Information please for cycling in Japan.

Thanks

Pretty stale, but maybe there’s something still relevant here: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/japan2007/.  I’ve wanted to go back ever since.

Japan is probably our second favourite part of the world in which to cycle tour (after South America).  We have done two tours there, the first was a month mostly on Shikoku and Kyushu (part of a longer six month Asian tour) and the second was three months traveling the length of the country from north to south.  The links to the journals are below:

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/thirdstep/

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/the5thstep/

This page has 6 links to information about bike touring in Japan. Not all of them will be useful to you, but they might be a good place to start your research.

Thanks everyone

Racpat

Hi Racpat.

Japan is only now very hesitantly reopening to tourists and only to organised tours. It might be a while before they'll let the likes of us freely roam the countryside. It's a very beautiful and fascinating country. I'm not a fan of big cities anywhere on the planet, but Japan's are very interesting. And the countryside is sublime and the backroads are a delight to ride, but it may be wise to avoid the peak holidays.  Take your camping gear: being a foreigner you can get away with pitching a tent almost anywhere (within reason). Learn how to "Rinko" your bikes if you want to take them on public transport. Takubin will no longer transport bikes, but is a fantastic service for getting your luggage from point A to B anywhere in the country. My wife took her Rodriguez 6 pack folding bike and it certainly was a lot easier to travel with than my full sized touring bike. Spring and Fall  are maybe the best time of year to ride.   

Thanks, just starting research for when it's a good time to go.

In addition to Victa's comments above, I would add that Japan is a remarkably affordable country in which to travel if one carries a tent and cooks for oneself.  It also helps to become accustomed to using onsens and sentōs as a means of keeping clean - they are a great way soak up Japanese culture.

There are some good youtube videos of people touring in Japan (and camping at free campgrounds).  

It's on my bucket list when I retire in a few years, when I can travel in the spring and fall.  Korea looks fabulous too  with some amazing routes (See map of routes).  I would like to ride from Seoul to Busan and take the ferry to Japan. 

Someday...

Hi Karen

After our first Japanese trip we caught the ferry from Fukuoka on Kysuhu to Busan and cycled the Four Rivers Trail to Seoul along with a few diversions to other cities along the way.  Much of this trail is on purpose built cycle path which can be quite sterile in places and was often quite busy with day trippers and cyclists attempting to do the distance in as short a time as possible.  None the less, South Korea is a great adjunct to a tour of Japan and there are lots of other formal routes based on defunct railway networks.  Probably the most interesting aspect of combining a tour of Japan with South Korea experiencing the many contrasts and similarities between the two cultures.