SBK Japan

Where: Ise, Wakayama, all of Shikoku

How Long: 10 days

How Far: 3,000 km

Accomodations: Camping, hotels, rider's inn, onsens

Highlights: Naruto Straits, Sanuki Udon, Shikoku Karst, temples and castles ...

Garmin GPS Track: Download

Author: Geezer

---------------------------------------------------------- The Tour ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doing a tour of Shikoku has been on my agenda for a long time, so I took a week off and did it. I figured that after Golden Week there would be better traffic and easier and cheaper accommodations. I could have taken a ferry to Tokushima, but the 18 hour trip seemed too boring, so I rode instead. My buddy Naoya took the ferry and we met later in Tokushima, but he admits that it was a very boring trip.

Here is a map of my route. Tracks alternate yellow/green for each day, except for one very short day in purple.




3 May 2007

I wanted to spend the first night in Ise, which is not too far, so I left home just before noon and avoided the Golden Week morning traffic jam. Took the Tomei to Hamamatsu, where I got my fix of Brazilian food. Then along the seaside to Irago, which is a very scenic ride (R1, R42). Then hopped on the ferry for the 55 minute ride to Toba.


Rode around for hours, as far as Ise City, but nary a hotel available! Then headed back and eventually, near Toba again, spotted a closed road and old tunnel at a cape that had been bypassed by a new tunnel. The road was blocked, but the barriers were wide enough apart to squeeze the bike through, so I rode in and pitched my tent. Slept like a log, to the pleasant sounds of the sea!
 
 
4 May 2007

Base camp in the morning.


Woke up to the sounds of Buddhist chanting. Turns out that I was right above a shrine on the cape.


Headed South, along the coast, and enjoyed some spectacular scenery (R128, R260), including the source of Mikimoto pearls.


This is a great route and very popular with the local riders.


Then continued South along R42 (R42, of course, if you're a Douglas Adams fan, is the road to life, the universe and everything). Along the way, there was a town, with hundreds of people (hundreds!) on the beach, picking clams. They each paid 1500 yen for this privilege. Weird!


A bit further on, there was a beach with cloth carp flying in the wind, the whole length of the beach. Neat!


Continued on to the bottom of Wakayama, enjoying more nice scenery. I'll have to go back to Wakayama again, because there is much more to see there. At the bottom, I met another rider, who'd made a reservation at a minshuku near Shirahama. He offered to share the room with me, so we rode up there, enjoying yet more scenery and good roads. Decent minshuku, good food, good bath, all for 7000 yen.




5 May 2007

Took the highway to Wakayama-shi and hopped on the ferry for the 2 hour ride to Tokushima. Beats riding all the way around, through Osaka, Kobe, Awajishima. Got off the boat and jogged over to another dock to meet my friend Naoya. Then we rode up to the Naruto Strait (R11, R28). This is pretty nifty. When the tide is changing, the entire Seto inland sea empties/fills up through this strait. The gap is very narrow, which results in an extremely strong current; so fast that it causes huge whirlpools in the sea!


Enough for one day, so crashed at a cheap business hotel nearby.


6 May 2007

Miserable day! Cold and pissing rain. Couldn't get motivated so dragged our asses till after lunch. Was even thinking of just staying at the hotel one more night, but they were fully booked, so put on the rain gear and took a short ride along the North coast to Sanbonmatsu (R183, R11). Pity about the lousy weather, because the ride is quite scenic. Found a decent hotel; not cheap, but I didn't care! The rain eased off in the evening, so went to an onsen run by the local government. Very nice! Several different kinds of bath, a nice view of the sea and an excellent buffet dinner for 1000 yen.
 


7 May 2007

Nice and sunny! In fact, yesterday was the only rainy day during this whole trip -- the rest was gorgeous weather.


First stop this day was at Okushi peninsula, with a great onsen right at the tip, and a fantastic view of the Seto inland sea (R11, R136, R137).


Next stop (along R11) was Yashima, with a lovely temple and Shikoku Mura, which is a collection of old Shikoku houses and shops.




This sucker cornered good!


Then on to Takamatsu city.


In Takamatsu, checked out the famous Ritsurin Japanese gardens.


Further along the coast, took R16 and checked out Goshikidai, which is a five peaked lava plateau, extending out to the sea, with a good view of the great Seto Ohashi bridge.


Then headed inland a bit, to camp out in the Manno National Park. Very nice campground, but no food anywhere near the area. After pitching the tent, we rode around for ages, until we finally found a small ramen shop. Anyway, nice day.
 


8 May 2007

Met up with a friend of Naoya. Nice guy. Forgot his name.


He then helped us to satisfy the quest for the famous Sanuki Udon, by going to a small udon factory in the countryside. Very small mom and pop operation.


Great noodles for 100 yen! 50 yen extra for a raw egg.


Then on to Kompira Temple (R438, R32). Had to climb 800 steps to get up there!


It's a looooong way up!


But worth the effort.


BTW, this is one of the 88 famous temples in Shikoku. There is a very popular pilgrimage going on in Shikoku, whereby people do a walking tour and visit all 88 temples.


Not much more to see around here, so took the expressway to Matsuyama, which was a good excuse to blow the gunk out and exercise that speedometer. Checked into a business hotel, then visited Matsuyama castle, which is the most nicely preserved castle I have seen in this country.


Then got on the local tram (Naoya on the right)


And then enjoyed soaking at Dogo Onsen, right in town, which is allegedly the oldest onsen bath house in Japan!


It's a neat old building. The bath is hot enough to cook lobsters. Throw another Gaijin on the barbie!


They even throw in a concert in the evening.

9 May 2007

In the morning, something came up and Naoya had to go back home, so I was on my own again. Headed down the coast, and all the way East out to the tip of the Sada Misaki Peninsula (R378, R197). This is a great ride! It's a skyline road, running along the ridge, with spectacular views all the way, and hardly any traffic. On a good day, you can see Kyushu from there.




Back and South again, through Uwajima and its castle, and all the way to the Ashizuri Cape, with lots of scenery and quaint fishing villages along the way (R378, R56, R321). Great roads!


Found a decent business hotel for the night.
 


10 May 2007

Checked out the cape and a lovely temple,




This is also one of the famous 88 temples, so lots of pilgrims.


Then turned North to Shimanto (R348, R27, R321) and rode along the Shimanto river, which is the last large river in Japan that has not yet been dammed (R439). Narrow, one-lane road; white-knuckles, but spectacular sights! This is one of the wide sections of the road, but most of it is far narrower.


Nice sights.


Then more narrow roads (R48), up to the famous Shikoku Karst.


The karst is a grassy plateau, riddled with "islands" of limestone. At 1430m and howling wind, it got a bit "fresh"up there.


Then back to the coast and a bit South to the Nakatosa Rider's Inn (R197, R56, R25). This company has 5 rider's inns, catering to bikers in Shikoku http://www.inforyoma.or.jp/riders/. Very basic accommodation, but good enough for only 3000 yen for a cabin.




11 May 2007

Rode North towards Kochi-shi (R56, R23, R47, R14). Spectacular!


Then checked out the Kochi castle. Yes, yet another castle!


And some dude that kicked enough ass to earn a statue.


Then South to the Muroto Cape (R55). Pleasant sights and lots more fishing villages along the way.


There's another Rider's Inn near here.


The cape itself.


Then turned North again, all the way to Hiwasa (R55). Great ride -- fast, twisty seaside road and no traffic! Of course, there's a temple there.


Checked into an onsen hotel in Hisawa, with big tatami room, nice baths, for only 5000 yen!


This town has a nice castle (yes, there are piles of castles in Shikoku)


And a big temple. Yes, lots of temples too.




12 May 2007

Minor mechanical problems. No worries -- found a Daihatsu truck repair shop and the guy let me use his tools. Continued North along the coast. Nice sights.


And great roads.


Also beautiful beaches here. Actually, many nice beaches everywhere in Shikoku.


Continued North (R55, R11), through Tokushima, over the Naruto bridge, along the West coast of Awajishima (R25, R31).


Then across the Akashi bridge to Kobe.


Good roads and sightseeing all the way. Got totally balled up on the Kobe/Osaka highway system, but was saved by the GPS. On through Kyoto and Biwako, then onto the Chuo Hwy. and back to Tokyo. Long day! 800 km and over 16 hours on the road, including sightseeing and meal stops, plus a few naps. Longish nap at a rest stop near Tokyo, to get the 30% ETC discount for arriving after midnight.
 
 
Anyway, 3000 km in 10 days doesn't qualify me for the Iron Butt, but maybe I can get recognised as a feather butt. It was a great trip and I recommend it to one and all. Great roads, spectacular sightseeing, even (shudder!) a touch of culture.