Day 6 - Couples Shrine & Coastal Roads: Fukuoka to Dainyū /Sunshine camp (63km)

This was the day, the real cycling adventure would start, leaving the safety of the big city and the hotel. I woke up super early again, around 3am and unable to sleep until 5am. Then I must have dozed off until 7am. I packed my bags, knowing I’ve got to check out at 11am. I headed to the breakfast restaurant and had a big meal with fish and ordered some extra Natto (fermented, sticky soy beans), I’ve always hated them but apparently they’re good for your guts. I tried some, not quite as disgusting as I remembered and I observed someone opposite me putting soy sauce on them. That helped a little bit plus eating them with a mouthful of something afterwards as a chaser.

From breakfast it was off to Starbucks, same ritual: Decaf Mocha, Tall size, Hotto, drink in, cuppu, Creme nashi (no Creme). I had 2 cups whilst writing the blog. I went a bit overboard writing yesterday but I do enjoy it and it’s gonna serve as a reminder of how this all feels in a few years when I can look back at this. As I laid awake in the night, I planned out my route into 3 stages, first to the Couples Gate (31km), then to Totoro’s Forrest (12km) and then to Hideaway Sunset camp in Dainuy (20km). I didn’t quite know whether this was too much for the first day or not but I was gonna try. I remembered from my 2018 trip around Hokkaido that I averaged 60-80km/ day. With the blog written and about 30min to go I headed to the hotel to pack and check out before 11am. As I packed my stuff, I must have forgotten my cycling gloves somewhere but I didn’t immediately notice. I had a few mins to spare so I rushed things. I took the bike and my bags down and put them all onto the bike. I had 2mins to spare before checkout deadline and was happy with the timing. I refilled my water bottle at reception and was ready to go. As I was about to leave I felt that something was missing, my helmet. I had to go back to reception and get it from the room, then finally ready I wanted to leave but oh no, where are my gloves. I had to take all the bags off again, unpacked most of them but couldn’t find them. Ok, no problem, thank good for secondary gloves from 2018. 

I finally set off around 11.30 after much faffing, leaving Fukuoka city behind me. I stopped in a garden centre to get some extra cable ties as memories of my rear rack falling off one time in 2018 flashed back. This is most likely one of the worst things that could happen and entirely possible considering everything is help by 2 small screws. I also got some more water and a small bottle of Pocari sweat. Jeez, cycling without weight the day before was one thing, cycling with all the weight completely different. The bike feels like a lorry. Small bumps in the road deliver shocks to bike and rider and I have to slow down as I want to save my spikes from too much of this, knowing that they’re the most susceptible to breaking under this pressure. 

These 2 screws hold the rear rack, 8mm of steel…

Once I got out of Fukuoka I enjoyed riding much more. In Japan, motorists are still king and don’t really care about cyclists. This is worse on small narrow roads but just as bad in the city as cars and lorries will overtake you neatly scraping past me with 20cm to spare. I take as much space on the road as needed, especially on more narrow sections as I don’t fancy getting knocked over. After about 20km I took a break in a cafe, had some cheese cake and lots of water. Then onwards to the couples gate. I was already pretty exhausted, my bum and wrists hurt and this wasn’t helped that I had strong headwinds since leaving Fukuoka.

In the cafe I notices some young, hip travellers and little did I know that I’d see them again and again. First stop couples gate, a nice viewpoint of the ocean that was pretty busy. The group of travellers were here too, which made me feel like I’m making good progress keeping up with motorised travellers. From there I changed cycling glasses to sunglasses and took off my helmet. I couldn’t go fast anyway as the headwinds just got stronger, some times feeling like I’m coming to a standstill or just about making 5 km/h. On we go. Halfway to the Totoro Forrest I stopped at a farm shop, more strawberries - yummy! I ate the whole crate before continuing. Google maps continued to be annoying which made me take out my phone from the case to check it. I was gonna have to rely on my senses and just override the voice in my ear that said, next left, then right…when I knew it was a relatively straight road.

Totoro Forrest was a really a viewpoint and just because it looks like a bit of a tunnel through some thicket, didn’t quite warrant the description. As I arrived, so had the other group of younger travellers. I passed them by on my way up to the viewpoint exchanging smiles as they took selfies… the viewpoint was really good and a welcome break for my legs ti rest for a bit and walk around. I also visited a local shrine next to the viewpoint, which seemed like it hailed from many, many centuries past with wooden carvings and statues of tengu (the long nose demons in Japanese folklore). This was the point here I noticed my neck was in pain, I could have only been sunburn, despite putting some on in the morning. My suspicion was confirmed later, but not only on my neck but pretty much everywhere else, face and legs. Yeh!

From here it was onto the last leg of my journey to the Hideaway Sunset camp. I didn’t book anything and assumed I could just rock up there and pitch my tent somewhere. 20 gruelling Kilometers with continuing strong headwinds nearly killed me. My legs felt like pudding, finding a good seating position that didn’t hurt was impossible and my wrists were shouting stop. On we go. I arrived at the amazingly looking Hideaway Sunset Camp which was made out of some wooden structures, hidden away at the end of a beach point. There were palm trees, a bath house and only one group of travellers. I cycled in and found two workers plucking grass. I asked if I could stay but they said that’s it’s reservation only. After some exchange in English and Japanese they called the owner who spoke really good English. I asked if I could stay and he said that it’s reservation only and usually ¥8,000/ night. I asked if there’s anywhere to pitch my tent as I didn’t need a pre-made tent and bedding. He said he only has the guest room available some streets away. I thought to myself, let’s check it out. One of the staff drove and I cycled for another 500m. The guesthouse was empty, probably last used in the previous season. I was shown a room with bunks and said great, I’ll stay. I parted with ¥2,200 and looked forward to the hot bath and a bed for the first night. Somewhat disappointed I wasn’t camping but also not too much as I couldn’t find an onset that was open anywhere and I so longed for a soak. Before that, I got back on the bike and cycled back to the campsite to watch the sunset. That felt great. I also checked out the camp a bit more and it just looked amazing. I’m sure staying here is awesome.

Once back, I had a bath, changed rooms to a neighbouring Japanese style room as my room light didn’t tur off and laid down. Jeez, I was exhausted but very happy! I must have cycled for around 4.5h, drank about 4-5l of water. For dinner I ate 2 pieces of chocolate before checking out tomorrows journey and eventually going to bed by 10pm. I was rudely awoken around midnight with heavy rain drumming on the porch roof. This continued into the early morning until about 6am. I felt pretty happy that I decided to stay and not press on and stay in a tent. I had a good rest, found some rosemary and mint in the garden, made some tea and then set off again. 

The journey continues…here another poem from my little book:

The waterfall

dried up

in the distant past 

and makes

not a sound,

but it’s fake flows on

and on—

and echoes

still

today

Day 5 - Exploring Fukuoka (45km)

The day started annoyingly early again around 4am or so, unable to sleep much longer. I stayed in bed, awake for another 2h or so trying to fall asleep until I had enough of it at 6am. The weather forecast foretold a sunny and warm day with around 20C and I cam outdoors already see the rising sun blasting it’s rays through the half-open curtain of my room. Great start I thought!

I was already pretty hungry but only had some water as I am also trying to do some intermittent fasting and also try and limit my calorie intake on a daily basis, just to see what it would to my body, alongside the sustained exercise for the coming weeks. I then used the time to do some exercise, a bit of yoga and meditation before exploring the web on what to do in Fukuoka. The castle ruins from the 16th century could have been a possibility but they just didn‘t that exciting and they were pretty close. I wanted to do some cycling to test the bike and see how I get on with my make-shift gear leaver or whether I would have to go a bit more inventive on this. I searched the map for something interesting and far away enough to warrant a few hours of cycling. Eventually I stumbled upon Uminonakamichi Sea Park, in a half-Island directly opposite the city. It was a good hour and a half cycle or 22km, a decent 3h there and back! But as 3h journey would only keep me occupied for a bit, I decided to visit a few of the local shrines and temples as they looked pretty stunning. 

On my way into town I felt pretty excited about the warm day ahead that I foolishly left the hotel in T-shirts and my cycling shorts. After about 5min I regretted this decision but pushed on, hoping it wasn’t Oulu eventually get warmer than the 13C that it was now. I was also on the lookout for some breakfast when I stumbled upon a small restaurant on my way to Hakodate main station. The place was small but busy, always a good sign. I tried to figure out what to do, so I sat down hoping to find a menu. A waitress came to me pointing me to a machine next to the door where I can see the English Menu and place my order, resulting in a small receipt, one for me and one for the waitress who then came to my table to pick up my order. Pretty neat I thought. The menu was pretty huge and not very expensive at all. I had a typical Japanese breakfast with rice, miso soup, fish, tofu, side salad and some tea. As I was longing for some more vegetables in my diet I went for another side salad. By the time my food arrived I was pretty hungry but when I saw the portion I was immediately regretting my second side salad. How was I gonna eat all that?

Eventually, breakfast behind me, I searched for the nearest Starbucks for some sitting down and blog-writing time. I takes about 1.5h to write one day’s worth of blog, using an iPad, without external keyboard. This took some getting used to but still far superior than using my phone, which is too cumbersome and takes event longer to write and especially trying to include any media/ photos is super annoying with this interface. Still a huge improvement to 2018, when I couldn’t even write natively on Blogger but had to use a third party interface and my notes for writing. I ordered my coffee, which is always such an experience and follows the same script: Decaf Mocha, Tall size, Cuppu (a mug and not throwaway cup), hotto (as opposed to iced), creme nashi (no whipped creme), onegaishimasu (a polite form to request something, similar to our please). 2 cups of decaf mocha later, day 4 was uploaded and I was ready to go to the first shrine.

Kushida shrine is about 10-15min walk from the station and with the sun blasting, I thought it’s time to get my good mood sunglasses out. The moment I put them on the surroundings transformed into an uplifting yellowish glow! With some electronic music blasting from my headphones, I reached the shrine in no time. It was a magnificent shrine, established 757 AD and worshipped by locals as “Kushida-sama” prominent for bestow business prosperity and youth to worshippers. Starting in 1241, the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival is one of the most famous processions in the city, lasting for 15 days starting 1st of July. There is also a well located on the temple grounds is supposed to bring youth and long life and worshippers are encouraged to drink 3 sips from it, the first for youth and long life, the second for the family and the third for blood relatives - no wonder the shrine was well frequented, even on a Monday! Who wouldn’t want to be live long and be youthful. On the temple grounds is also a 1,0000-year old sacred tree known as Kushida-no-Ginan, also symbolising long life. I used one of the prayer slogan boxes, available in many languages from Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English - not quite knowing what to expect. For the small donation of ¥100 a worthwhile investment - I got “Number 7 - Lucky - Like and Eagle entering the mountains”, cautioning me to be humble to receive good fortune. It also said that a “lost article will be difficult to find or will be found late”….hmmm…

The second place of worship I visited was Tocho-ji Temple, with the country’s largest wooden Buddha statue with a height of over 10m weighing 30 tonnes. Sadly, it’s only open for display once a month (and today wasn’t the day). Regardless, the temple grounds were spectacular, with carefully pruned trees and shrubs and a magnificent pagoda. The temple was built in 806 by the monk Kukai as the head of the Shingon sect in Kyushu. I strolled around the temple grounds, alongside local and foreign visitors and worshippers. The pagoda stood tall, glistening in the sunshine still more magnificent I think, thanks to my tinted glasses :)

From there I made my way back to the hotel to get my bike. By now the temperature was around 20C and I felt really happy with this first day of sightseeing and cycling being blessed by such good weather! I packed my bags for the journey, refilled my water from the lobby and headed out towards to city centre and then to the half-island to get to the park. I have never used a phone case on my bike, usually carrying my phone in my pocket. But as the phone gets warm over time, using GPS, I wanted to try having it attached to my handlebar in a waterproof case. This proved very fiddly and annoying as leaving the screen on all the time drains the battery but listening to the GPS instructions was at best indicative, at worst a nightmare as it sent me on roundabout ways just because it couldn’t figure out whether I was on a road, sidewalk or just being slow to update itself. In the city this is much worse than on country lanes as there is an endless choice of routes it can suggest. I’m 2018 there wasn’t a bicycle option but now there was, so I used it. The number of times I had to stop and get the phone off out, look at the map again before continuing was staggering and eventually I just listened to my intuition and followed what I believed was a sensible direction. Using main roads and “cycle lanes” was the way to go, even though I always feel that whoever was or is in charge of Japan’s cycling lanes is either a motorist, pedestrian or both or maybe just someone who doesn’t like cyclists. Often cyclists and pedestrians have to share the same paths without indication which one is which, pedestrian pathways are often more smooth vs the bumpy, uneven ones for cyclists and then there is the obstacles…from pillars to other obstructions, to raised curbs and paths that just come to a stop without any warning. This makes me use regular roads much more as I just cannot be bothered with such a terrible cycling experience that can shake you up or just get you really frustrated. There seem to be some improvements to many years ago, with Fukuoka having one dedicated cycle lane that I could spot that was carved out from a main road, vs being a pedestrian walkway. 

Eventually I got to the park after a few more GPS-infused detours. The park was ideal for cycling, where you could either use your own, or borrow one from the many cycle rental places dotted around the park. What attracted me to this sight was that it was meant to be a beautiful park with a number of flower arrangements across the year. I’ve just missed “hanami”, the traditional Japanese custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers, in most cases referring to cherry and in some cases also plum blossoms. There were still a few around and they looked gorgeous but what stood out were the display of tulips and an unknown blue flower that was arranged into small fields. This felt a little bit like being in a cartoon movie or anime as the flowers provided a surreal backdrop. May people roamed around and took pictures. I hopped on and off my bike occasionally, stopping to see some of the sights in the park, for which you weren’t allowed to bring your bike in. My lunch consisted of a well-earned bottle of water. Not any kind of water but Pocari Sweat. I discovered it in 2018 and I don’t know what it is or what it does but it always makes me feel good and provides quick energy. I’m assuming it’s an isotonic sports drink and probably not good for you in large quantities, but a 250ml bottle couldn’t do any harm :)

After an hour or so I left the park and was looking for an onset or hot spring in town to soak myself and restore. Y aching muscles. This was the longest bike ride I had done years. And no, I did not prepare for this trip in any way, assuming that I will “get fit” on the go. A strategy that has not failed me since. Sadly the main hot spring was closed until Thursday and so I had to go with a local sento (public bath), which was described on google as “one bath tub” bath. I could pretty much imagine what that meant, very local, very small but definitely all that is needed for me.

As I cycled I was getting hungry as breakfast and pocari sweat had vanished er and were used up for cycling energy. I also longed for fruits and veg as I hadn’t eaten much of them. After another 20min and just as I was heading back into Fukuoka main town I saw a tiny veg shop stall along the road on the other side and I immediately turned around and stopped. I saw some mange tout (sugar peas) and something that looked like oranges. The shopkeeper came out to greet me and we exchanged a few words as he was curious what I was Japan and where I was going. I explained that I’m cycling around Kyushu and that I was looking for some veggies. I enquired about the oranges but he said they’re not oranges but I also couldn’t figure out what they were, so I just bought the sweat peas, just a small bunch for ¥100. I headed to my backpack to get my wallet but a small panic gripped me as I couldn’t find it. Was the fortune scroll already working, me looking for my lost item. I remembered it said after some intense searching it can be found. As I was searching my many pockets from jacket to trouser to backpack, all kinds of thoughts went through my head, did I lose it in the park paying for stuff? Did it drop when I got back into the bike or fell out of my trouser? All possibilities but all of them also involved going back to the park or calling them. I already imagined asking the shopkeep but, alas, eventually I found it in a pocket I don’t normally use that had some other stuff in it too. Phew…

Whilst I was fumbling for my wallet, the shopkeep went back into the shop and brought me some hot sweat potatoes as a snack (which I immediately ate), a bottle of water before eventually also wrapping up one of the oranges! That was so heartwarming and kind! We chatted a bit longer before I was on my way again. A few hundred metres was another, 10x larger veg shop and I stopped again, this time to buy some deliciously looking strawberries for ¥450, not too bad ha fruit in Japan. 

Now it was time to find a hot bath (Sento). It was conveniently located just off the road my hotel was on and as I stopped there, I was proven right. It was tiny, local and perfect! I locked my bike and went inside, shows into the locker and through the entrance for men. A half-blind grandpa asked me for ¥300, which also included sauna and a fresh towel! Yes, that’s all I needed. My bum had started to hurt already as I haven’t cycled so much in one go, by now 4h in the saddle with a relatively heavy backpack and less than optimal cycling trousers with very thin padding. I soaked for a bit, hot and cold bath, sauna and cold bath again before heading out. I weigh around 84kg at the moment, something that will most likely change over the coming weeks, or not.

I headed back to the hotel and it was around 6.30. I was exhausted, tired and happy. I ate the remaining strawberries which felt like such a treat, alongside the mange tout and the orange, that was much more like a grapefruit. This all made me feel full and sleepy. I wanted to go out into town but eventually decided against it, I was too exhausted. I think I fell asleep around 9pm, knowing that I will be awake in the middle of the night again… before sleeping, I researched my route for tomorrow, finally heading out into the countryside and away from the busy-ness of the city. I found some amazing camp sites more hot spring and various restaurants dotted across the road. The journey continues!

…with a poem:

As I will soon be gone,

let me take one last memory

of this world with me—

May I see you once more,

may I see you now?

Day 4 - Tokyo to Kyushu (Fukuoka)

The day started early again as I couldn’t sleep longer than 3.30am. After much tossing and turning I think I slept another hour from 5-6am before finally getting up and doing some more re-packing. I figured to cut some of my bike padding and wrap it around the straps of my 2 heavy bags, one with all my camping gear and clothes in (3 individual bags) and another with my bike in. Thankfully I packed enough zip ties that come in handy for all kinds of things on camping/ cycling trips. I was surprised to then hear Mitsu’s alarm clock go off at 7am - on a Sunday! He did his morning exercises and I did mine, some push-ups and crunches and some yoga exercises. Then we had tea before I got ready to go to Shinagawa to catch the bullet train to Kyushu. Mitsu insisted to take me to his local station, a welcome help! The padding made itself useful and so we marched to the train station, my big bags dangling on either side of my shoulders. Gyms are totally overrated!

2x 20kg so not convenient

I got to Shinagawa station after 2 trains and walked to the Shinkansen part of the station. It was great advice not to go straight into the Shinkansen station entrance but to do some critical lunch and snack shopping in the station’s main part. There were many, many bento and prepared lunch shops catering to the thousands of travellers that pass through here daily. I picked some Onigiri (filled rice balls), a staple for many travellers and people short of time to eat and a sushi set from another shop before heading to the Shinkansen entrance. My train was in 30min so I got some more water before heading heading down to the platform seeing at least 3 more Shinkansen trains travelling to faraway places come into the station. They are such an amazing feat of engineering. 

Shinkansen

Eventually my train also arrived and I headed to my seat but to my surprise there was very little space for my bags, not as I remembered it from 2018. I awkwardly had to leave my 2 pieces in the connecting spaces outside the carriage, checking with the train staff whether that was ok. They nodded even though I insisted that I could move them somewhere else more convenient if that was possible, they said it’s fine.

I settled into my window seat, ready for a 5h journey. The carriages were full and next to me there were two young Japanese travellers, he was on his iPad watching movies and she was mainly sleeping. The Shinkansen to Hakata Station (Fukuoka, Kyushu) frequents ons on its way: Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Hiroshima.

As the journey was into its first 30min, one of the train staff came to my seat with a carefully handwritten note with the upcoming stations from Tokyo all the way until my final destination with a pointer to where the door would open and a friendly instruction to keep shifting my luggage out of the way as it was blocking the doors if I left it and train staff had better things to do. Awkward…but also not too much to ask considering I was the one who messed up and probably didn’t book the right carriage with a better luggage allowance, despite checking this the day before with Mitsu and concluding that my luggage was suitable for normal carriages. Oh well, it was only 4x for the whole of the 4-5h journey and a welcome excuse to leave my seat and stretch and walk around a bit. My seat neighbours understood as they watched me get up now and then to move my shit around. At one point the girl might have been quite happy to be disturbed by me as she was hanging halfway across the isle in a deep sleep, with seconds to spare before the food trolley would pass her by. As I needed to squeeze by she woke up with a big sigh and seemingly fell asleep again straight away. 

The rest of the journey was uneventful, the train kept steady and the quality of the ride is pretty unprecedented, especially compared to UK trains, fast ones or not, which shake you about the place. Ah, Japanese engineering and an ever watchful eye on quality and customer experience, no matter where! I wrote my blog for some part of the journey, continued reading The Buddha and The Badass and watched the scenery go by. It took a long time for the scenery to visibly become greener and less urban, pretty much all the way to Kyushu. This was a good sign as I desperately wanted to escape cities and urban landscapes.

Lunch

Random landscape towards Kyushu 

Random landscape towards Kyushu

We got to Hakata station and I exited but had already rubbed my shoulders wound from carrying the bags earlier that I had to resort to a short, 5min taxi ride to get myself to the hotel. ¥550 or £4ish was totally worth the money as I didn’t fancy injuring my shoulders any more. The hotel was pretty awesome, a good sized room with shower. I lugged my stuff to the13th floor and took in the view. I have arrived!

Welcome to Kyushu!

I decided to unpack my bike in the hotel room, freeing it from the various layers of the remaining bubble wrap, foam packaging and a cardboard box for the reach mech. I untangled my handlebars that I had to take off and reattached them to the stem of the front fork. Somehow the cabelling was a bit different with one break cable being bent in a way that I didn’t remember but it was fine. I reattached the reach mech but had to do it 2x as I didn’t route the cabelling properly. I then fixed the mudguards with some more zip ties and attached the front and rear lights. It all looked as it should…up until I sat on it. When adjusting the handlebar I noticed that one of my gear shifters was broken off, another fatality from the transport. It wasn’t fully broken off thankfully but damaged enough to render it useless for longer journeys. Oh well, let’s find another bike shop and see if I can get another spare.

Zonk hotel Hakata

I took the bike down and did my first ride with it since reassembly. I don’t really use the bike during London commutes as it’s too nice to leave anywhere. I’ve only ever ridden the bike around town where I knew I wouldn’t have to leave it anywhere so using the bike was and still is a pretty new experience. Despite the shifter being broken, the bike still worked and shifting was possible, albeit painful as the broken off plastic digs into my thumb. The overall gears also must have gotten a knock from transport and were a bit off. I decided to go as far east as I could until I reached the ocean. This was a short 20min ride.

Hakata Harbour, Cruise Terminal

Once I got to the ocean I really felt that this is it. The adventure begins. At the same time, I also felt lonely, no one to talk to or share the day-to-day with. This does take some getting used to but it’s also not something that I had felt for a while as I didn’t solo-travel since 2018. I’m the only one who decides where to go, what to do, what to eat, what to see, how to get there, when to leave, when to come back. My mind quickly filled with doubt whether this was all such a good idea, whether I’m not too old for this kind of thing or whether I should have just stayed at home. At the same time, I was exactly longing for this experience as I wanted to get in touch again with the travelling spirit and being guided by something else, other than “myself”. It is a pretty amazing feeling to just travel following your intuition and often just thinking about things can bring them into existence. This can be anything from bike shops when you need them or anything else really. Our minds are powerful when they are connected to “the universe”!

Arrived!

I acknowledged these thoughts and that my mind needed to get used to the solitude again. This is a transition and I know that I have uprooted myself from my comfort zone and put myself right outside of it, into a different country, on my own. Of course I’m not fully alone, there’s still WhatsApp, Facebook and LinkedIn, which can and do keep me connected but there’s just no one to share the immediate present and day-to-day with. I guess it will take some time to get used to being by myself again, listening to and directing my mind as needed.

On my way back from the harbour I cycled past a cycle shop that was still open, to my surprise! It was 6.30pm and it’s Sunday. But I wasn’t the only one who needed some bike service as there were some customers before me who picked up their bicycle. The older shopkeep seemed friendly as I tried to explain my broken shifter to which he answered that he doesn’t have any spare parts for it, only a whole new unit but that he’d be happy to give me some tape for a make-shift shifter lever. I also asked if he could re-tune gears which he was happy to do incl. spraying everything with WD40 for a smooth shifting experience for ¥500 all in. Great value as always! 

Thanks for fixing my bike!

I then left to look for some dinner. It was getting dark and I turned on my bike lights. As a serious cyclist I don’t use the pavement like most cyclists do here in Japan. It’s way too inefficient to navigate your path through pedestrians and the constant ups and downs of pavements can be pretty annoying. Cycling on the main road is where it’s at. Navigating my way through an unknown city using google maps is pretty easy with turn by turn navigation, thanks to my Wifi box, phone and headphones. I went back to the city centre, but not before trying to find another bike shop with the hope of finding a replacement lever for my shifter. 

I found a more modern bike shop with a really friendly owner but they also didn’t have any spares. What they did have was a digital foot pump to get my tires up to max pressure (85psi) for a smooth and efficient riding experience. I was pretty happy discovering the puncture proof Schwalbe Marathon tyres in my Lands End to John O’Groats cycle. They literally are the most puncture proof tyres I’ve never had. They’re not easy to put on as they’re super tight but once they’re on they just keep on rolling! 

After a short search on google, I found a nice sushi restaurant. I had some fish-bone miso soup and a few pieces of sushi before heading back to the hotel which was just around the corner. Even though I didn’t do anything exhausting today I was just so tired. It was about 8.30m but I couldn’t keep my eyes open for much longer. Quick shower, brush my teeth, off to bed. I think I fell asleep in an instant at around 9.30 or so. A bit too early and I already knew I was gonna be awake in the middle of the night again. The jet leg continues. 

We end on a poem:

I should have gone to sleep

but, thinking you would come,

I watched the moon

throughout the night

till it sank before the dawn.

Day 3 - Tokyo

The day started relatively early, after a good rest and sleep till 8am. Maybe I’m already over my jet lag as this was a good nights sleep! I had 3 main missions today:

1. Go to Shinagawa and buy my Shinkansen/ Bullet train ticket to Kyushu. There are ways to buy it online but it’s not straight forward if you don’t speak / read Japanese so buying from the station seemed best.

2. Get my rear wheel fixed as the airline or luggage handler in the airport managed to ignore my carefully wrapped around FRAGILE signs and judging by the damage to the wheel and how my bike bag and internal cushioning looked, heavy items must have been put on top. The chain guard was also broken but that wasn’t fixable unless I bought a new one

3. Explore Tokyo! An easy thing to do and do by myself as Mitsu had things to do today

We left the apartment around 9.30 and took 2 trains to Shingawa station. Once we got there I already imagined myself a day later carrying all the luggage to the station. Jeez, I was not looking forward to this in any way. Many stairs, long walk ways and the trek from the flat to the first station. But it had to be done! Once we got to the Shinkansen are of the train station, I could see long queues for the ticket hall but Mitsu steered me away from thinking about queuing immediately and said that we can just buy a Shinkansen ticket using one of the many ticket machines as long as I had a credit card. This is my first time travelling with a credit card as I avoided them successfully, for better or worse, up until now. I booked one of the early trains to Hakodate (Fukuoka) leaving just after 10am the next day. This experience was as smooth as it possibly could be, ticket and receipt issued promptly, so we could go onto mission #2.

Getting my rear wheel fixed was a fairly basic affair as it involved trueing the wheel by changing the spoke tension in the wheel. Any bike mechanic would do this and luckily there was one around the corner from Mitsu’s apartment. We went back to the apartment, got the wheel, dropped it off and got told to come back in 30min. We used the time to explore the local area to find some lunch as we didn’t have breakfast yet. We went to Mitsu’s favourite Japanese restaurants and ordered some delicious set menu with roasted fish, rice, miso soup, vegetables and some pickles, accompanied by some delicious tea. That was the best tasting food since arriving, not that the other restaurants weren’t good, but this one was super! The set lunch was around ¥1600 I think or about £10, with unlimited rice refills. I was pretty stuffed without any refill but Mitsu had another helping, whilst I ordered another small dish of picked vegetables. “Oishi desu” - very tasty!

We then picked up the rear wheel which was fixed expertly for about ¥1300 or £8, they event pumped up my tire and the whole wheel looked like new. Great job! The bike shop was blasting reggae music and put us into a good mood. We then walked back to the flat, had a quick nap before Mitsu went about his business and I went exploring. 

I wanted to go to Yoyogi park (Tokyo’s equivalent to New York’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park). To get there I decided to walk, which was about 1h 20min. There was nothing left from the morning sunshine and good weather and the sky was now covered by thick layers of heavy clouds and the weather forecast said that there was a high chance of rain for the rest of the afternoon. Undeterred and purposefully leaving my umbrella behind, as I didn’t fancy carrying it around with me, I set off on my walk. If you live in a big city like London, other big cities are only half as scary. Once you decide to walk to places, distances often shrink and you get to see different sights whilst taking in the various changes from one ward or area to the next one. My walk would lead me past the imperial palace and some nice bits of greenery and the occasional shrine or temple, even through there isn’t as much greenery here as in London, which is a pity. Parks and trees make big cities more appealing I think.

I got to Yoyogi park in an hour and half as I stopped here and there to check things out. My feet were already tired and I was longing for somewhere to sit down. I managed to continue my walk through Meiji Jingu, a large Shinto shrine, surrounded by a vast woodland of 70ha and an iconic entrance. It was built in the 1920s to “commemorate the virtue of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken who took the initiative to make a foundation of modernised Japan.” Once you are in the woodlands of Meiji Jingu, it no longer feels like you’re in Tokyo, the sounds of cars and trains are muffled and replaced by the croaking of crows and other birds. As it started to rain, the park was largely empty with just a few lonely tourists and visitors dotted around.

En route to Yoyogi park, a Ginko tree or two

Meiji Jingu park entrance

Statue en route to Meiji Jingu 

By now I had enough of being on my feet and I was desperately keen to sit down somewhere and have a hot drink. I had tried many coffee shops already asking for decaffeinated coffee, to no avail. My only chance was to go to Starbucks on my way back to Yoyogi station. I arrived there and asked if they had decaffeinated coffee and they looked at me for a while but eventually understood what I wanted. I don’t think decaf coffee is popular in Japan ;) I managed to find a nice spot, quickly reserving it with my backpack before someone else claims it. In general, you have to put a personal item on a seat and then order. Some people left jackets on a chair, someone a backpack, someone else just left their tiny headphone case. That’s the way things are. If you don’t do it, don’t be surprised to have your seat taken by someone.

I had some tasty blueberry scone and a decaf mocha. What a treat! It seemed that prices didn’t change much for Starbucks coffee from what I remembered from 2019. A decaf mocha with creme on top was about ¥600 or £3.75 and the scone set me back ¥220 or £1.40. I sat down and copied my blog post from the days before from my notebook onto here and then chilled out for a bit more until the heavy rain subsided.

I left Starbucks and went to nearby Yoyogi station to get back to Roppongi and Mitsu’s flat. I had to take a couple of trains to get back and I felt pretty exhausted by now. I decided to have dinner in a restaurant near the station, which was a similar type of Japanese restaurant as our lunch spot. More fish, this time pickled Mackerel and replacing the veggies from lunch with salted cabbage. More hot tea too! Once I got to the flat I had a bath. This made me feel alive again as I was on my feet for the whole day. It always takes some time into the swing of things here. I always feel a little bit like an alien here as I don’t speak the language, am a foreigner and don’t live in the city. This feeling somewhat disappears after a few weeks but it’s never fully gone. Some of my friends who live and have lived here for years and even decades say that the feeling never really disappears, no matter how much you want to integrate and no matter how long you’ve lived here. I’m fine with forever being a ‘gaikokujin or gaijin’ - a foreigner or Westerner. That is the way.

Eventually Mitsu came back to the flat, we had tea together and talked about work and life. We talked about how we ended up doing the things we now do and what led us here and where we would see ourselves in the future. I shared with him that I usually think of life in 5-year intervals and how I think about designing or planning things within these. It’s not a hard and fast rule, more like a yard stick. But I feel it’s helpful to check in with yourself whether you’re still aligned to who you are, with what you do and where you do it. Life is full of choices and it’s good to experiment. This reminds me of the song from The Lion King - Circle of Life - “Theres more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done, there’s far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found…”

After a long debate it was finally time to one much needed shut eye.

Before that, here another poem:

Rather than hearing it from others,

somehow I want to find a way

to tell you myself, 

just one thing—

‘Now I must give you up!’

Day 1+2 - Welcome to Japan!

Day one started off the break started with my flight to Japan. After rebooking it 3x with JAL to change both my flight there and my return flight, I was finally making my way to the airport, luggage, excitement and all. When I arrived at Heathrow airport to check in, I could already foresee the nuisance of travelling with my bike around Tokyo to get to Kyushu, my cycle destination. A bike is not the easiest piece of luggage to carry, weighing around 20kg, then the suitcase with another 25kg and a backpack. No problem lugging this within the airport on a trolly but a totally different ballgame carrying this on my shoulders.

Checkin went as smoothly as it could and JAL booked me into premium economy after changing my flights 3x in the span of one month. It meant I could use the JAL/BA Lounge at Heathrow and the lady at check-in didn’t mind my luggage being a bit over 25kg. This was a great start to the adventure as hanging out in the lounge for 3h was much better than roaming around the airport. Not that I wasn’t prepared for this but free food, comfy chairs and a few Prosecco’s went down a treat.

The flight was largely uneventful and I am really feeling the effect of going caffein-free some weeks ago. No more coffee buzz and falling asleep is ever easier. I watched one movie and then slept for like 7-8h. When I woke up it was just another 2h to go. I had a good chat here and there with my bench neighbour, a Japanese National visiting his home country after leaving it 40 years ago to take up a position as chief hairdresser in a Japanese hotel in Amsterdam. 40 years!!! …in the same job, in the same hotel. I am sure that he must have got a lot of stories to tell about people who come there regularly, maybe even only to get their hair cut by him. 

We eventually landed in Haneda, not the airport I wanted to go to but the only one available. I guess there aren’t as many flights yet to Narita or whatever the reason was for JAL to change me to Haneda. My planned stay was meant to be north of Tokyo, with someone I’ve been staying with for some years. It’s an hour outside Tokyo but it’s at house and it’s …very affordable. But with the change to Haneda, which is all the way in the south of Tokyo, I couldn’t bring myself to travel all the way up north and beyond only to then have to go south a few days later to get a Shinkansen/bullet train down to Kyushu. 

I asked my friend and future colleague Mitsu if I could crash with him for a few days and he welcomed me in Roppongi, Tokyo’s party and going out district. He lived in the residential part and for him also conveniently located not to far from the Etic office, where I’ll be working too for some time in May. 

The queue for immigration seemed endless and it took about 1h to get through, despite all booths at immigration being busy. I guess travel and tourism to Japan is picking up again. I was meant to have downloaded some app and checked myself in but for some reason the app didn’t work or didn’t let me progress to the next stage, so it was back to the usual paper forms. Just one more queue to get my pre-ordered mobile Wi-Fi router, a necessity that is hard to live without when travelling abroad these days. 

I finally managed to drag myself and my luggage to Roppongi from Haneda airport.This was just as much fun as I had imagined…thankfully it wasn’t rush our anymore so the trains were manageable empty. My old Pasimo card still worked and I just had to charge it to be able to travel on the Tokyo Metro and Japan Railway trains -very convenient. Nevertheless, the lift infrastructure and dizzying array of escalators and stairs in the stations nearly killed me. I knew I had a small trolley to carry the bike but it’s no use within stations. Once I got to Roppongi I used the mini trolley to drag the bike about and Mitsu kindly took my suitcase.

First stop, ramen shop! That was the best welcome to Japan. A hot bowl of soup that just felt so nourishing. It was a small gesture but it meant the world for me being welcomed like that to the country that I have come to cherish so much. We then walked another 10min to his place in the residential part of Roppongi. I felt unusually awake, even though it was already midnight. 

I couldn’t quite sleep yet and by the time I woke up and was fully awake it was 4am. I started reading the only book I brought with me called the Buddha and the Badass, I guess some kind of business, come inspirational book from a serial founder named Vishen Lakhiani. After a few pages I felt this was a great choice of book to bring to Japan. Outside the apartment was a motorway and halfway through the night it sounded like some high-powered motorbikes were chased by a much slower police car, a la Tokyo drift. I also managed to figure out when I’ll be going down to Kyushu and planned my first 2 days after arrival, mainly exploring Fukuoka, the gateway city to Kyushu, staying in a hotel nearby the station, just to settle in. The hotel was remarkable affordable with £28/night, thanks in part to government sponsoring some of the costs, but I guess tourism isn’t quite back in full swing and competitions for guests is intense. The hotel is only a 7min walk from the train station, just about as much as I want to drag my bike on day one.

Getting to Kyushu will be by bullet train from Tokyo vs flying again, even though it’s twice as expensive than flying, whilst being much more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Shinkansen trains are every 20-30 min and cost about ¥24,000 (£150) for one trip (1,000km). Even though it’s more expensive, I really like the train journey to ease into and out of my cycle adventure. This is what travelling used to be like, it just took time. 

Eventually we got up and got ready for the day. Mitsu had to go to work and I would join him later to meet his colleagues and see where the office is located. Got up and looked for somewhere to have breakfast/ brunch in as it was already 11 by the time I left the flat. I found a shop that served salads only, which felt like an ok way to start the day. After brunch I walked from Roppongi to Etic’s office in Shibuya, probably most famous for the huge traffic crossing and traffic light.

It had started raining so I bought a cheap umbrella as I didn’t fancy getting there all soaked. I still had about 2h to kill and went to a German coffee shop, inside a Bosch showroom. Very strange concept but the  place was very comfy. I did some more reading and writing before heading off to Etic in the afternoon.

Once I got there, my friend Naho came out to greet me before showing me around in their new office into which they had just moved in a few weeks ago. It looked like a startup space, somehow really homely and much less businessy-like. Seemed to fit to what they do, supporting social entrepreneurs and the Japanese enterprise startup ecosystem. You wouldn’tWant to be in some cold, boring office. I then met some of Eric’s team members and Naho briefed me a bit on what it is Etic is doing and has been doing for some 30 years. This is their anniversary year and it feels really nice to be here as it’s also our organisations’ anniversary year #10. After meeting colleagues we went to get some dinner and then meet some of Mitsu’s friends and acquaintances. This ended in a many hours talking about impact investing, developments in conscious capitalism and how social entrepreneurship is changing the world. The people Mitsu invited were either mid-way in their careers or at the beginning. It was a great exchange and I was very happy that everyone spoke English, phew. One of Mitsu’s friends gave me such a sweet present, a book of 100 poets, one poem each. She knew them all and has been competing in competitions reciting them. Very impressive! Here’s one:

Pining for you

who does not come, 

I am like the salt-making fires 

at dusk on the Bay of Waiting—

burning bitterly in flames of love.

After dinner, we went home; it was just after midnight; quick shower and bed. Wow, what a first few days, it felt pretty intense but also very warm and welcoming.

Return to Japan 2023

It’s time again to pack my bags for another trip to Japan. This will be my longest consecutive stay in Japan with 3+ months. The original plan was to take 3 months off completely but then work got too busy so I’ll be taking off 1 month and then work part time from Japan, splitting my work commitments across work for our charity here in the UK and for a Japanese organisation in a the same field.

What would a Japan stay be without some cycling!!! I’ve done 2 big cycle rides here since 2009; the first around central Japan from Tokyo to the western part of Japan and back, which brought me all the way over the Japanese alps and along the eastern coast around Kanazawa and back to Tokyo. I think this took me around 3-4 weeks and was pretty much completely without tech. No phone, no internet, just a map, a compass and a digital camera that I had to bring to various stores to offload pictures from and then onto this blog. The second trip just a few years ago brought me to Hokkaido, and Japans North. This time already with tech, from mobile Wi-Fi router to iPhone, using Google maps for navigation. This was much easier even though I really enjoyed the low tech times too. The clear advantage is flexibility when using a more tech-enabled style of travel as you get to find good routes, good accommodation and things to do, all at the tip of your fingers. For me, this does not replace interacting with people as this really is the best when travelling solo but being able to easily navigate and find good places to stay has been important, convenient and often also cost-effective.

My 2023 trip to Japan will go to Kyushu, the largest, most southern part of Japan and also called the land of volcanoes and accident religious sites. I’ll be cycling around Kyushu and my plan is currently for around 1,000 km, starting in Fukuoka, the gateway to Kyushu and then simply cycling anti-clockwise… I might need to take the occasion ferry for some island hopping and to see some more remote parts of it. I’ve only just now realised how very different Kyushu looks from Hokkaido, being so far south that the vegetation seems rather tropical!

Back in 2018, I left my trustworthy bike in Hokkaido as the hustle of getting it back was too much (Sapporo city council had impounded it and I had to get back to Tokyo, with no time left to free it, so I left the keys with a ihn who still enjoys my bike now). The bike was also 10 years old and had done its miles, with many parts needing to be replaced and the cost of that no longer being worth it. This meant I had to get a new bike, which I bought in 2019, hoping to travel to Japan in 2020. We all know what happened next…

The bike I went for is the same bike as my 2008 bike, made by Focus. It’s an Arriba and it set me back around £400, by most standards a relatively affordable touring bike. Of course it’s not electric but it’s got disc brakes, a big advantage to the old bike as stopping the bike, myself and the 20kg of extra weight is easier done with disc brakes. Here it is, already with most of my stuff I’ll be taking with me to Japan on it. I won’t take any cooking equipment as the hustle and weight was too much and knowing Japan so much better now, I know where to get hot water if I needed to or how to go about sourcing food and drink. Last time, I carried too much weight which meant that I had occasional spokes breaking.. I couldn’t address this issue in any other way, other than to reduce what I’m carrying… I might still need to lose some more weight to bring me in line with what I weighed last time 2018 :)

I’ve also had to invest into a new tent as my old tent was heavier and also was pretty worn out from 12 years regular use in summers. The new tent is a Vango Hydra 200 for around £130, which I’m hoping will last me for the next decade or more. I had to mock pitch it to see how it all works and it seems much better than the vango tornado from 2008/9 as the poles fit in so much easier. It’s a little smaller, which also helps with the weight without compromising much on the actual interior space.