SBK Japan

Where: Yamagata, Fukushima

How Long: 3 days

How Far: 1,100 km

Accomodations: Business Hotels

Highlights: Mummies, Mt. Zao, Bandai

Garmin GPS Track: Download

Author: Geezer

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

Warning: This report includes some cultural and historical content. I think that a bit of culture never hurt anybody, but it has known to be painful to some. :badgrin:

The stated purpose of this trip was to view some of the Japanese mummies. Unlike Egyptian mummies, who are preserved by removing all their organs and processed after death, Japanese mummies prepare their bodies before death. This was done by some devout monks, by observing a strict and dangerous diet for many years. If you're interested in more details, check this: Japanese Mummies

Here's the map of the whole tour:

28 Sep 2007 - Tokyo to Yamagata

I met John and Jimbo at Hasuda on Friday morning, then we blasted up the freeway to Motomiya. Got on to R146 and tried to take a small mountain road North that John wanted to try. Unfortunately, it was closed off, so we backtracked and took R20, R459, R115, R5 and R399 to Yamagata. Along the way, we took a bad turn and John tested out the off-road capabilities of his Hog.

These are all very nice roads, especially R399. One stop was at a dam along this road, where TR wanted to show off his new HD.

A little bit of rain, so we couldn't take full advantage of the twisties at the and of R399, but pretty nice ride anyway. Once down in the plains of Yamagata, we decide to check out one of those mummies, not too far off R113. The temple we were looking for is Zoukou-in, in Shirataka. As we approached the coordinates for this temple, the road got narrower and narrower and became a forest trail. Wasn't looking good, so we stopped and asked a local guy who was picking chestnuts in this forest. Boy, did we pick the right guy to ask! The mummy had been moved to another location, but he jumped into his car and guided us to the temple. Not only that, but he phoned the monk, who apparently used to be his old pupil, and got him to drive over and open the temple for us, so we had a private viewing! 8)

Alas, no photos allowed, so took a picture of him instead.  Nice guy

By this time it was getting towards evening, so we rode up R287 and found a decent hotel in Sagae-shi, just North of Yamagata-shi, near Tendo Onsen. Decent hotel, cheap, with a nice public bath. Also managed to find some very nice pizza, so we covered all the important food groups. :drinking:

29 Sep 2007  - Yamagata to Shiroishi

This place is fairly close to "Cherryland," which is a big exhibition and museum, explaining how cherries got to Yamagata. Apparently, cherries originated in Turkey, but rather than come here directly, they went to Europe first, then to the New World and then, finally, to Japan; the long way around. I'd already been there before, so we skipped this, but it might be of interest to those that are culturally inclined. ;)

On Saturday, we wanted to see more mummies, so we took R112 West. This is a very nice road, with minimal traffic and good scenery.

This time we had no trouble finding the Dainichi-bou Temple. In the temple, we got the full treatment, including chanting, drumming and purging of evil spirits. Then a monk gave us a very educational lecture and we got to view the mummy. According to the monk, this one is the only "real" mummy in Yamagata. Also interesting story about how the Meiji Emperor tried to force all the Budhist temples to convert to Shinto, but this temple stood firm. Despite posted signs to the contrary, we were allowed to take photos.

After this interesting experience, we couldn't agree on where to go next, so we decided to go our own ways. Jimbo headed North towards Akita, John went Southwest to check out some intriguing back roads and I headed East towards Zao-san.

Went through Tendo Onsen, which is one of the major spas in Yamagata, then to Yamadera. Yamadera (mountain-temple) is pretty neat. There is a big temple at the bottom, then many smaller shrines as you climb all the way up to the top of the mountain. Yamadera is one of the spots made famous by the haiku poet Matsuo Basho in his writings about his pilgrimage of the Northeast.

Another neat thing in Yamadera is cold soba noodles. There's this restaurant where you sit at a long counter, that has a small stream running along its length. Behind the counter, the cook slips the noodles down a rock water slide and then you snag them with your chopsticks as they stream by.

From there, I went up R53, Nishi Zao Kougen Line, to Zao Onsen. Nice road!

Zao Onsen is also a famous spa, plus skiing area.

One nifty thing to check out here is this hot river. You can enjoy the onsen right in the river! It's listed as a mixed "konyoku," but actually the bathing is on separate spots on the river. I've already been there, so skipped it this time, but it's worth checking out if you're ever in the area.

From there, I cotinued along R53, Zao Eco-Line, then East along R12. This is a wonderful, twisty road, with spectacular sights along the way. It's very high up, reaching over 1600m in altitude. Along the way, there is a cool volcano with one of those turquoise lakes in the caldera.

It was getting a bit "fresh" up there , but well worth a stop.

Very nice ride along R12! Then went to Shiroishi and found a hotel for the night. It's called the Shiroishi-Zao Palace Resort Hotel, which sound pretty impressive, but is just a business hotel beside the Shinkansen train station. Oh well ... :drinking:

30 Sep 2007  - Shiroishi to Tokyo

On Sunday, the weather was not looking good at all. But it wasn't raining yet, so I decided to check out the Bandai-Azuma Skyline. South on R4, then got on R70 near Fukushima and headed up the Skyline. Many of you have already been there, so I won't get into details, but it's one of the nicest roads that I've seen here. Also gets up to around 1600m.

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and howling wind, so I couldn't really enjoy it. Oh well, I'll just have to go back another time. 8)

At the end of R70, I took R115 and R459 to Nihonmatsu, then blasted down the Tohoku Hwy. to Tokyo. Miserable ride, with pouring rain and no visibility. I guess I've pushed my luck too far. But no complaints. Pretty good weekend.