Abu Mahendra

Like the title says. When should I set off from Tokyo so as to get the best climate (not hot, not cold). Thanks.

Trevtassie

I'd be thinking late September some time, early October. After the bulk of the typhoon season but before any early season snow and when it's cooler but not too cold... you will still likely get some rain and chance of a typhoon.

Otherwise next April heading north from Fukuoka.... we would have just been riding in to Kyoto from Kyushu this week had everything not gone all Covid-19 shaped.

Abu Mahendra

Hmmm... Doesn't sound every encouraging...

Trevtassie

I've been in Tokyo in June and July, it's hot and humid! Spring and Autumn are definitly the go. Autumn is more prone to typhoons, however. If you want to ride in summer, Hokkaido is a better bet, July and August is usually great riding weather there.

Abu Mahendra

I can fly to Japan no earlier than September 15.

waddo

For my taste october and november would be best. Night's will be cool but not cold. But I would not ride that route.You will spend lots of time on crowded polluted roads. If you stay along the coast it is worse. Plus ugly tetrapods everywhere. Going inland means you will be in the mountains and hard climbing but most nice. But again you will pass major urban areas and spends days on awful roads. Check my youtube channel (waddo) if you want to see some better options. Get a cheap bike bag so you can take a train to avoid biker hell. Plan your route carefully. Road numbers: single digits and major roads and to be avoided. 202, 302, 402, 502, for example will get increasingly empty, beautiful, though probably mountainous. So you can imagine what rout 1 is like.

Abu Mahendra

I see... What route would you recommend starting in the second half of September? Looking for chill ala South Korea and Taiwan touring. FWIW I'd be doing it on a folding Bike (like I did in the two places above). Hopping on trains could work well.

waddo

I cannot tell you that. It depends what you want. Japan has some special features that may or may not interest you, for example shinto shrines, temples, volcanic regions etc etc. Maybe you just want to ride on quite roads. I cannot tell you anything. All I can suggest again is check my youtube and i have an extensive collection of videos covering most areas usually including maps. Check other peoples vids also. Just be warned that japan has some of the ugliest scenery of any country. Destruction of nature is part of the politics/construction industry/brown envelopes culture. So plan your route carefully or you may be disappointed.

raybo

I don't know if any of the links provided will be of use to you, but this page has 6 links to sites with information about bike touring in Japan.

Most of the links are guides to touring in Japan or on particular islands.

Abu Mahendra

So I take it that there are no longer distance (500km) dedicated bike paths in Japan ala ROK? Also, in Taiwan and the ROK my total carry was less than 5kg which meant that I wasn't carrying food, cooking kit or tent. I like to travel light. On average I paid about $50 per night on accomodation. Food was more expensive in the ROK. Hard to have a meal for less than $5.
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What region of Japan can I do this - fast & light - over long distances?

Come on, sell me on Japan. Otherwise I might just look westwards to Turkey.

jurjan

We did Fukuoka to Tokyo from 25-05-2017 to 30-06-2017 (or 05-25-17 to 06-30-17 US style), mostly over the Length of Japan 'route'.

We used about four weeks to do about 2000 km (about 1200 miles).
And we took a week to visit family in Tokyo.

We were warned that it would be the start of the rainy season, but we were very lucky with only a few days with rain.

You can read (in Dutch, but with pictures) about our trip here: Japan-2017

Abu Mahendra

What sections should one avoid?

Trevtassie

Pretty well the entire coastal strip from Tokyo south. You could go inland from Tokyo through Nagano across to Kyoto then duck across to Shikoku, or head over to the west coast and down. Another option, head across to the Noto Peninsula, down past Lake Biwa, to Kyoto, zigzag to the Shimanami Kaido across to Shikoku then off the bottom of there to Kyushu
Have a look on Google Maps - Satellite view. Any areas that are grey are highly urban and not much fun to ride through.

jurjan

What to avoid, well, that depends on what you want, but generally speaking: the big cities are not pretty.
The Japanese do like their concrete.

We liked the Alps most.

What we found that the Length of Japan route is not really researched for optimal beauty and emphasizes ease of navigation a bit more than we liked.
site for the Length of Japan route: Length Of Japan
A few time when we strayed off route we found very pretty roads.

Abu Mahendra

I like what most of you probably like too. Chill roads, great scenery, history, culture. I don't have exotic or fringe tastes.

What's my next stop or direction after Tokyo? Nagano? Niko?

Oh yeah, is Japan on a that different gsm standard like the ROK and the US, meaning that I can't use my phone and have to get a local hot spot rig?

jurjan

Regarding the phone, that depends on where you are from and what phone you have.
This site can possibly help: https://willmyphonework.net/

We hired a SIM-card (as a foreigner it's difficult/impossible to buy one for normal GSM services, just for data) from a reputable company (there are a few of them), I don't remmeber by heart which one we used.
They deliverd to our first night accomodation, we installed it in the phone, used it for the time we where there (I think we topped it up once) and on our last day we returned it in the provided return envelope).

From Tokyo your first destination would be Niko, then Nagano (if you decide to go inland and more or less follow the Length of Japan route)

Abu Mahendra

My question is what should be my first destination out of Tokyo, keeping in mind what I like? Forget the Length of Japan.

Trevtassie

Incidentally you don't have to start in Tokyo unless you really want to. Both ANA and JAL do cheap domestic tourist fares for around 12,000Yen anywhere in Japan. Like https://www.ana.co.jp/en/au/promotio...experience_jp/
https://www.jal.co.jp/world/en/world...lorer_pass/lp/

If you want to start in Tokyo I'd get a train to the outskirts then head out. You could even grab a bullet train to Nagano and start there, head to Itoigawa. The road south from there is a bit average but when you get to the outskirts of Toyama there is a cycle route marked with blue paint right through to the start of the Noto Pennisula. Noto has some really nice riding and great old school villages. South of there it's OK, but a bit boring until you hit the 305 along the coast, which is beautiful. You then decide whether to go to Tottori along the coast then cut across to Shikoku, or visit Lake Biwa and Kyoto and then across to Shikoku.

Best bet is to hire a wifi hotspot. If you are staying for more than 30 days then Genki Mobile is best value I've found, there are cheaper ones, but Genki runs on the DoCoMo network that covers even very rural areas, Some of the others only cover the urban areas. .
In answer to your other question there are no long distance cycle paths, no good online maps of where cycle ways are. You'll find the occasional 30km one here or there. Mapple make some map books for motorcyclists, but only in Japanese. Cyclepaths are a green dotted line, quite hard to see.
You could do credit card touring in some parts of Japan with a bit of organisation, but it will get difficult in rural Areas. You'll need to organise in advance. We've literally turned up at hotels and they've said "fully booked", then sat outside and booked online at the same place. A lot of the Ryokans and Minshukus won't speak english and don't have websites, so booking ahead if you don't speak Japanese would be hard, unless you have a friend to call for you. We always take camping gear and camp a lot.

Abu Mahendra

Another option is to land on Okinawa first, and then travel northwards till I meet the winter cold. What do you think of that?

Trevtassie

There isn't a super lot of riding on the islands north of Okinawa. and the ferries are a bit random so you'd lose some days waiting and travelling, but still interesting, they don't get as many tourists. Amami has a bit of riding and a daily ferry, but the times are weird from memory.
You could head to Kagoshima and start down at Sata Misaki, the southern most point of the mainland.