
Dude so much value here, thank you! I was thinking a short Osaka-> Kyoto on my next trip but maybe Hokkaido instead!
Thanks a lot! Hokkaido is worth it but it probably takes at least 2-3 weeks to get the most out of it. You could definitely make a good itinerary in the Kyoto area to include Lake Biwa.
Excellent video Ciaran. Many thanks for sharing! We'll definitely pass it on to plenty of riders when tourism returns to this part of the world. Stay safe!
Thanks a lot!
It's four years since I left, but I'm finally moving back to Japan next month so I'm looking forward to cycling there again. Hopefully it won't be too long until it's open for tourism too!
@@CiaranRawlinson Good luck with the move back!
AWESOME VIDEO! Very interesting all the tips!
Thanks a lot!
Planning a trip across Hokkaido mainly because of your efforts in making the videos. Great experience..
Nice, hope you have a great trip!
Been twice to Japan but your video is very useful. Even for me as “more common” Japan traveller. Looking forward to the 100 yen pasta!
thank you for a very useful video! 👍
Great resource and motivation to make this trip. Moving to Japan as soon as borders open. I usually go there to ski, but touring is looking really good! Thanks for putting this together.
@Kyushu Brit Thank you so much. I will visit, if you ever open, but only for skiing and hiking. In the interim, please stay out of the Tetons and hope we block access to Hawaii as you do not open. No offense.
@Kyushu Brit I live in a quiet mountain valley where we cherish the outdoors, skiing and biking. We mask up. I find Australians to be the loudest and most inebriated tourist anywhere. Sorry you feel that way about Americans. It’s a big country with many types of people and places. But hey, you are roughly 96% Japanese and borders are closed, so you should be happy. We can pull our military out and leave your island nation in peace.
@Kyushu Brit I sincerely hope you meet some kinder, gentler Americans. There are many. I am sorry for any bad run ins you have had. I know the US military has not always done well in Japan. They would probably like to come home. I fear for your country with regards to China, but who knows what would happen if the US left, perhaps it would go well for Japan, perhaps not. Good luck!
Thank you for informations! I hope I can go to japan to cycling.
No problem. Thanks!
Nice video... you cover pretty much all the tips. Lovely Hokkaido! I had a netbook on my travels and I usually looked up the next day or two-three days' route in advance using google earth showing the satellite images to find the onsen (this assumes you have an internet connection, too... another story) and then look to see if the area around it had a place I could camp in. Onsen is the key!!! I also think the Maizuru-Otaru ferry route you show at the beginning of the video is a good option. It's competitively priced considering the distance, but needs booking well in advance. There are various sleeping options and one is a kind of partitioned private cabin with a curtain across the entrance which is worth having as it's quite a long trip (around 19 hours or something I think) and it's nice to have somewhere private to retire to. Travelling by ferry in Japan is always fun and interesting, from the larger car ferries to the small, powerful launches on shorter routes.
Yeah. Google maps/Earth are good for checking if a place will be suitable for camping.
That ferry was amazing. When I took it, it was ¥13,780 for me and the bike. 20 hours on the ferry and I had a bunk. (There's a picture of the bed in my previous video about cycling around Hokkaido.) There was even a public bath on the ferry which was great after cycling for two days in the summer heat!
Gotta love those ferry 'onsen' (ofuro?) :)
wow really informative ... awesome video
Thanks! 👍
Superb and very useful video. Took me 30 minutes to watch your 9 min. masterpiece so I can absorb and understand every word you said. Newbie cyclist from HKG. 😊
Thanks a lot! Good luck with your future cycle trips!
nice tips buddy,,,im planning that also with my mtb before going back to my country..,,
Thanks! Enjoy your trip!
Thanks man I've decided to cycle tour partly because of this video... will be going late Oct though so no Hokkaido for me
Cool, enjoy! It's a great time to cycle there and see the leaves changing colours!
Helpful video. Thanks for the tip about the Tokyo-osaka route. We wanted to avoid Tokyo, but didn't know that the whole section was that busy. Which sucks because I kind of wanted to see My. Fuji. Maybe we'll try to hit it from the backside.
Yeah, it's such a busy area there but you could probably find smaller roads than the one I took.
The Nakasendo route looks like a good alternative.
You can take a ferry from Tokyo to Osaka if you are trying to avoid the crappiness. Ferries service a lot of Japan and its super easy you just wheel your bicycle onto it, no 'bike bags' or trying to pack and unpack your bike at each end. Some busses have large storage below as well.
You Are Grate Sir.
Awesome info, will be very helpful my friend and I are probably going to go to Hokkaido this summer. One thing, you mentioned wifi, seemed kind of '1990s' to me, you might not be aware that you can purchase prepaid 1 month data sim cards that work all over Japan with no contract for 10-20 bucks. They are available at yodobashi and bic camera and other electronic stores and even at some convenience stores too I think. However if you are world traveling, nothing can beat the convenience of a Google Fi plan, it just seamlessly works in most countries you enter, no messing around, and it works in Japan too.
Haha, I think 1990s is a bit of an exaggeration. But yes, it's cheap and convenient to get a prepaid sim these days. It's definitely not unusual for people on long trips to go without them though. Most travellers I hosted in Japan from 2014-2017 only used Wi-Fi. It's sometimes nice to not be connected 24/7. I'm definitely guilty of getting distracted by my phone too much when I have the internet.
That's great! Good luck, and enjoy Hokkaido! 👍
Great video! Thanks for all the useful tips. We want to cycle Japan on our next trip. Right now we are in NZ cycling. Have you cycle toured in other countries and if so how do you compare it to Japan?
Yes, I've cycled in Western Europe, and Canada to Panama. I found Japan to be an enjoyably country to cycle in. Short distances between shops and services, great food, hot springs, safe. All my trips have been great though, so it's hard to say which I preferred. But I will definitely tour Japan again.
I could speak Japanese since I'd lived there for 3 years before touring, so your experience will be different if you've never been to Japan before.
@@CiaranRawlinson What was your budget for Japan? Canada to Panama, which way did you go through the US? Along the pacific coast?
@@radbikeadventure I didn't really keep track of my budget but it's probably similar to NZ. Accommodation and transport can be expensive in Japan but it's easy to find free or cheap campgrounds.
For the US I went through Montana, Wyoming, Utah, western Colorado, then Utah, Arizona Nevada and reached the coast at LA.
Ciaran Rawlinson oh okay ya we would definitely try to camp as much as possible and potentially use warmshowers. Have you used them before? If not you should. It’s a great network! For our ride home we are going to take the coastal route from Vancouver. Taking some detours inland to meet up with friends and family along the way.
Hi Ciaran, Thanks for posting all these resources, I am heading there in mid June. Just wondering how long did it take you complete your loop from Sapporo and back to Sapporo?
I left Otaru on August 3rd and arrived back into Sapporo on August 19th. So 17 days.
Some long days though! I think you'd want to give yourself around 3 weeks.
Hi guys,
I am planning a cycle trip with my 3 year old son from Fukuoka to Kyoto. I hope to go a way that minimises steep climbs and overcrowded areas (safety concerns). I like the coastal section you mentioned (5:51) I think that is a good alternative. In regards to using a GPS, what's a popular brand in Japan to use?
I like the MapMe option you suggested, with maps offline.
Thanks for the great video!
There's going to be climbing pretty much everywhere in Japan, but the San'in coast isn't too bad from what I remember. No big mountain passes but it's sometimes up and down.
And it's definitely not crowded, but all of Japan is relatively safe. There are some tunnels, so prepare for that with lights and bright clothes.
I haven't used a GPS, just my phone. MapsMe, Komoot and Google maps are all useful.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Good luck with your trip!
Hey Ciaran, thanks for sharing! If you would only have 3-4 days for a cicle route, which one would you reccommend?
If you have only a short time then it probably depends where is easiest to start from.
Are you living somewhere in Japan? Or are you going to fly in? Do you have your own bike or will you rent?
A good short trip is the Shimanami Kaido. It's only about 80km if I remember correctly but it's nice to camp halfway on one of the islands. Bikes are easy/cheap to rent there and you could extend it by taking time off the main route to explore the islands. If you can time you could also check out the onsen in Matsuyama.
Planning this year to cycle Hokkaido any additional tips guys?
Did you bring your own bike? Is it a break-a-way frame? Did you incur an extra charge for the bike to be flown? Did you buy all your own canping gear in advance or did you buy it all in Japan? Although theft is low in Japan, did you make it a point to lock your bike, say like when you entered a Lawson? I will need to see some of your videos especially of those islands near 北海道.
I lived in Japan before doing this trip so I had my bike and equipment already. I brought it home with me and didn't have to pay for it because it was covered as my 2nd piece of luggage with British Airways.
I usually just locked the frame to the wheel - the bike is so heavy that someone isn't going to carry it away easily. But I probably didn't need to, Japan is pretty safe.
I definitely recommended those islands, they are great!
@@CiaranRawlinson thanks for info! You might like Yakushima. The main road goes all the way around past some monkeys and deer. Other roads branch interiorly off this main route up the slopes. Many roads do not have much shoulder nor a dedicated bike lane. It rains often but everything is very green. Another island is Okinawa. The ride from Yomitan peninsula to Nago is nice and I had no trouble. The route has a dedicated rest stop with good eats. Ishigaki may be better with the best apartment/hotel near Uehara. Lots of slopes and vistas. Iriomote is good but most shops (there aren't many) close early. Night bike rides are interesting, just watch out for frogs, and other endangered species. If you like gravel then Taketomi is good but very tiny. I don't recall any cars, but water buffalo pull tourist carts around in the central part of the island. They rent bikes. The southern islands are best avoided during typhoon season, the monsoon season, and during the heat of summer. I like typhoons but I could not walk during one, never mind bike.
Gday Check out OSM on Android as it downloads maps OFFLINE
- OSM is Open streetmap
Thanks. I've also started using Komoot recently which I like.
8:16 Not Tanuki, this is Anaguma
Oh really? I didn't know about this animal. Thanks.
Japan is amazingly safe, doing a bike trip on latin america is so dangerous in comparison.
I agree! But thankfully I made it down to Panama without any problems! I'm hoping to make the videos of that trip in the next few months.
@@CiaranRawlinson anyway, if you can afford, don't sleep outside in South America, specially now with a lot political turmoil in Brazil, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina.
Do you réalise how fast you speak?
Can I ask what equipment you brought and cost?
Anything in particular you want to know about?
The bike was a Schwinn Searcher 3 (¥55,000). It was just the bike I'd been using in Japan for the two years before my trip. Ortlieb panniers.
Tent, Eureka Midori Solo, $120. Sleeping bag, I used a cheap one in Hokkaido in summer then switched to an expensive Montbell one ¥40,000 in October as it was getting cold. Stove, Jetboil Minimo.
I'd bought a lot of my gear during the time I was living in Japan so didn't have to buy much before my trip. And I used the same stuff when I cycled from Canada to Panama the following year.
I recommend getting quality gear if possible. But it can also be done much cheaper. In 2014 for my first trip in Europe I did it really cheap. €120 euro bike from Decathlon, £30 tent and £20 panniers, and a cheap sleeping bag I found at home. And I made it 5000km around 8 countries in Europe with that!
@@CiaranRawlinson Thank you very much for detailed information! Cannot wait to go for a trip!
Are you still in Japan? Going to Hokkaido soon.
Yes. I'm living in Kansai area now but haven't been to Hokkaido since my trip in 2017. Enjoy your trip!
@@CiaranRawlinson Thank you. I got my plan up to Toyama station. Now I have to plan up to Aomori. And then plan for Hokkaido. I heard the Russian restaurant in Wakkanai has closed. I was hoping to have a meal there.
Great video, but music overwhelmed the speech.
DONT LISTEN TO THIS CRAP, PEOPLE !!! Telling people that Hokkaido is the best place to cycle in Japan is the SINGLE WORST PIECE OF ADVICE EVER!!!. There's hardly anything worth going there except the final stage of a Sata-Soya trip. Just endless flat country straights and very little infrastructure like onsens, rider houses, michi no eki rest stops and convenient stores to support a long bike tour. I too went from soya to sata. Hokkaido is definitely THE WORST place to bike in Japan, with little to no people around the country side and very very few big or even smaller cities which also makes it extremely dangerous to bike around in case of a bad injury / bike breaking down. Sure it has its cool nature spots but that's true for most of Japan. The best place to spend a few weeks to bike around is definitely the southern coastline of Honshu including the Kansai area and the island hopping route to Shikoku. Want to see a lot of exciting places and meet some people while in Japan, then spend your limited time there!