A Journey across japan ~in Kyusyu~ 九州編
九州 （Kyusyu）, the last island for riding. When we were at Shimonoseki,(下関)、we really excited about that. Shimonoseki and Kitakyusyu(北九州)、780m away for each other having sea between them. Fortunately , there is a tunnel under the sea that we can walk. So we walked with our bicycle.
The port of the 北九州（kitakyuusyu） was amazing. So far, we saw 函館（hakodate）port, which is famous for trading internationally in history, but in my preference, I like the mood of 北九州 more. A lot of vessels dogged at the port, maybe they are waiting for the time to sail. And there are many warehouse next to the sea, which is built by brick like Hakodate`s one. So beautiful, at the same time, overwhelming feeling because they are so huge scale. If you like ship, and trading stuff, you must like it.
Not with my buddy, but just me, I restarted the rule of Dice roll until getting to the last place 鹿児島新港（kagoshima new port）, which is around 340km away. Seems so hard~~
We actually wanted to taste 博多ラーメン（hakata ramen）、but it was a bit hard to manage with our route, so we could not eat it. For me its ok , but for my buddy it was shame because he has never eaten it before haha. So we did little BBQ again like usual instead.
Second day was the hardest day we got so far definitely. We were directly attacked by the strong typhoon. Ill never forget it. At around 2 am, we were awaked by the strong rain and wind while we were sleeping outside. With bad luck, at the night, we lost our precious tent. It was broken. Then the storm attacked us. We know its coming by searching the weather forecast, we didn’t have other choice, but staying out. During the heavy rain, we gotta move and rescue our stuff and bike, we ran into the public toilet temporally, we stayed there till it ends. Still , we gotta go to Kumamoto from there, going through many big hills and mountain, it was a hard day. But finally, when we got to Kumamoto, we could see my friend and he treated us good food. I cannot thank you enough.
Leaving 熊本(kumamoto), only a few days left to go. It felt me good, but sad at the same time haha. No matter what, this journey will end. Thinking about it, I headed to the last spot.
鹿児島(Kagoshima)prefecture, which is the last place to go, has rough road because it has volcanos. Anyway, on the way to the Kagoshima new port, many people stopped by for us to say hallo or giving some food or money. We felt so happy for that. Ill never forget such events.
Right next to the 桜島（sakurajima）,which is erupting a little all the time , we found the port, kagoshima new port. We hurried there as fast as we could. Then finished our bicycle challenge there. We just glad that we could finish it with no serious accident or something. So happy. We took a ticket for taking a vessel to 沖縄（Okinawa）, the final goal for us to land.
A Journey across japan ~ in Shikoku, chugoku 四国、中国地方
When we arrived at 四国(Shikoku), it was still dark. So we found a park nearby the port, and we expanded our sleeping bag on the ling chair so that we can sleep for a bit. When it got bright enough to go on our journey, we got ready to go.
What we wanted to do in shikoku is already decided. The real udon, and hot spring famous in 愛媛（Ehime）. During staying in shikoku, we ate udon a lot like for every meal. It was really good that I wanna go there again just for it!
While we were heading to the Ehime, which is the most west part of shikoku, we met a man who is crossing japan through all mountain that stand on your way. I was so impressed by his thought.
At ehime, we wanted to eat famous good quality orange produced there, but we didn’t have much money to buy them unfortunately, we gave it up. But its ok we bathed at good hot spring spot named 道後温泉 （dougo onsen） instead.
After that, we again took a ferry to going back to 本州. We restared from 広島 (Hiroshima), which is known as the only place that got the atmic bomb attack In the world. We visited there not only for that, but for meeting my older brother working there. He took care of us well. He treated us 広島のお好み焼き（okonomiyaki）, and high quality and thick eel dish(穴子丼). That was so good. It was definetey the best eel ever in my life. You gotta try it when you visit Hiroshima.
Okonomiyaki
Leaving Hiroshima, we moved on to Yamagushi prefecture, 下関（shimonoseki）,which is the westernmost city leading to 九州 （kyusyu）. I remember that it took more time than I thought to get there. And many things happened like usual. My buddy down by headache due to too much tiredness, BBQ, staying at a place with nothing but sea, and so on.
A Journey across japan ~ In Honsyu２~ 日本縦断～本州編２ ～
A journey across Japan ～In Honsyu２~ 日本縦断 ～本州編２～
After 仙台 Sendai, our next destination was going to 新潟 Niigata prefesture, crossing 猪苗代湖 Inawashiro lake. we actually were planning to go through roads of japanese sea, but there is a big mountain named 奥羽山脈 Ou sanmyaku, so we had to take the side of Pacific ocean. The reason why we came down to 仙台 is because it is out of mountain. so we dont have to cross the mountain if we go through 仙台.
At first, we didnt know about 猪苗代湖 Inawashiro lake so much, so when it showed up suddnly, we were so surprised because it`s so big, and stunning. it looks Caldera lake, and easy to know it is made by the activity of volcano that caused long time ago. We swimmed there as soon as we found, we really refreshed. so good experience. Because we haven`t taken a shower for 5 days till then haha.
In 西会津, in the middle of a mountain, we stayed at in front of the station. On that day was my birthday, my friend celebrated me by a cake. we didnt have candle, so we used match and put them on cake with fire directly. it was fun time haha.
Next day, we crossed the mountain in the heavy rain, to Niigata. We had a appointment with my friend there who I met in Spain. so we deceied to meet up in 佐渡島 Sadoga island, which is around 90km away from Niigata. We took a ferry to get there. We had been riding a bike everyday, we still rode a bike in Sado, though we went there as refreshment. its kinda weird haha.
There, meeting up him for the first in a year, it was a good meeting. then I realized when we meet, we always on the way of joureny, such as Santiago de compostera in Spain, or journey of cross japan of him, and this time, at my journey of crossing japan. we did BBQ at beach at night, making fire from zero collecting many woods to fire. I thought he had much experiences of journey and survivul skills, which made me surprised.
Then after the 佐渡島 Sado island, we continued to go down to 神戸 to get a ferry to next destination, which is 四国 Shikoku. On the way, we dropped by many prefectures like Ishikawa, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka. In kyoto, my friend took me to his friend`s house to stay. he was so kind becuase he allowed me to stay even that was my first to see him. The family served us good dinner and place to stay, i cant thank you enough.
Before going to his frend`s house, we stopped by 延暦寺 Enryaku temple, which is the one of the biggest sacred place in japan. There used to have big relationship with famous japanese samurai 織田信長 Nobunaga Oda, and had a big fight between them. I have been wanting to visit there, i was so glad. We climbed the mountain for around 40 minutes and reached at places to pray. it was so holy place.
Finally we arrived at the port in 神戸 Kobe, to go to 四国 Shikoku, which is another island of Japan. we took a ferry in the night and got there at very early morning, so we slept for a while at a park in 香川 Kagawa prefecture in Shikoku.
A Journey across japan ~In Honsyu~ 日本縦断～本州編１～
A journey across Japan ~In Honsyu~ 日本縦断～本州編１～
we finally got to Hakodate, and sailed to Aomori, Oma where a long journey of Honsyu starts. Japan consists of 5 parts of Island mainly. Honsyu is the biggest island among them, which has 1500km.
On the way of north oart of it, there are many places to visit, we visited place to place, like 恐山 osorezan, 六ケ所原燃PRセンター nuclear fuel center, 久慈琥珀博物館 Amber museum. etc. in addition to them, im from Aomori, so we stopped by, and stayed there, maintenancing our gear and taking a rest for three days.
At my home, we found out that our gear has already started getting bad because of riding. My bicycle, GT had a trouble with its break, and my frined`s one, trek got a damage on its wheel. Actually we didnt know that till we checked them with my father carefully. We were really saved because all of them can be deadly accident. And my father helped us to make loading platform on our gear. we have been carring our backpack till then, but we know that it doesn`t last because it hurts our back. so my father made a special loading platform on the backside of our bicycle, using a wood plate. it really helped our rest of journey very much. it speeded up so much. I really thank my father.
when we stayed at my home, we got not only the reparing of gear, but food😎
my mother and father prepared and cooked us feast. Tuna, tenpura, curry, mackerel, and watermelon, melon and more. it was so heaven.
After leaving Aomori prefecture, the next destination was Iwate where is the second biggest prefecture in Japan and known for Rias coast. til we finished riding in Iwate, there were many things happend. 1, i got a first flat in the middle of rural place like no repairing shop. 2, i was hit by my frriend`s bicycle and broke my rib. 3, my friend fell down on the steep downhill and got a big damage. Interestingly, all those happend in a same day😂. it was so hard and we seriously thought if we quit this journey or not. But all things went well, we could restart our journey soon after the day they happened. no one knows what will happen next.
For us, the first goal in Honsyu was 仙台 Sendai. from Oma, it`s over 400Km away from Sendai. so far away to go haha. But everyday rowing a bicycle will take you there. everyone can do it unless you quit. sometimes I started thinking like " what am I doing, everyday riding a bike for around 8hours, eating some not good foods, less fun time , repeatedly, " . I think it is because we know where is the goal, but its so far and it is like what we know but, hard to see. that`s why I had such a thought on the way. But, everytime we get to big stop, like Hakodate, or Sendai, it cheered us up, and feel big accomplishment, which had us head to another goal.
From Oma to Sendai, we spent 8days in total, including the day we just took a rest at my home.
A Journey across japan ~In Hokkaido~ 日本縦断～北海道編～
A journey across Japan in Hokkaido
Hokkaido is located in north part of Japan. Sapporo, which is capital city, was our start point. we arrived at Hokkaido with no bicycle, so first thing we gotta do was procuring them there. we searched good bicycle shop there, and we found it , we bought each gear, helped by the staffs there so much. Actually, we dont ride bicycle in daily life so much, and for us, this was the first time to ride this kinda professional one. My friend chose " trek" as his machine, and me, chose " GT " as my mate. and we customized them to carry our baggages helped by staff again haha😂.
In Hokkaido, the distance to ride was 262Km starting from Sapporo city through Otaru, oshamanbe , and last stop, Hakodate. that was really big number for us because weve never ridden bike for such a long distance,,,
And we set one special rule during Hokkaido. That is deciding our money by the dice roll. we have 2 dices, so maximum is 1200 yen, and minimum is 200 yen a day. so we gotta save money as much as we could.
What I remenber most we faced on the way was the day we were caught in a heavy rain. That happened on second day since we started. on that day, we gotta cross the mountain no matter what kinda weather it is. honestly, it was scary experience because the road we had to take was so nerrow that we can hardly go through and also sometimes we had to go through tunnel, which is really long and has big amount of traffic volume. And we didnt have much money at that time. as we got rain, we gradually felt so cold, but i didnt bring warm cloth because its middle of summer. I really had no idea what we should do becuase its so heavy rain outside, so we cant set a tent, and had no money. Finally we decided to stay at cheap hotel. From this, I learnt people can`t against nature, but I was frustrated becuse I couldnt do anything. I never forget that emotion and feeling I got at that time.
On the way, we were helped by many people, especially about food. we didnt have much money, so some farmer who knew we were doing a journey across Japan gave us milk, corn, Onigiri, many tomatos, and grape, bananas. all those were so good taste, and fresh! That`s Hokkaido quality! i love it ! Can`t thank you enogh.
While we went on our journey, we can see the signboard showing how much distance lef to go. Our destination was Hakodate. at first, it had over 200km, so far away from us, but day by day, its getting closer to us, and final day , it became 86km. it was still big distance, but we challenged it. After arriving at Hakodate, we got a big confidence fromt that experience.
Hokkaido to Aomori, there is sea, we sailed and headed to Oma, which is famous for tuna😎.
A Journey across Japan ~日本縦断～
A Journey across Japan～日本縦断～
This time, spending around 40 days( 8/12~9/24), my friend and I carried out a journey across Japan by bicycle! from north to south, 2565,7km(starting from Hokkaido to Okinawa) we experienced many things on the way, like taking a road on mountain, riding a bike in rainy days, or so hot day, or sleeping in heavy storm night, etc,,. I wanna summarize what we got from this journey a bit.
What I felt most from this journey was I can`t do anythig alone. Actually, before I started, I thought I can do anything more or less, but it turned out to be wrong. I noticed that as we went on this journey, we were supported by many people everywhere we stopped. and i was so touched by their kindness. for them, we are just stranger who met for the first time,but they dont care about it, they gave us thier kindness, like giving us local foods, milk, cola, place to stay, or repairing of our bicycle despite he had his other appointment
. we were so helped by many people. I learnt people need to cooperate with each other all the time even if they dont know each other. And also, I really thank to my buddy that carried out this together. Actually, for him , he has never had this kinda so long tough journey ever. but he decided to do it with me. and for over 40days , we fought and got over together with every situation nature brought. thanks to him, i could enjoy so much, and experienced this journey like this.
On the way of this journey, not only we felt people`s kindeness, but we learnt the culture and differences each prefecture and places have. I found out how much developed and big tokyo is , and there are many places that have beautiful nature in Japan. there are really small village as well, and there are cities that still have really historical buildings or cultures. I know that kinda things still exist, but its really different that you actually see or you just know. I really appreciated that i could have this kinda precious chance to do that. I felt like i touched history or places there more closely.
When we talk about this journey to friends or people, everyone says " great!!" or " congraturation!", or " proud of you " . I feel really glad they gave us such a great words, but me myself, I dont think i did such a big great thing. I just did what I like. Rather, we could acheived this journey thanks to all that helped us or supported us. I really think we couldnt do that just by ourselves. I can`t thank you enough.
This journey was the longest journey ive ever had. And I touched so many kindness from many people. I learnt many things this time again. I really recomend you all to do this kinda journey.
what`s next? 😎
Never end my journey.
What is the good point of making a journey?
Today, im gonna talk about what the good points you can get from making a journey are, based on my experiences so far.
・What Journey is
First of all, I want to define the meaning of journey. I think Journey means a trip you creat all from zero and going to a place that you have never been. Whats more, you gotta get over anything you face on the way by yourself.
・Good points you can feel from journey
1, you can see how much you can do when you are alone
2, you can learn anything from what you see or feel or do
3, It is a good chance to think yourself
1, You can see how much you can do when you are alone
I think there are two types when you make a journey. you do it yourself, or do it in a group. So im gonna talk about the former this time. when you make a journey alone, you can see how much you can do by yourself clealy. you have to make a whole plan by yourself, going to the place and back from there. you gotta find somthing fun or interesting to do there. you gotta find friends there. theres no one you can rely on if you are alone. Sometimes you feel lonely, or sad to know you are alone, or you cant do anything than you thought. but its a really good thing because at least you learn them. Then you start something to improve what you need after the journey. Such a journey somehow helps you lead to next step surely.
2, You can learn anything from what you see or feel or do
A journey takes you to a unknown place for you. Everything you see or feel there, are new for you. Thats why you can learn anything from what you got there. And thats the main reason why I love making a Journey. They help you find something that you cant find yourself. For example, the culture, society, food, people, history, nautre, anything. When I went to sahara desert, what we do there in a day, was taking a camel for around 4 hours in total and going to the destination where nomad are waiting. After arriving there at around early afternoon, we have free time in the middle of the desert till dinner time by cooking their goat as a feast. Its getting colder sharply after sunset, and what we could see was stars spreading over in the night sky. it was so great that I never forget it. and we sleep on the desert. and we naturaly get up with sunrise, feeling its getting warm. and I learnt how much people depend on the nature and how big impact nature has . I learnt the importance and beauty of nature through the journey.
3, It is a good chance to think yourself
Going to journey is unusual thing , outside of the ordinary life, and going out to a place where you have never seen. Many new things come out in front of you, and they inspire you. After that, you think about it comparing with your standard and your thought to find right answer. through these things, you can have new ideas.
・Conclusion
Making a journey brings you many things to inspire you. Those experinences definetely become something you need in the future ,like it helps you find something interesting and it may be some motives for your future job. Thats why I love making a journey around the world with my mates.
