Japanese addictions
24 June: 3 days in and I’m already addicted to Japanese politeness, toilets, onsens and convenience stores.
We could only fit in a quick trip this year – a three-weeker – so we’re doing an organised eight-day bike tour (Adventure Hokkaido) on the northernmost island, Hokkaido.
After that we’ll have a few random days to satisfy our need for winging it, before dropping into Tokyo because, being the biggest civilised city in the world, it’s exempt from my usual anti-city prejudice. And we will probably get to Kyoto too, because by that stage we will simply be tourists.
June 22
After a comparatively brief 11-hour flight and a free, polite shuttle to a nearby hotel, we assembled dinner from the super-fresh snacks in the little 7-Eleven in the lobby. A perfectly cooked crumbed pork cutlet with a hint of mustard between two slices of white bread that looked and tasted exactly as white bread should, but rarely does. It sounds inadequate for dinner, and there were plenty of more substantial meals available, but this was sublime. Simple, perfect, tasty, cheap, no fuss – just food being what food should be.
June 23
The hotel’s free shuttle took us back to the airport from where we caught a train through Tokyo to Haneda, the other airport, and to a rare event in this country – a delayed flight to Abashiri, where the bus to the city had waited for the plane. Politely.
The hotel , the Dormy Inn, has an onsen, a guest only bathing area with its natural (legally required) hot spring water on the 9th floor. Read about the process elsewhere – this isn’t going to be an instruction manual – but rest assured that we obeyed the no clothes, no tattoos rule and emerged clean and relaxed. And there’s a 7-Eleven right across the road for a quick and tasty meal, topped up by the hotel’s free evening ramen. Hotels with onsens also provide yukatas (night wear) and slippers which guests wear everywhere. We crawled into our floor-level beds and rested until sunrise flooded the room at 3.30 am. We’re 500 km north of Vladivostok and it’s summer solstice!
June 24
There’s a couple of very good museums here, one based on their infamous prison and the other centred on Northern Peoples, but we explored local culture browsing supermarkets, Uniqlo mega stores and op shops (a Kalashnikov for NZ $95). In the evening we met the others on our tour – a few kiwis, some Aussies and some Americans, mostly around our age. We got fitted to our bikes then were taken out for a local traditional meal, a cut above the 7-Eleven offerings but still simple, sublime and perfect. I can feel myself melting into the culture.
June 25
Today was the first day of riding, a very pleasant 45 km around the peninsula under clear blue skies, pleasantly warm, and with 12 new friends to get to know, along with three tour guides. This isn’t our usual style of touring and we’re rather enjoying the relaxation of having all the decisions made for us, with our batteries checked and swapped if needed.
Language lessons are part of the deal and we’re already saying itadakimasu when food arrives, calling out gochisousama deshita to the chef when we leave, using sumimasen frequently to excuse our Western crassness, and arigato gozaimasu to thank just about everyone for everything. These people have a good basic attitude to life.
June 26
92 km. Everyone else did 88 but The Navigator might have neglected to glance at the provided map a couple of times . Note to self – when on group rides keep the group in sight.
Farmland that looked like NZ, and a good honest 400 m climb to a cold, windy pass above a volcanic lake, where ramen could be ordered through a Japanese-only online system that would have failed my old UX diploma. Then a downhill swoop on slightly patchy tar seal that made me appreciate the skills of cyclists who ride these rigid skinny-tyred beasts. A quick stop at an Ainu museum, a paddle at a hot sand beach much like Lake Taupo, and a super luxury onsen with free booze and an awesome buffet dinner.
Oyado Kinkikyu Bettei Suikazura
お宿欣喜湯 別邸すいかずら
June 27
83 km. We started by being dutifully impressed by a large, steaming, sulphur-coated gash in the hills surrounding the lake – and none of the kiwis said “yeah yeah, Taupo, Rotorua, White Island.” We’re trying to out-polite the locals, and besides it was pretty bloody impressive.
Then there was another good honest climb of about 400 m in the rain. I have my biking legs back again and they worked flawlessly all the way up. An early lunch at a dairy farm – a fantastic patty of their own beef in a katsu style curry followed by home-made ice cream – too much food fuelling an easy cruise along a rolling rural road to the Toyo Grand Hotel,Nakashibetsu. The onsen melts away the day’s aches and the meals will be great, and we are astounded at the value because for the same price we would only be able to rent a camping ground cabin anywhere in NZ.
Day 4 June 28
The first 50 km or so of typical NZ scenery was pleasant and reasonably quick. The Giant bikes are under-powered with a long range, and Diasuke, Ayumu and Richard make sure the batteries never get below 50% if there’s any distance left to run, so it’s very relaxing for us seasoned e-bike travellers and we chug along easily on power level 1 or 2 all day. The voice directions from the supplied routes on RWGPS ensure that we don’t get lost. The sun shone without too much warmth and the roads were mostly smooth but I am noticing the lack of full suspension and softer, stickier tyres, especially on long downhill runs where you have to be far more cautious (skilled?) than we are accustomed to.
As we peddled up the Eastern coast of the Shiretoko peninsula, the fishing villages reminded us of Ngawi, but scruffier. Japanese architecture around here is not impressive, in fact quite lacking in any of the virtues I have admired in what I thought I knew about their design aesthetics.
A convenience store picnic lunch at Rausu, gateway to Shiroteko National Park, at 63 km, was a real treat, then most of us carried on 15 km further up the coast – slowly in our case due to the deer that had to be photographed. On the return journey we also paused for a family of foxes and a deer with a day old fawn, grazing amongst piles of old fishing floats.
The 100 km day is as much as we have ever done, the Ryokan had an outdoor onsen, and I was lucky to be sitting with Ayu for the sumptuous set meal to have a commentary on what we were actually eating.
June 29
A short ride across the peninsula, but with a big hill. Under 50 km is often a rest day for us, but the catch is that it started with a 14 km, 700 m climb in cold rain, with, near the summit, a series of mini glaciers in the high valleys creating rushing streams cascading towards us. It was another good honest climb with nothing over 10% and we all sailed up it and down the 8 km other side with no problems. A side trip to look at a lake, and another to look at a waterfall we couldn’t see because of the misty rain, but we did see a bear, and accidentally got a bit closer than the recommended 50 m. The track was closed while we were in there because they take their bears, and our safety, very seriously. Very cool.
Accomodation at a family run Ryokan overlooking the beach, where we had a private onsen and a truly wonderful tempura dinner. We are a really loud bunch, it’s a bit embarrassing, but I was surprised at the reaction to my muttered gochisousama deshita as we left.
June 30
89 km along the coast back to Abashiri, mostly flat except for one diversion along the Road to the Sky, 2.5 km of a climb to 100 m and, at a right angle, back down again. I bettered my bike’s recorded max speed from 57.7 to 58.2.
The first part was a lovely coastal ride, then farmland on our favourite type of empty rural roads. My rigid frame, under-powered Giant bike is great for eating up smooth flat tar-sealed roads, but boy do you notice every single small bump.
Guided tours are a novelty for us – we’ve only done one before – and having Richard, Ayu and Dai introduce us to the language and culture, as well as look after the bikes, made for a very different experience from our usual independent travel. We were also lucky to have such an enjoyable group to ride with.
Very enjoyable read Steve. Thanks for sharing.
Good!