JAPAN TOUR BY BIKE - 110 Million people met

ENGLISH SUBTITLES AVAILABLE
In June 2017, Loïc, Matteo and Thomas got into the saddle on an island in southern Japan with one goal in mind: climb Mount Fuji and then bike to Tokyo. Many meetings will take place over the 2600 kilometres of the course.
Interview conducted for the Globalbiker.org blog:
Why Japan by bike?
Japan is in the category of "easy" countries by bike and the logistical side is not difficult.
Loïc: Matteo first had as a personal project this bike trip to Japan, he always wanted to visit this country, it was a kid's dream, he was also motivated by the landscapes seen on TV or on the internet. For fear of being bored alone on such a distance, he invited me because he knew that I was interested in this trip, I immediately accepted. We then discussed the possibility of a trio and invited Thomas.
Matteo: Japan is in the category of "easy" countries by bike and the logistical side is not difficult. No visa, no problem of insecurity, roads in very good condition, all kinds of products available for sale everywhere, good general hygiene... all you need is a return ticket and you can imagine all the rest on the spot.
Japan also for its atmosphere at the end of the world...
Thomas: Asia is a continent that I always wanted to visit without having the opportunity to do so, but when the opportunity arose I couldn't let it go. I think that if Matteo had offered me another destination I would not have gone there, it's really the idea of travelling to Japan that motivated me.
How did you prepare your bike trip to Japan?
Loïc: We used two things to prepare our trip: a Little Planet Japan guide and internet. Google Maps, classic searches and social networks helped us. We had, before taking the plane, a global idea of our itinerary but once there, we decided overnight the exact path we were going to take, even at the moment we could make a detour or change destination.
Matteo: Part of the preparation was done upstream, especially for the equipment, but many decisions were made on the spot. That's the magic of the bike trip when time is not counted. We change route according to the encounters and our desires.
How many km did you ride per day?
Loïc: I think that the average mileage per day is not an important data in a bike trip because if two cities we want to visit are close, we will not make an unnecessary detour! For example, between Kobe and Osaka there are 30km. So the minimum was 30km and the maximum 160km with I think an average of 90km riding days.
Matteo: You said it all Loïc ahah!
What is the region you preferred to cycle in?
Loïc: Personally the region I preferred is the Japanese Alps region as well as the cities on the west side of the Alps, including Takayama.
Matteo: The South of Honshu Island and the North of Kyushu were good memories. Shikoku could have been a favorite region but we had overcast and rainy weather there so it skews the opinion a bit.
Thomas: Fukuoka is definitely my favorite city in Japan for many reasons. It's a city on a human scale, it's possible to visit a large part of it and you don't have to refer to guides to see the must-sees and leave the rest aside. Moreover it is very far from the "traditional" Japanese tourist circuits so we were almost the only foreigners in the city and we met very few gaijin. People were very open and listening, an atmosphere that I did not find in Tokyo for example.
I also loved Shikoku, the nature was really amazing, the rivers in the mountains were amazing and you could surf on the coast, for me who surf a lot it was paradise!
What were the most beautiful points of the course?
Loïc: From my point of view I would say the road to Mount Sasagamine in the central mountains of Shikoku, the road to Mount Norikura, the very attractive city of Hagi and Mount Fujiyama, it's really personal, as you can see, I love the mountain!
Matteo: I loved the route 2 along the coast that goes through Nagato, Hagi and past Tsunoshima. The same for the coastal road north of Kyoto after Lake Biwa. We go through small fishing villages and the traffic is low. All fun. On Honshu, the coast overlooking the Sea of Japan is generally less industrialized and concrete than the coast overlooking the Pacific.
Thomas: I loved the first road we took from Fukuoka, a bicycle path along the beaches with a constant view of the sea without any car, it was the best!