Journal Archive
41 entries, 51 prefectures, one long road. 旅の記録
It'll Work Out
Leaving London for Japan at last! With four years of uni behind me and a mix of sadness and excitement, I got on the plane. No idea what's coming, but it'll work out.
Plenty of People Stood There Staring
The 12-hour flight was longer than I'd ever imagined. Then at Haneda I had 20 minutes to haul all my luggage between terminals, making the train by seconds while people stared in disbelief.
It'd Be Embarrassing to Give Up on Day One After Coming All This Way
I landed in Fukuoka and finally set off on a bike loaded with far too much luggage. After visiting three temples in Sasaguri and riding through fireflies, I spent my first night at a free campsite beside a waterfall.
Japanese People Really Are Kind
I rode 64 km from the campsite to Kitakyushu through rain and humidity. Comparing it with my Scotland tour three years ago, it was a day of noticing just how many convenience stores there are and how kind people in Japan can be.
Kitakyushu Is So Beautiful, Why Would You Need to Go Abroad?
The morning began with radio exercises alongside a group of elderly locals, then it was past the Kanmon Bridge and on into Yamaguchi. A hot 93 km day that ended with an old lady waving me off down a 200-year-old road.
I Could Buy Five Onigiri for That
Sore legs, a headache, and heavy rain all day meant I only managed 55 km. Even so, I stopped at Mangan-ji and Hōfu Tenmangū in Hōfu, and embarrassed myself with a slip of the tongue at a convenience store.
Is That an Island up in the Sea of Japan?
With nowhere to stay along the way, I rode the full 95 km from Shūnan to Hiroshima. A day of kindness at a bike shop, a chat with a schoolboy, and being chased by deer at Itsukushima Shrine.
This time it hit me suddenly
A rest day in Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb Dome hit me hard, and I was drawn to the strange darkness and liveliness of the city at night. After five days in the countryside, a big city was quite a shock.
I Ended Up Sleeping for 11 Hours
Seventy kilometres of nothing but mountain roads. I didn't make it to Onomichi, but the rice fields lifted my spirits, and I pitched my tent at eight and slept like a log.
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