Guestbook

Hi Warren,
I hope you're having a great trip. Stay safe and I look forward to the photos yet to come.... Collapse

All the best for your new adventure overseas, look forward to seeing your reports.
Enjoy the ride.... Collapse

IZU PENINSULA/MT FUJI RIDE 2023
ERIC HARRIS

I returned to Japan from the USA in April 2023 to complete an epic ride that I had been planning with my friend AT (Atsuhiro Takeuchi) that had been foiled by the COVID epidemic in 2020. For background, my family and I lived in Iwakuni (near Hiroshima) from 2017-2020 while stationed at the US Marine Corps Air Station located there. AT is a Japanese citizen who works at the base, we had become fast friends when I moved there due to being the same age, having the same taste in music, and a shared interest in riding motorcycles. We have had many adventures, including flying to Tokyo numerous times to see concerts (Download Festival and KISS) along with rides in Western Japan nearly every other weekend when the weather was nice.

Western Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu are a rider’s playground due to the mountainous terrain, superbly maintained twisty roads, and huge number of one-day and weekend destinations to ride to within the Iwakuni jumping-off point. As my retirement from the Marines and inevitable move back to “CONUS” (Continental United States) in the summer of 2020 loomed ever closer, I had planned out a final multi-day ride encompassing the 3 islands (Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku) and had recruited a small cadre from the “Torii Riders” (base motorcycle club) to go with me. But…the COVID epidemic hit shortly before the planned ride date, and Japan shut down, effectively putting the ride back into the ”someday” category.

Now living in Tampa, Florida USA, I have to travel long distances to experience any semblance of a twisty road, much less one with appreciable elevation changes! Dreaming of the world-class mountain roads in Japan, I started plotting a trip to Japan as the rumblings and rumors of the Japanese Government opening up the country to foreign tourists started to mount. AT and I started talking about setting up the 3-island ride again, and the plan started gaining momentum as we targeted April 2023 due to the good weather and deconfliction with Golden Week shortly thereafter. As my wife and I blocked out the trip plan, it quickly became apparent that it was going to be logistically difficult to get all my riding gear to western Japan, rent a bike, and then ride roads that I already knew like the back of my hand. The timing of the trip conflicted with a military airshow at MCAS Iwakuni, which prevented the participation of my riding buds from the base. This prompted me to start looking at options around Tokyo, and quickly zeroed in on Mount Fuji and the Izu Peninsula due to the proximity of sportbike rental shops and family friends who would allow me to stash my riding gear upon conclusion of the ride when my wife and I would use our JR passes to take the Shinkansen around the country. I was a little nervous about bringing this change in plan up to AT due to the added cost and inconvenience that it would cause him, but he jumped all over it! He was excited to ride somewhere new, and the adventure of getting his Suzuki V-Strom from western Japan to the Kanto area piqued his interest.

In October of 2022, Japan officially opened back up to tourists, so my wife Bobbie and I immediately purchased airline tickets, started making hotel reservations, and most importantly made a rental reservation for a Honda CBR650R! I rented the CBR from 819 Bike Shop in Ebina, which is about an hour train ride west of downtown Tokyo, and an easier jumping off point for getting to the Izu Peninsula and Fuji. AT laughed when I told him the name of the shop, apparently “819” roughly translates to “bike” in kanji. Normally, a Japanese citizen or US military member under SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) is limited to 400cc without a special (read “expensive”) motorcycle license, but with an international driver’s permit and my status as a run-of-the-mill gaijin foreigner, I had no restrictions on what size bike to rent! 400cc bikes have more than enough power for Japanese roads and highway speeds as I knew from owning a Kawasaki ZRX400 in Okinawa and a Honda CB400 that I rode all over western Japan when we lived in Iwakuni, but there is no comparison to the added power of the CBR650R, and I was looking forward to riding it on the excellent mountain roads of eastern Honshu.

April 2023 finally arrived! With an additional suitcase full of riding gear and my wife’s oversize flowered purse protecting my Arai helmet as my carry-on, Bobbie-san and I departed Tampa Florida on our vacation! We changed planes in Atlanta, then headed towards Tokyo Haneda Airport…until we weren’t. As we were in the vicinity of Seattle, we noticed that the inflight tracker had us going to LAX, and about 15 minutes later the aircrew briefed us that there was a problem with the aircraft’s anti-ice system, so we had to divert south. We made the assumption that since we were going to LAX instead of SEA, PDX, ANC, or somewhere else close or more along our route, that that meant that they had the part available, had a different airplane ready to go, and/or a replacement crew to continue us on our trip. Nope! We were delayed 24 hours and lost a day in Japan. Oh well, we had recovery days built-in prior to the ride commencing, so we had that going for us at least. We spent the first few days in Tokyo just walking around and getting used to the timezone, and also getting over a fever and nagging cough! I was so worried that it might be COVID, which would have derailed everything, but fortunately the test came back negative. We stashed our excess luggage with our friends Vanessa and Joe in Roppongi, then headed west to Ebina.

AT rode west from Iwakuni to Shimonoseki to pick up a ferry, and then cruised 24 hours from there to Yokohama, arriving the same night (Tuesday, 11 April 2023) that we arrived in Ebina, then rode over to the bike rental place the next morning to help me pick up the motorcycle from the rental place. Bobbie and I woke up on Wednesday morning, had breakfast, then picked up her rental car from the Toyota Rent-A-Car place before heading over to the bike rental. “Mike” had the black CBR650R waiting for me in the shop, and it looked absolutely sexy sitting there under the store lights. With typical Japanese efficiency, my passport, license, and credit card were inspected, rental paperwork was sorted, a thorough pre-flight inspection was conducted, along with a detailed demonstration of all the lights, buttons, and various switches. AT arrived shortly thereafter, and after our required greetings and bowing, he was able to talk more in detail about our ride plans with the shop staff. They were excited for us, even telling us places where we needed to watch out for the Koban (Japanese Police) haha! We got suited up and fired up the bikes in preparation for the first leg of our journey. The CBR had a pleasant exhaust note at idle, with a nice menacing growl under the smooth 4-cylinder burble. First stop was to Naps to buy a tank bag, kickstand puck, and have a bite to eat. Had a bit of “Office Space” traffic to contend with as we departed the urban area, but finally made it down to the coast road (Route 1) and headed west towards Ito for our first night. Absolutely beautiful weather! I was still getting over my illness, AT was tired from his ferry ride and riding over from Yokohama, and it was extremely windy that day, so we only rode to our hotel (Hotel Himalaya Sea) that afternoon, arriving about 1600. Beautiful hotel, but had a STEEP driveway down from the road that made AT pretty nervous. The hotel manager met us outside and admired our rides, turns out he rides a CBR250, so we had fun chatting with him. Bobbie-san started feeling feverish (basically what I had 2 days prior), so was a fairly low-key night. AT and I took the rental car to Yoshinoya for dinner, then stopped at a 7-11 for breakfast items.

Thursday, 13 April broke to a beautiful sunny morning, and the winds had died down significantly overnight. Our room had a commanding view of the bay, and we noticed surfers in the water trying to catch waves. After a Kombini breakfast (banana, yogurt, and Cup Noodles), I went out and prepped the CBR for a day of adventure! AT had been worrying about the steep driveway all morning, but we scrambled up with no issue, then were on our way to conquer the Izu Skyline Tollway. Stunning views! Twisty roads! Light traffic! What an incredible start to the day as we put our respective bikes through their paces on the gorgeous mountain roads before continuing onto the perimeter of the Izu Peninsula via Route 135/136. The road followed the coastline, and we had stunning views from the beginning of the ride until we switched off the ignitions that night. At one point we passed Bobbie-san as she was parked on the side of the road soaking up the view and video-chatting with Katie and Charlie (our college-age kids back in the USA). Shortly thereafter, AT and I stopped for fuel, and Bobbie passed us. There was a 7-11 next to the gas station, so I had no choice but to sustain myself with an “American Dog” (corndog), box of potato sticks, and a can of coffee. AT laughed and mentioned that they were my usual snack of choice on the road…hey, I am a creature of habit and now was not the time to change the routine. The CBR purred along, effortlessly eating up the kilometers and not breaking a sweat on the stunningly beautiful and curvy coast roads. Every once in a while an opportunity to crack the throttle open would present itself, and the black Honda would seem to say “okay Gaijin, let’s see what you’ve got!” as it lept forward with a satisfying howl from the 650cc powerplant. These moments of being one with a fast machine was what I came back to Japan for! Stopped several times along the roadway to admire the view and stretch out my forearms…had a happy burn in my muscles that were not used to flicking a bike around continuous tight turns. Had a bit of serendipity for lunch, AT and I were both starting to get hungry, were in a relatively remote portion of the peninsula, when all of a sudden we came upon a café with a row of motorcycles parked out front…this was the place! We parked our bikes in an open spot, then walked up to the restaurant (Tihal Asian and Nepalese Curry). The owner/server was a rider, and she chatted with us for a few minutes while we were ordering. Speaking of serendipity, I had been looking for a sharp kitchen knife as a present for my son Charlie, and the owner was also a kitchen knife saleslady! She gave AT and I a cutting demo (which I caught on video) on a cucumber, and as I am a sucker for salesmanship bought one on the spot. Our lunch was excellent spicy curry chicken which satiated us, and during that time another lady came up and started chatting with us as well. She was very pretty, so no surprise when AT kind of “kept the conversation going” in Japanese while we ate haha! She was riding a Suzuki V-Strom, was originally from the Tokyo area, but had moved out to Izu in the last year to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We compared notes on places to stop along our route, then she departed. We paid the bill, were bowed off by the restaurant staff, then continued north along the western coast of the peninsula to Toi Beach, where we cut inland along 136 towards Shuzenji. The roads winded and climbed as we made our way upwards toward the spine of the peninsula, and soon we arrived at our hotel (Marriott Shuzenji). Bobbie-san was waiting for us there, after checking-in we wound down with a light dinner and relaxing in our rooms.

Friday, 14 April was a bit hazy due to the yellow dust blowing in from China, and the forecast was threatening rain in the coming night and following day. Original plan was to ride up to Lake Yamanaka near Mount Fuji that night and spend the night, then conduct an admin movement Saturday morning via the toll road back to Ebina to dropoff my rental CBR650R. I was not relishing the thought of riding in the cold and rain the next day, so Bobbie-san and I started putting a contingency plan together, and that plan was basically finishing up the ride that night in Ebina and eating the cost of the hotel in Lake Yamanaka (paid in advance and non-refundable of course). I talked to AT, and offered to pay for a hotel for him in Yokohama Friday night as well so that he didn’t have to ride all day in the rain before getting on a ferry for 24 hours. He wanted to forge ahead with the original plan for himself, but was understanding that I had no desire to ride in the cold rain the next day! We adjusted the plan so that we would part ways in Gotemba that afternoon, then I would follow Bobbie-san back into Ebina and dropoff our respective rentals before the shops closed at 1800. Having a Japanese riding companion paid dividends again, as AT called the rental agencies for us to coordinate the drop-offs that night. Now that the logistics were coordinated, it was time to ride! AT and I headed up to the Izu Skyline Tollway again, this time going north from the point where we had started (going south) the previous day. I couldn’t get over how beautiful and well-maintained the roads were, as we went north towards Mt Fuji we encountered more and more motorcyclists, both singles and in groups. Traffic was still relatively light in the morning, so we were able to get on the throttles numerous times during enticing stretches of tarmac, I could not stop grinning! I missed a turn at one point, so we ended up taking route 11 east down to route 135 (coast road), then took that for a short duration up to route 75 for the northwest climb back up towards Gotemba/Mount Fuji. Route 75 was beautiful, but clobbered with tourists and slow-moving busses. We stopped near Hakone at Lake Ashi, which is known for its pirate ships, for a rest stop and pictures, before continuing on towards Gotemba. Happily, traffic started to thin out at that point, and we were able to let the bikes do what they were designed for…go fast and eat up the twisties! I mentioned earlier that the Chinese Yellow Dust was heavy that day, so it was difficult to see Mount Fuji until we got closer and closer during the ride. We finally ended up in Gotemba, rendezvousing at a McDonald’s with Bobbie-san. Ironically enough, our best picture of Mount Fuji was from that McDonald’s parking lot! AT and I exchanged bows, then parted ways, with him continuing on to Lake Yamanaka, and Bobbie-san leading me back to Ebina via the tollway. It was a nice break to get on the tollway and just let the CBR650R zip along at 120kph with no stop and go traffic for 40 minutes. In Gotemba we fueled up our rentals, then dropped off the CBR at the rental place. Shop staff was waiting for me, and even congratulated me on not being stopped by the Koban ha!

Well, it was over at that point. Months of planning and anticipation about riding Japan’s superb mountain roads again had come to an end. Although sad to be complete, I basked in the glow of the wonderful memories that we had made in the last 3 days. My forearms had a good post-workout burn going in them, and I reminisced about the ride and smiled the entire train ride back to Tokyo Station that night. I was especially happy to be in a warm hotel room the next morning when I looked out the window and saw heavy rain coming down! I felt bad for AT having to ride in this weather back to Yokohama, but he assured me that he was happy to just be out riding after almost 3 years of not traveling anywhere. What a grand adventure!... Collapse

Hi Warren. I was recently introduced to your absolute beast of a Google Map named "Japans Best Motorcycle Rides", and thought it was the bee's knees. I'm not a motorcyclist, but the roads you've found are also fantastic for cars, so I went to work tidying up the map a little bit. Basically just separating out all the entries in to categories so it's easier to hide miscellaneous stuff and display only the routes themselves. All credit for this map absolutely goes to you, but just thought you'd be interested to see it in a slightly upgraded form 🙂 Cheers, Elliot

Japans best roads (revised)
https://goo.gl/maps/4a21SkQ6m9VdCf7v6... Collapse

Thank you for posting these ride ideas! I lived in Iwakuni 2017-2020 and rode all over western Honshu and Kyushu, and agree with your assessments of the fantastic roads there! Haven’t ridden around the Kanto Plain/Mt Fuji area yet, planning a trip there in April 2023 which will include a 3 or 4 day motorcycle ride (wife will follow me via train each day to meet up for the night). I appreciate your great suggestions. -Eric Harris... Collapse

Hi Warren
I have just discovered you web site , I must thank you for taking the time to document your travels , its a great resource for people like myself. My wife and I have done a couple of European guided tours and have a 3rd trip in Thailand and 4th book with Adriatic their Romania to Istanbul tour . But I really want to do a self guided trip of a longer duration 3 to 4 weeks possibly in France, Spain and Portugal. Your Andalucía Motorcycle Ride has been a great insight and inspiration. Great article on the gsp mapping as well . look forward to your future travels

Cheers Dave... Collapse

I love the pictures that you post, and I hope to be able to go on as many rides as you.
Keep up the good stuff and let me know if you want to ride with company :)... Collapse