Our journey across Japan lasted for 175 days and took us from Abashiri in northern Hokkaido to the very south of Okinawa. We visited each of the four main islands – Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and included a few additional islands (Amakusa, Yakushima and Okinawa) in our journey.
The first four months we marched or took trains and busses for longer distances. Afterwards we suddenly cought the cycling bug and bought two bikes in Hiroshima which we rode for the last two months. All over Japan we experienced an incredible hospitality and were amazed by the many open and straight encounters.
We will miss and remember Japan and its people for a long time to come. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone whom we met, who walked with us or accompanied us any way and wish them all the best for their future endevours. A very special thanks goes to Aki, Eiji, Yasuko & Yoshi and Kaoru & Fumiko and we hope to see you all again, whether in Europe or in Japan!

どぅもありがとうございます！

Travelling all over Japan for 6 months and missing Fuji-san?
Impossible we thought, especially as we were staying for a full week in Tokyo. Therefore we visited the Fuji Five Lakes area on a day trip. The view of Fuji-san from Chureito pagoda was spectacular, and even got better as we reached lake Kawaguchiko.

We finally left the summer-temperatures in Okinawa and flew back north to the Tokyo autumn, the last destination of our 6-month journey. Against our concerns, we found Tokyo surprisingly serene. Beeing so vast we were only able to visit a mere fraction of all interesting places. Besides shopping in Shibuya, Shinjuku and Akihabara we were wandering around and enjoying the city’s offerings.  From the top of the Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Sky Tree we enjoyed the stunning skyline. Noticably the view wasn’t “blocked” by mountains since 6 months! The highlight of the week was the visit of the Tsukiji Fish market. Altough we didn’t get out at 3 o’clock to see the Tuna auction at 5, the visit of the market was awesome and the Maguro Sashimi very tasty.

The passage to Okinawa Hontō from Kagoshima took 26 hours by ferry. Arriving in Naha, a tropical rain got us completely soaked. The next morning the clouds were gone and we felt like the summer was back. In Onna we relaxed at the beach and visited the Shuri castle where we learned about the Ryūkyū Kingdom.

After some back and forth we decided to visit the Yakushima island. After Tokyo this was one of the most recommended places. The preparations for the passage however were cumbersome. The bikes needed to be wrapped up so that we could take them along the Hydrofoil Ferry. Prepared with large rubbish bags and ducttape we went to work and after 20 minutes the bikes were packed.
The circular island is one of the most rain-laden places of whole Japan. This proved to be true during our visit. However this was not preventing us to see the UNESCO world-heritage rain-forest with the famous Yaku-sugi (over 1000 year old cedars).