Japan trip March – May 2023
On 23 March I arrived in Fukuoka, Japan and on 27 March I started riding my touring bike (fully packed and with 35kg very heavy) in Japan and my ride finished on 17 May when I flew back to Melbourne from Haneda Airport.
Stats of my trip
See below my posts and Relive videos with pictures of my Japan cycling adventure.
Fucha => Odaiba => Haneda Airport (68.2km / 257m)
Started a bit later as the forecast said the rain would stop between 10 and 11 but it actually kept on raining after that, so I started with my rain gear on.
Today I cycled again next to the Tama river, I could have taken this route nearly all the way to Haneda Airport but decided to make a detour.
It was my last day of cycling in Japan and with today’s 68.2 kilometres I cycled a total of 2503 kilometres in the last 7 weeks. When I planned my trip, I thought it would be less than that, but today I did a few extra kilometres and go on a detour to Odaiba to get it above 2500 km.
Now it’s cleaning my bike to avoid trouble with quarantine and dismantle it a bit, so it fit back into the box to be able to take it on the plane back home to Melbourne.
Fuchu => Tokyo (70.1km / 280m)
I had every route planned for my trip except the last few days and had to find something to fill it, so came up with the idea to cycling to Tokyo and go to places I would walk or went by train on previous trips.
Must say that cycling in Tokyo is fun (even better than Mario Kart), after nearly 2500km cycling I feel (to) relaxed and easy mix in the hectic traffic. They ride a bit more aggressive in Tokyo than in other places in Japan and had to break (and shout) a few times.
Walked and cycled the Shibuya crossing, today it was a Sunday and there were no businessman but young Japanese and tourists wanting the same experience.
Part of the route was next to the Tama river, the Tama river cycling paths is a good place when you want to go for a long ride as no cars are allowed.
13-05-2023 Lake Yamanaka => Fuchu (81km / 586m)
Stayed 6 nights at Murabito Guesthouse and had a wonderful time, the owners Marino and Keisuke were very kind and did everything to make their guests enjoying their stay (far out the best accommodation I stayed during my Japan trip).
Today’s ride started with rain; thought I didn’t need my poncho but after more than one hour cycling in heavy rain, I put it on. It was too late, and part of my clothes already got wet. Last time I had to climb a lot when I had the poncho on and that was hot and made me sweat a lot, this time I was more going down and the higher speed made me cold.
Luckily the rain got less halfway, and I could enjoy the area a bit more, part of today’s trip was on roads they used for the Olympic cycling race and they will use it again later this month for the Tour of Japan.
11-05-2023 Mount Fuji Five Lakes (104.5km / 752m)
Another high light of cycling around Mount Fuji is the Five lake tour, the names of the five lakes are: Lake Yamanakako, Lake Kawaguchiko, Lake Saiko, Lake Saiko and Lake Motosuko.
For tourists Lake Kawaguchiko is the most busy as the train and most of the buses from Tokyo arriving here and many Instagram pictures are taken around Lake Kawaguchi.
I found Lake Saiko and Lake Motosuko the best as they were less crowded and real nature, pity the sun was not out as the reflection in the lakes would be so very nice.
I’m so used to buy food and drinks at convenient stores that I also expect them in these remote area’s only to found out that was not the case and had eaten everything what I had with me before I saw my first convenient store.
10-05-2023 Relaxing ride around Lake Yamanaka
It’s my rest day but it was a nice and sunny day, so I went for a ride around Lake Yamanaka and made more nice pictures of Mount Fuji.
When I booked 6 nights in Murabito Guesthouse I thought it could be to much but I really enjoy the area and the sight of Mount Fuji.
09-05-2023 Mounth Fuji (70.2km / 1502m)
After a few days of bad weather, it cleared all up and had nice weather for my climb to Mount Fuji fifth station (2300 metre). I didn’t have to climb the full 2300 metre as the Guesthouse where I stayed was already at 1000 metre.
The distance from the Guesthouse to the Fifth Station was around 35 kilometres, it took me around 3 hours to reach the Fifth Station and less than 1 hour to get back to the guesthouse (top speed 63km).
At the begin of the climb I met a 72-year-old Japanese man who was on his 8kg road bike, I was a bit faster on my 18kg bike but each time he cached up when we had a stop and saw each other again at the top. We had a chat with the help of a Japanese girl who did some translation.
Overall the climb was not as hard as climbing Alpe D’Huez, most was between 5 and 10% over a longer distance, while the Alpe D’Huez climb is steeper over a shorter distance.
07-05-2023 Numazu = Lake Yamanaka (49.3km / 1051m)
Rain, rain and more rain!
Only 50km but with more than one thousand metre climbing it was not easy with heavy rain. I started the day with my normal rain clothes which kept me dry on other rainy days but after one hour I had to put my poncho on to keep me dry. The poncho helped a lot but climbing mountains make you sweat and when I arrived at the guesthouse hardly any part of my body was dry. Luckily, I could early enter the guesthouse and the owner straight offered me a shower which felt really good.
When I had a rest stop a Japanese man in his Mercedes stopped and asked me to follow him to his house to warm up, it was a good offer, but I didn’t take it up as it would be hard to start again, and I really wanted to finish the trip asap.
Have lost another prescription sunglasses and Amazon need to come to the rescue again. It’s the second time that riding in heavy rain I stopped to shelter and put my sunglasses on my bike but forget about it.
Have not seen Mount Fuji from a close distance as it has been raining yesterday and today but tomorrow it should be sunny.
06-05-2023 Shizuoka => Numazu (57.5km / 137m)
Was looking forward to cycle from Shizuoka to Numazu and seeing Mount Fuji as I wanted to take a picture from Mount Fuji on my left side and a passing shinkansen on the right side (most pictures have the shinkansen and Mount Fuji from onside).
But all-day clouds and no Mount Fuji to be seen, later I found out from the people at the hostel that they took plenty of nice photos from Lake Yamanaka as it was sunny with nice shaped clouds around Mount Fuji.
Cycled quite a few kilometres on a tsunami wall, they make these walls higher and higher again after the last Fukushima earthquake.
Today should have been a rest day but earlier this week I changed my plans and decide to make my daily ride a bit shorter and ride 4 days in a row. It worked out well, by doing this I avoided a long ride in the rain from Shizuoka to Lake Yamanaka (122km).
05-05-23 Hamamatsu => Shizuoka (77.7km / 493m)
Today was a nice ride as I went through a more interesting area and most of the time, I had tail wind.
Shizuoka is known for its tea and seen today plenty of tea plants.
During my trip I have seen plenty of jumping fish in rivers but always hard to put it on video, I tried this time again but not visible (so you must believe me I saw them).
Arriving in Shizuoka I saw Mount Fuji for the first time during this trip, I slowly move towards Mount Fuji as I stay close to it for 6 days and will ride to fifth station (2400 metre).
04-05-23 Nagoya => Hamamatsu (84km / 350m)
Early start as I needed to be around 2pm in Hamamatsu to meet a former gerbera grower.
25 years ago, I went to the same area with a group of Dutch gerbera growers, during that tour I talked a lot with Mr. Yanaka Masahiro (the only grower who could talk English). So, I contacted him before my Japan tour and asked if I could visit his farm to see some gerberas. He currently is growing very successful vegetables but happy to take me to a few gerbera growers.
Like many other countries the gerbera market is down in growing area, and many have stop growing gerberas but the ones who stayed are not enjoying better returns (partly due to covid). They grow in pots, on cocopeat bags and one grower was growing in the soil as he did for the last 30 years.
The Hamamatsu Festival was on and in the evening, there was a large ornate parade floats, each one representing a district of Hamamatsu, are paraded through the streets.
02-05-23 Nagahama => Nagoya (72.3km / 227m)
My first thing to do was to buy a new lock, being at the bike shop 5 minutes before it opened and to my surprise nobody opened at 10am, so translated the notice on the door to find out that the shop was closed for a national holiday. So, I started to ride in the hope to find a bike shop which would be open, and after 50km I finally found a small mum and dad bike shop and happy to spend my money there on a not so strong lock (bike owner said that not many bikes get stolen so should be ok).
The ride started with riding through local area and mountains but the last forty was a bit boring as it was through cities and mainly on footpaths with many bumps due to the uneven surface.
Some part where a bit narrow as you can see on the video, the truck where close but I stopped on the side of the road when I made the video. Normally cars and truck wait until there is no on coming traffic to pass you. The strange building was the Panasonic Solar Ark, it was build in 2001 with solar panels that had been recalled in the late 1990s due to performance issues.
I stay 2 nights in Nagoya and will visit the famous Nagoya castle.
01-05-23 Kyoto => Nagahama / Lake Biwa (100km/ 431m)
The day started with a scare as I could not unlock my bike, try many times, and bend the key but had a spare and after many tries (shaking, gentle moving, etc. it finally unlocked).
The first twenty kilometre I rode from one side of Kyoto to the other side, was quite nice, the good part was that I left the temples behind me and moved towards Lake Biwa. The first bit of Lake Biwa I had light tail wind and thought that would be an easy ride, but the luck quick changed and the last 40-50 kilometre I had a strong head wind. The result was that today’s ride was so far the one which cost the most energy (my Garmin bike computer advised me to take 4 days rest), so after checking in my hotel I bought a lot of food at 7-Eleven to re-charge my body for tomorrow’s ride.
Soon the Golden week holiday starts but already lots of cyclists riding at Lake Biwa, but no other bike touring foreigners.
29-04-23 Nara => Kyoto (59.9km / 142m)
Yesterday’s ride from Nara to Kyoto was good as it again was next to rivers, only problem was that you do not have convenient stores next to the river and that is not good when you are desperate for a coffee. I am now so used to the fact that convenient stores are everywhere, that I cannot go without them anymore.
Went over a wooden bridge I once seen on a YouTube video, it was not on the route but had to ride/ walk on it. Not sure why it was there as there where many other bridges in the area.
Also met a French couple which did a similar tour than me, gave them some info regarding Garmin OSM/ Open Street Maps. The Japan map on Garmin is not good and you need to download a more detailed OSM map. I spend so much time researching because I needed a good map for my Garmin bike computer as without, I would be lost without my Garmin as I do not have any sense of directions.
I probably over planned my trip as I booked out all my hotels (bookings with free cancellations) and daily routes in advance. Lots of people go without any concrete plan, but I like to know what, when and how I am going from place to place.
Kyoto is nice, but again lots of overseas tourists and a bit to crowded for me. Today I thought I go early to the kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) but already so many tourists visiting it. My first plan was to walk, but happy I went by bicycle as it was a bit further away from the hostel than I thought.
27-04-23 Wakayama => Nara (122km / 592m)
Yesterday I arrived in Nara and today I will visit some tourist spots.
The weather was nice but a bit fresh in the morning and had my wind jacket on until noon.
Today’s route was part of the Keinawa Cycling Road, it goes from Wakayama, via Nara to Kyoto. They promote cycling in Japan as a tourist attraction, the road signages was good but some to the roads surfaces was quite poor also lots of weeds growing on and next the roads.
It was a long ride from Wakayama to Nara, total 122 kilometres and had to climb up one hill with a 13% rise. Once on the top of the hill I had a good view of all the cherry trees, currently they were pruning the trees for optimal production later in the year.
Was a bit of a shock to see so many foreign tourists in Nara, in the past 4 weeks I didn’t go to that many tourist common/ crowded places.
25-04-23 Shikokuchuo => Tokushima (101km / 612m)
Was not looking forward to today’s ride as it was long and thought it would again be riding through industrial area but most of the ride was through mountains and next to the Yoshino River.
The ride was hard as it started with a steep climb, was more than 100 kilometre and there was a strong head wind and it rained in the last 30km.
But at the end of the ride, I had a good feeling, I was tired but had some energy left and my rain gear kept me dry again.
Side effect of all the hard work was that my VO₂ max has gone up to 53, which is excellent (my riding age is 20).
Tomorrow only a short ride to the ferry and hotel, but the day after with 123km even a longer one.
24-04-23 Imabari => Shikokuchuo (71.4km / 394m)
Today and tomorrow are transition days, I need to cycle a lot to get to the other side of Shikoku and take the ferry to Wakayama. From Wakayama I will ride to over the Keinawa Cycling Road ro Nara and Kyoto.
It was one of the coldest days so far, I was expecting that at the end of April it would be hot but that is not yet the case.
Today some of the roads where narrow with lots of trucks and it was a bit difficult sometimes. I also met a Japanese cyclist who was riding home after 3 weeks cycling on Shikoku.
Tomorrow early start as it will be a 100km ride and they are predicting rain in the afternoon.
22-04-23 Shimanami Kaido => Imabari (48.2km / 430m)
Last day at the Shimanami Kaido.
A week ago Stephen one of the Japanese Facebook group Japan Cycling Navigator members invited me to ride with him, so today we meet up and ride a part of the Shimanami Kaido together. It was an enjoyable ride, and we talked a lot about cycling in Japan.
Stephen was older than me but had a nice light road bike (less than 8kg?), my bike was fully loaded at 35kg (bike and panniers).
I’m nearly 2 years a member of the Japan Cycling Navigator Facebook group and I got so much useful information about how, where and when to cycling in Japan.
Today I will have a rest day after cycling 6 days in a row, my body need a rest to prepare for a few long rides in the coming week.
21-04-23 Shimanami Kaido island discovery (81.2km / 480m)
Another day cycling on the Shimanami Kaido bridges and islands.
Lots of other cyclists on the roads today and this weekend it will be very busy.
I stay 3 nights in my hostel while nearly everybody else only stay one night, I don’t mind as the bed is good and they have very good Tonkatsu in the restaurant (will have it again tonight as previous 2 nights).
I saw this whole Japan trip as an out of comfort zone event but actually feel quite comfy at the moment. The body condition is good and with the translation apps it has never been so easy for me to travel in Japan.
Omishima Island round trip (48.8km / 424m)
Today it is my rest day but not much to do in the hostel as everybody is riding their bikes on the Shimanami Kaido.
So, I did a short ride today and rode around Omishima Island, nice area but I was shocked to see so many empty and dilapidated houses in these small towns. Japan’s population is declining and especially these small local towns have an aging and declining population.
Matsuyama => Shimanami Kaido (69.2km / 413m)
Finally arrived at the Shimanami Kaido and I will cycle around these islands and on the bridges for the next 3 days. The Shimanami Kaido is a famous cycling route and many tourists rent bikes to ride parts of it, if you want to do the full length of 70km you need a good bike and a good condition.
Total 7 bridges connecting the islands and you need to climb a bit to get on the bridges, but the roads are excellent, and signage is good (all the way you can follow a blue line).
The islands are quite big, and a lot of shipbuilding and other heavy industry is located on these islands.
Impressive to see the water flow with such a strong current between the islands, when you fall in the water you do not have much chance to survive.
18-04-23 Yawatahama => Matsuyama (64.6km / 430m)
Today was windy day and was happy my ferry trip was yesterday as today there were a lot more waves.
Was expecting a lot of climbing today as my Strava route planner indicated 800+ meter climbing but lucky I could go through a 2km tunnel which was much easier.
I do not mind climbing on my other bicycle which weigh around 14 kilo as that is so much easier than with my fully packed touring bicycle which weigh 35 kilo.
Met a German couple which started in Tokyo and ride the opposite direction than me. Not that many people are bicycle touring in Japan so I asked if they could stop, and we have a chat.
17-04-23 Saiki => Usuki (39.9km / 290m)
Today a short ride as I leave Kyushu and take the ferry to Shikoku. Plan was to take the 12:40 ferry but I arrived early and was able to take the 11:35 ferry. The ferry trip took around 2 hours and was smooth as there was not much wind or waves.
The end of todays route I had to climb some quit mountain roads, the roads were narow and the only traffic were some large trucks transporting rocks.
I cycled 975km in Kyushu and enjoyed it, from tomorrow I will be cycling in Shikoku and in a few days I will ride the Shimanami kaido.
15-04-23 Nobeoka => Saiki (65.7km / 452m)
Overnight a lot of rain but forecast was that around 10am departure time it would stop and luckily it did (but had light rain for quite a while).
It was a lovely ride through the mountains, the roads where good with not much other traffic. Feels good when you on your own in this peaceful environment listening to Dutch Radio 1 program the nachtzuster/ night sister.
When you are on the bike for hours and hours it’s nice to listen to Australian, Dutch talk radio or my favourite Spotify songs.
First time that I went through a bicycle tunnel, this one was next to a tunnel for cars. Wish they had more of them as it’s very quite compared to the loud noise of the cars and trucks.
Today is my rest day, but I went for a long walk to Saiki Castle which is on top of a hill, from the hill you had a nice view over the city. Also cleaned my bicycle as the last 2 days with all the rain made it very dirty, and put new oil on my chain.
14-04-23 Miyazaki => Nobeoka (99.3km / 425m)
The length of today’s route should have been 88km, but today it was the first time I made a mistake and didn’t take an exit and rode to far on the wrong road. Midway the trip it started to rain so I put my rain gear on and put my prescription sunglasses on my handlebar and somewhere on the road the fell off, I went back to check out if I could find them but no luck.
So, I ended up with 99.3km, normally I would ride another 0.7km to make it a gran fondo but didn’t do it as I didn’t deserved it (later in my trip I have 2 or 3 trips above 100km).
Still not my favourite weather to cycle in the rain but again my rain clothes kept me dry. Cycling in the rain cost more energy as you don’t slip on the wet roads and make sure other drivers will notice you.
On today’s ride I seen a nice new training complex, waterfall, tea plantation and grapes growing under a plastic structure.
Riding on my bicycle in a rural area do me well as a former grower, Japanese growers put a lot of effort in to grow high quality products. The efficiency of these growers on small size blocks of land is just not as high as in Europe or Australia.
12-04-23 Kushima => Miyazaki (80.9km / 511m)
Waking up and see it raining made me worried (do not like cycling in the rain), but by the time I started cycling the weather was nice.
Overall, a really good day and the best road cycling conditions I so far had, especially the last 50km to Miyazaki was on a flat newly asphalted road with clear blue arrows indication that you could cycle on the road.
Saw some glasshouse, normally the greenhouses have plastic cover as this is better when you are in a typhoon area.
Quite a bit of forestry processing plants in the area, most the wood is coming from commercial planted trees.
Stopped at Aoshima Island, which is famous for the Aoshima shrine, did not visited the shrine but cycled around it. 60% had a concrete paved path, the rest was sand and first time I had to come off the bike and push it as the sand was to lose for the weight of my bicycle.
11-04-23 Kinko to Kushima (63km / 528m)
Today was just a ride being not that exciting as there was not that much to see on the road. Hope the ride tomorrow to Miyazaki will be better and looking forward visiting Miyazaki as I always wanted to go there.
Last 3 nights I stayed in Yorodde Guesthouse and that was quite nice with some good food (rice omelette and karage). Today I stay at a business hotel where the time just stand still as it looks old. It has a late nineties look, smells tobacco everywhere and even has an old rotary dial telephone in the room.
09-04-23 Kinko to Cape Sata and back (82.2km / 1142m)
The good thing about today’s ride was that I could keep my heavy panniers at the guesthouse, which made all the climbing easier. Also, the weather was really pleasant, no wind, the sun was out and temperature around 15-20 degrees.
Cape Sata is the most southern point of Kyushu and the start of the length of Japan cycling challenge to ride from Cape Sata to Cape Soya in Hokkaido (around 3000km).
As it was a Sunday, I was surprised to see so many people harvesting potatoes, many of them small farmers with their families helping them.
I met a 68-year old man who was walking with his trolley to Cape Sata, we talked a bit but it was difficult to understand him even with my translation app. He was from the north of Japan and had walked everywhere except Hokkaido as he was afraid of bears. Cycling to Capa Sata is slow compare all the cars and motor bikes passing you, but walking and see everybody passing you with speed must be frustrating.
Riding in a 2km long tunnel was a nice experience, normally tunnels can be dark and with not much space. The road surface in the tunnel was excellent and I could speed up a bit as with roads in Japan you never know when the next bump in the road could force you to break to avoid falling.
08-04-23 Kagoshima => Kinko-Cho (56.1km / 533m)
Time for some time on my own after 2 nights at a crowded and noisy but fun Guesthouse, communicating with other foreigners who do not speak English has never been so easy with the new generation of translation apps.
Talking to other riders I changed my route, and this was a good choice, first I took a short ferry ride to the other side of the bay. The first part I cycled around volcano Sakurajima which is Japan’s most active volcano.
Yesterday the volcano was covered in clouds but today was a sunny day and good visible from the cycling path which was one of the best I had so far.
On today’s route I seen dolphins, wild pigs, flowering plants and many other interesting things. Also saw Zack, he stayed at the same Kagoshima Guesthouse but went today to Cape Sata and was on his way back. We had a coffee and after we went opposite ways, Zack is around 25 years and full of energy and flying over the roads.
Today was only 56.1km and had to do some climbing but took my time to enjoy the ride and save energy for tomorrow ride to Cape Sata as that will be one of my most challenging rides.
06-04-2023 Satsumasendai => Kagoshima (51.5km / 295m)
All day rain, and today was a day that I didn’t expect to enjoy as it was raining the whole route.
I spend a lot of time preparing for my Japan trip, and try to find the right rain clothes which would keep me dry for days like this. I must say it was time and money well spent, my nightmare scenario would be getting wet and cold and still need to keep on riding to my next hotel.
Stay the next 2 days in a guesthouse/ capsule hotel with many foreigners so can talk some English with others. Will sleep in a capsule/ bed size pod but have a central area where you can eat and relax.
05-04-2023 Ashikita => Satsumasendai (81.5km/ 652m)
Today was my longest ride so far with a lot of climbing.
Was worried yesterday that the whole day today would be cycling in the rain, but I left the guesthouse early and only had moderate rain on the last 20km.
Riding in the rain went well, I do not like riding in the rain but with good rain clothes is ok.
Tonight I stay in a business hotel, it’s a small room but enough space to take my bike into the room.
Mc Donald is only 1 minute away from the hotel so tonight I will have a Big Mac for dinner (first time this trip).
03-04-2023 Shimabara => Ashikita (75.3km /313m)
Started the day with a 1 hour ferry trip from Shimabara to Kumamoto. Was my first ferry ride and I was not sure what the process was, but the staff with their limited English was very kind to show me where to go and what to do.
Quite bumpy riding on the walking/ cycling path and had to check the bolt and screw on my bicycle as some came loose. Lucky I have a bike made for these kind of bike touring trips (Vivente Anatolia) and I hope it will ride me safely to Tokyo.
Stopped at a Honda dealer where I took a few photos of the Honda ZR-V Hybride, I read some info about this car in an Australian Newspaper and it will probably my next car (see Relive video for car and other photos).
02-04-2023 Nagasaki => Shimabara (69.7km / 472m)
Enjoyed the last 2 days in Nagasaki as Eiko’s friends showed us around. Good to see that the city of Nagasaki keep it’s long history alive with Dejima and the Atomic Bomb Museum, Peace park, etc.
Visited 29 years and this time the Atomic bomb museum, it impact you a lot when you see the effects of the atomic bomb explosion.
Hardest day so far, bit head wind to deal with, longer distance and more climbing than previous days.
On my own now for the next 6 weeks!
30-03-2023 Huis ten Bosch => Nagasaki (60.8km / 529m)
Arrived in Nagasaki where I stay 3 nights with Eiko, after Nagasaki I’m on my own for the next 6 weeks when I’m travelling to my final destination of Tokyo.
Currently averaging 15km per hour, which is a much lower than in Australia where I’m averaging between 20 and 24km per hour.
Main reasons for the low average speed is the weight of the bicycle (+/- 35kg), often riding on the not so even walking/ cycling paths and especially in the cities the number of traffic lights.
Hope that the average speed will improve as I have only 60km rides while in the coming weeks most are 80+ km with one of 125km (once I leave the cities and go more to rural area’s my average speed should increase).
28-03-2023 Karatsu => Huis ten Bosch (57km / 290m)
Nice weather again today and a good day to be on the bike.
Had my first tunnel experience which was not a scary one as it had a separate cycling path and was well light up (sound of passing cars was still very loud).
Near the end of my trip, I didn’t had to use my Garmin bike computer as I just had to look up to see where the Utrechtse Dom was (feeling good to see a peace of Dutch in Japan).
Eiko came by train and was waiting in front of the hotel.
27-03-2023 Fukuoka => Karatsu (58.9km / 219m)
Official start of my trip and it could not have been a better start.
Nice weather and easy ride with not much climbing.
Felt save on the road as drivers in Japan are very polite and don’t take risks/ don’t want to harm you.
Arrived at 3 pm at my guesthouse and the host could speak very good English which makes things a lot easier. After I arrived I visited Karatsu Castle with the Sakura trees in full blossom.
Fukuoka 24/03/2023
First ride in Japan with lots of cherry blossom.
It took me some time to get the Japan OSM map on my Garmin, but all the effort paid off as it was a smooth first ride. Didn’t got lost, and I enjoyed it very much/ think it’s for me the most relaxing way of travelling in Japan.