sapporoguy

My stoker and I are planning to ride the tandem around Japan's Hokkaido island this summer, self-supported. We hope to camp, stay at rider houses and the occasional minshuku or ryokan, dip in as many hot springs as possible, eat lots.
I grew up in Hokkaido and speak Japanese, but we haven't been back to the island for decades.
-Have any of you toured Hokkaido recently?
-Anyone here who lives and bikes in Hokkaido?
-What websites/forums are good for cycling in Japan? (I've already found Hokkaidowilds.)
I have a bunch of questions that I'll follow up with if anyone would like to help. We've bought the latest Hokkaido Mapple and are poring over it and could use some guidance.
Thanks!

sam21fire

My wife and I did the West coast and central part of the island but that was in 2013. PM me or look for densamoz on CrazyGuyonabike.com.

Sam

djb

there is a guy on here named Waddo, he lives and tours in Japan and has put up good videos of him and his partner biking around various parts of Japan for years here.
Look up waddo on youtube and you'll easily find his vids, so you may find one on this area.

sapporoguy

thanks! Sent DM.

sapporoguy

indeed, we have seen some of his and will go back and look again.

djb

Perfect.

waddo

I'm the Waddo guy. I would just mention a couple of things: 1. buy bear spray and keep it in your water bottle cage when riding and take it with you when you hike. You can buy it at most Montbell shops. 2. The distances are LONG. It's not like the rest of Japan. You can ride for hours and never see a town or any kind of shop for food. Watch my video and you will see to stay away from a certain stretch of coast where you must go through a dozen tunnels and some several km long. 3. Plan it as a sightseeing holiday or you may spend too much time just riding through empty countryside.

PedalingWalrus

Hi Waddo,

I am trying to do some comparative understanding of the recommendation for bringing a bear spray with you when touring Hokkaido. Do You have any personal or studied knowledge of the presence of bears in the Appalachians and also in the Continental Divide or the Sierra's? How would the threat of a negative encounter compare?

sapporoguy

Nice to meet you here, Waddo! And thanks for the tips. We’re rewatching your lovely Hokkaido videos now and getting lots of ideas as we plot out our route on the map.
How did you locate your campgrounds and sites, especially the closed or abandoned ones? I know there’s an app showing campgrounds and onsen, so perhaps that or Google maps?

waddo

All I know is in Honshu we have come across bears on the mount roads we take. Once, literally face to face. The bear was as surprised as we were. I don't see the point of taking any chances especially as a bear spray fits in a bottle cage.

waddo

To Sapporoguy. I use google earth and google maps. Street view is available even for empty mountain roads. So I check for traffic and steepness and sometimes for camping places. I also us general internet searches. It is my hobby for a month or two before a trip and I probably spend about 50 hours researching a multi week tour. People take photos from hilltops, shrines, just about everywhere I would want to camp, so luckily they upload them onto google maps, earth and the net.

sapporoguy

Thanks, Waddo. Your videos show some really lovely-looking rural roads, paved and narrow and remote without visible traffic. It’s a little hard to see how steep they are sometimes, but they seem ideal for cycling. Your images of abandoned schools make me almost teary-eyed. I went to a school like that in the 60’s in eastern Hokkaido, and those schools in towns around the island were full of life at the time.

waddo

Sapporoguy, It's hard to see the gradient of the roads on the vids, so let's just say reality is 10x worse than the video suggests! Of all the abandoned buildings we explore (all part of the trip research) I must say schools are the most impactful. Some of our trips also include closed schools that have opened as kind of museums. Generally I enjoy them more than the ruins. Tazawako has a really great one.

PedalingWalrus

I like the campsites you find. Good job on that.

waddo

There are three elements to a bike tour, route, sightseeing and wild camp site. They are all equal and I think none should be left to random chance; but really, a heavenly and safe campsite at the end of the day and for the slow morning just cannot be bettered. And I think a great video shot/photo of a tent in a fantastic setting is the most powerful statement of what great touring is all about.

Though I could be wrong!

djb

your videos over the years have shown that you really are good at scouting out great camping spots.
I think it is fair to say that you have way more patience doing this than I ever have--but then you have really great camping spots to show for it!

and yes, the scenes of the two of you in lovely, peaceful spots have always been a highlight of your vids, and I agree, these very much show this wonderful aspect of touring.
I've mentioned this to you before, but even though your videos are of a couple of people plonking along through a part of the world that I have never been to, or probably ever will go to, the balance of blah blah and the visuals, and the generally laid back take on the whole thing, have always made them fun to watch.
thanks again for doing them, even though they clearly are wonderful memories for the two of you, they are inspiring to watch.
They capture the wonder of exploring somewhere by bike and being out in nature.
cheers

PedalingWalrus

I was just today checking out tsushima island as I am about 3 weeks from going on a tour of South Korea and this island is only a couple of hours by ferry from Busan. :-)

waddo

Tsushima Island is fine, though nothing to write home about. Iki island is a bit nicer though so small I think 3 days would be the maximum time you could spend there with t bike.

gquirk77

I had been planning a long tour through Japan starting in Sapporo, then I saw some of those "walking tour of (any city)" videos on youtube, even as late as January everyone I see walking (outdoors too) is wearing masks, everyone. I can't handle wearing a mask again like that all the time, I'm fully vaxxed and have had Covid, definitely not an anti vaxxer, but masks outdoors still in 2023 is ridiculous.

I saw the same thing on videos from Korea and Taiwan.

pakeboi

Which area do you prefer cycling , Daisetsuzan or Shiretoko ?

waddo

Mask wearing: you do not need to wear a mask any more. so just come to Japan and enjoy yourself.

sapporoguy

OP here. We plan to start in Hakodate and around the coast and up to Wakkanai, down the east coat to Shiretoko. Then to Sapporo, perhaps via Taisetzuzan.

pakeboi

This is from the tour company Adventure Hokkaido :
https://www.adventure-hokkaido.com/b...eid=ead4c0410f

sapporoguy

Thanks! I was prepared to be skeptical—we tour independently. But I was drawn immediately by the photo of her favorite inn, in Nakashibetsu, a town where I went to kindergarten and 1st grade in the early ‘60s. This site looks really useful and makes us all the more convinced that Hokkaido is the place to tour this summer!

dgodave

I dont know why Japan isnt considered one of the great bike touring destinations, like France. Maybe the language is more of a challenge. Or the weather. I dunno. I found it very interesting and fun, and the riding itself was great.