14 months after me and my bike left Germany, I reached Japan, which will likely be the furthest point east on this journey.
I arrived by ferry in Osaka, Japan’s second biggest city, but didn’t spend much time here, as I have already seen most of the country’s cultural attractions on a backpacking trip two years ago. This time I wanted to discover Japan’s natural beauty and the countryside.

I headed towards the Japanese Alps, where I was greeted with beautiful fall foliage, empty mountain roads and peaceful villages. These mountains are also the source of many water streams, which house multiple endemic species of trout. These fish attract Japanese anglers, which over time developed their own fly fishing method, called Tenkara. I picked up a special fishing rod to try this fast-paced, minimalistic technique. Unfortunately trout season was already over, but I did manage to catch some small fish in other rivers, and enjoyed my time doing so. I will give it another go in the Himalayas next spring/summer, luckily the rod is very lightweight and packs down small enough to carry on a bike.

Continuing to make my way through the Japanese Alps, I eventually made it across the big mountains, and now faced the biggest one in the country: Mount Fuji. This iconic volcano made some headlines recently, as for the first time (that we know of), its peak hasn’t been covered by snow yet during this time of the year. This naked peak might make it less photogenic, but it still marked another milestone I had reached. Fuji-san’s diameter and the amount of roads, mostly Rindo (logging roads) on the foothill of the mountain surprised me, and it took a while to cycle around it.

Leaving Mount Fuji behind, I had reached the Pacific coast once again, which in Japan means metropolises and urban areas, as the regions inland are usually too mountainous to build big cities. While most Japanese drivers are quite respectful to cyclists, the amount of cars on sometimes very thin roads can make cycling less enjoyable.

For this reason I chose to cycle a loop around the Izu peninsula, and then take a ferry to Tokyo. The peninsula was very scenic, offering stunning views of cliffs with Mt. Fuji in the distance, and picturesque fishing villages. Upon circumnavigation of the peninsula, I found out the ferry to Tokyo doesn’t allow bicycles, so I spent the next three days cycling towards and around Tokyo.
Considering that this is the biggest city in the world, it ended up being less stressful than expected, as I tried following cycling paths along the rivers whenever possible, and avoided the city centre and its countless traffic lights.
I eventually reached the airport on the other side of the city, boxed up my bike, and departed Japan after some enjoyable 4 weeks.

Next destination: Vietnam