• No way out of Awaji Island?
    • Octopi and squid in Akashi, Japan
    • Special local tamago yaki in Akashi, Japan
    • IMG_574Special local tamago yaki in Akashi, Japan2

    Day 62-65 Cycling Through Onions to Octopus in Awaji

    Aug 9 • Blog, Honshu • 695 Views

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    I was stuck. Stuck in the fog with Sakura, my pink bike. From the city of Naruto in Tokushima Prefecture, I was planning to take a 5 minute ferry to cross the sea to Awaji Island. It was supposed to be a quick, easy hop. The night before doing so, I found out that the ferry company was no longer in operation due to its low demand. Everyone these days cross the bridge on the highway by car, but that highway does not allow cyclists. Then I thought, I could disassemble my bike, put it in a bike bag and take the highway bus with all my luggage to get over the bridge. Sure, it would be a hassle, but there was not much other choice. I cycled back and forth in search of the right bus stop, hoping that I would make it in time for its departure. “DO NOT ENTER” When I finally got to THE entry way to the highway bus station, I was appalled to see it closed off. Was this some kind of a sign? (It was, but you know what I mean.) Disappointed, I cycled up to the entry of the highway toll

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  • "Seto Ohashi" Seto Great Bridge in Japan

    Day 60-61 Udon Udon and More Udon in Takamatsu

    Aug 8 • Blog, Shikoku • 2793 Views

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    Of all the bridges that connect many islands in Japan, Seto Great Bridge was one that stood out as I grew up. This approximately 12km long bridge was completed in 1988 to connect Honshu and Shikoku islands. Though they do not allow cyclists on this bridge, I went out of my way to have a look at it up close. I could not see the end of the bridge, nor could I photograph its entirety. After a short ferry boat ride, I crossed Seto Inland Sea to Shikoku again, this time to Takamatsu City in Kagawa Prefecture. Kagawa is famous for their noodles, called Sanuki Udon. Udon is common everywhere in Japan, but Sanuki Udon is particularly popular for its tougher texture than the other region’s. After cycling by Takamatsu Castle was a stop for a udon meal. As it was a muggy day, I ordered a cold udon. Having the choice of hot or cold udon seemed to be a norm in this area. This is not always the case in other parts of Japan, where hot ones are often the only choice. The graded ginger on top of

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  • Sachi Goes Hollywood! (ahem) Finding Sachi Trailer!

    Aug 6 • Blog, Video • 1058 Views

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    At the moment I’m in Hokkaido, resting to recover from my hand injury. (For those who haven’t been following, I played with a moped and flew like a superman and broke my left hand. I am ok though!) I’m writing to catch up with my blog while healing, and also going Hollywood. Why not, right? This is rather a misleading trailer since I don’t really have a movie coming up, but it gives you a glimpse of my tour in a moving form. Enjoy!

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    • Even construction sites are cute in Japan
    • Traditional paper lantern shop in Kurashiki, Okayama
    • Pretty Japanese food for lunch in Kurashiki, Okayama

    Day 58-59 Sharing a Table in Picturesque Kurashiki

    Aug 4 • Blog, Honshu • 647 Views

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    When I was 15 years old and made friends with a girl from Spain, I was surprised to find out she knew Japanese animated TV programs. These days it is one of the main attractions that bring many tourists to this country, and what would be an ugly construction site is no exception to such fun treatment. If there’s a girl, riding a pink bicycle by herself, there are hundreds of pink rabbits to make her smile. After a long day of cycling on the stunning Shimanami Cycling Road over many islands and bridges, I was heading to the town of Kurashiki. I remembered how I was fond of its beautiful scenery when I visited there on a school trip. With the memories of the childhood past, I kept on pushing my pedals. A pretty swan in the river was waiting for my arrival in Kurashiki’s Bikan District. As industrial as this city is, the Bikan (literally translates to “beautiful sights”) district is a historical merchants quarter with pretty white-walled 19th century warehouses. I

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    • Shimanami Cycling Road
    • Shimanami Cycling Road
    • Shimanami Cycling Road

    Day 56-57 This Is It! Amazing Shimanami Cycling Road

    Jul 27 • Blog, Honshu, Shikoku • 2392 Views

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    Time to say goodbye to the kind Hikaru-san’s family in Matsuyama. I had Hikaru-san’s mom’s fresh carrot apple juice and was off to Imabari. Nate, who hosted me in Iwakuni and followed me for a few days to Matsuyama, cycled back to his home too. I passed by many cyclists along the sea, and one of them took a photo for me at this beautiful fujidana (wisteria shelf) at a shrine. It smelled so sweet and amazing. Imabari is not so far from Matsuyama, about 40km, but I stopped there for the day so I could cross the ocean on the beautiful Shimanami Cycling Road the next day. Imabari is known for shipbuilding, towel production, and yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers). In the morning I cycled by Imabari Castle. It is surrounded by water like some other castles in Japan. But, it is unique in that this is actually sea water and connected to the ocean. Apparently they used to farm oysters here, and was able to bring boats directly in. Sounds like a castle in the town of shipbui

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    • Chirashizushi (scattered sushi)
    • Lots of sake!
    • Kochi Castle in Kochi, Japan

    Day 55 A Surprise Foodie Trip to Kochi

    Jul 26 • Blog, Shikoku • 2566 Views

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    “Here you go.” At the parking lot of Ishite Temple the day before, an elderly lady gave us four leaf clovers when three of us came back to Hikaru-san’s car. One for each of us. She was looking for them during our visit to the temple, can you believe it? I had been a little frightened while walking in a dark tunnel with statues behind the temple, but my heart was instantly warmed up by these little lucky plants from her. I made bookmarks with them in the morning to keep the luck from the lady in Matsuyama. Kind Hikaru-san drove me and Nate to Kochi City on this day. It was somewhere I’d wanted to go, but a bit out of the way for my cycling schedule. I got a lucky day trip with my friends to Kochi Castle. Visiting castles has become a fun routine in many cities, but it is always better with their fresh local food. Kochi is known for katsuo, skipjack fish. We visited a busy market area to see if we could grab a bite of their specialty. As we were walking the market

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  • Dougo Onsen in Matsuyama, Japan

    Day 54 Seeing Japan with a Musician in Matsuyama

    Jul 14 • Blog, Shikoku • 2747 Views

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    Clearly the woman above is not the musician I’m talking about. Hikaru Miyoshi, the shamisen player that I met in the ferry from Okinawa lives in Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture. Ehime is in Shikoku Island, the fourth biggest island in Japan. Shikoku Island has four prefectures (Ehime, Kagawa, Kochi, Tokushima). Shikoku literally means “four countries,” and Matsuyama City is the capital of Ehime Prefecture. View Larger Map Hikaru-san invited me and Nate to his family home in Matsuyama. Who would have thought that the musician in kimono who looked like someone from another era and a cyclist in a dumping wet rain gear in Okinawa were going to meet again in Shikoku. I wrote about this a bit in my previous post, but we both looked odd and different at the ferry port, we started talking and became friends. Hikaru-san is a shamisen player (three string instrument), but he also plays the biwa, Japanese lute, which is a very rare instrument that you don’t see being played

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    • Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima, Japan
    • Momiji manju sweets in Miyajima, Japan
    • Hiroshima style okonomiyaki dinner
    • Hiroshima's atomic bomb dome
    • The atomic bomb and city of Hiroshima

    Day 52-53 Taste of Peace in Hiroshima

    Jul 4 • Blog, Honshu • 1002 Views

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      View Larger Map (A: Shrine in Miyajima / B: Hiroshima City) After staying in the beautiful Iwakuni, my host, Nate, came along my bike ride for a few days as it was the start of “Golden Week,” spring holiday time in Japan. After a couple hours of bike ride, we took a 10 minute boat ride to Miyajima Island off of Hiroshima, where the famous Itsukushima Shrine was. This Itsukushima shrine, first build in 593, is well known for its beauty in standing in the sea, and it is a UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage Site. This is one of the “Three Views of Japan” (the canonical list of Japan’s three most celebrated scenic sights), and welcomes visitors from around the world. I so wanted to go kayaking around here. On this day when we visited, the tide was very low and the ground was showing. Most of the time, where you see the sand is filled with water and you cannot walk around. Though I wanted to see the shrine on the water, I took advantage of being able to s

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    • Kintaikyo bridge in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Japan
    • Kintaikyo bridge festival in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Japan

    Day 50-51 Traveling Back in History in Iwakuni Festival

    Jun 29 • Blog, Honshu • 1024 Views

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    Luck had me when I arrived at Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture. I found a place to stay through CouchSurfing and became friends with Nate, an American native, teaching English in schools in Iwakuni. While I was exploring the beautiful castle town of Iwakuni and Iwakuni Castle (see it up on the hill?) before getting to his home, a local at a tea house told me about the annual Kintaikyo Bridge Festival, which was to be held the very next day. This is a festival held only one day a year. I told this to Nate who wasn’t aware of this local event, and we decided check out the festival together. Before heading to the festival in the morning was a big feast of homemade French toast and coffee. Gotta love big breakfast with friends! (especially one with good coffee! ) Around the beautiful bridge along the river was a huge antique fair on the festival day. There were many stands with all kinds of items, including these colorful kimono cloths. Antique fairs around the world (the ones I’

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  • Fruit and flan in Doraemon cups

    Day 48-49 Selling Cakes & Resting in a Samurai Mansion in Yamaguchi

    Jun 23 • Blog, Honshu • 1625 Views

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    Just when I thought it was going to be a boring cycling day along big streets with trucks and dust, I cycled by several people waving and yelling out loud about cakes. I cycled on. For about five seconds. Wait. Cakes. Cakes? I turned around and had to check out the opening of their new cake shop in Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. They were so happy to see me turning around towards them. After getting some cookies for later, I waved on the street with them to advertise their new shop. While doing this, we saw another cyclist on the other side with big panniers, but he didn’t bother to stop here. Ah, he missed out the fun! This is my idea of heaven! Cakes and a pink bicycle. Boring day? I can make it totally heavenly! As I said in my previous post, around this area in Yamaguchi Prefecture is famous for fresh seafood, particularly blowfish. There was even a police blowfish on this sign. It was one windy day. I cycled against the strong headwind all day long. I rested with the cook

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