Journal Archive
41 entries, 51 prefectures, one long road. 旅の記録
Whatever Happens, There's No Way I'm Giving Up
1,414 km in twenty-five days. I rode from Nagaoka to Niigata in heavy rain and fixed the bike yet again. It was a tough day with no room to think, but I completed my mini tour from Kanazawa to Niigata.
Why Is Everyone in Niigata So Young?!
On a Niigata night I stumbled on a bustling market, felt everyone's eyes on me, and wanted to escape. I showed my parents the lights of Hakusan Park and did what I always do in cities: biking and vibing with music on.
Just Someone Who Likes Hot Mocha
Day two of my rest in Niigata. I came back to life in an onsen, read for hours in Starbucks, and wrote my blog in a convenience store. I did nothing, yet it may have been the most important day so far. Today I was kind to myself.
So I'm a Writer, Then
In Niigata I went to an embroidery exhibition and got told off for trying to take a photo. My interview was postponed at the last minute, but I lost six hours to manga. I also wrote about streetlights and the moon, and included a poem.
Here Is Fine. This World Is Good Enough
Fifty-five kilometres along the coast from Niigata to Murakami. A 75-year-old cyclist amazed me, Tei-san and her husband showed me around Murakami and prayed with me, and then came a seaside sunset and hundreds of beetles. My most interesting day in Japan so far.
There Really Are Mountains Everywhere
Eighty-nine kilometres from Murakami to Tsuruoka, and into Yamagata at last. Four guys at an onsen were amazed by my tour, and that night the police questioned me at my tent, though we ended up chatting about anime and cooking.
The Chance of Not Doing It Was Zero
Ninety kilometres from Tsuruoka to Yurihonjō, ridden as an experiment in intervals. I saw the kasafuku hangings at Sannō Club in Sakata and finished by ploughing through a swarm of insects. With an "it'll work out" mindset, any difficulty can be solved.
Even If I Met the Buddha and We Shared an Oyakodon
Forty yawning kilometres to Akita. I met Tsukuneru-san, who's cycling around all of Japan, and thought about different ways of touring. I also wrote about why I blog instead of making videos, and how I started Japanese and a diary during Covid.
How Lucky to Be Born Into Such a Wonderful World
Hokusai Manga blew me away at the Akita Museum of Art, and from the observation deck at Kubota Castle I looked out and thought about how vast the world is. I finished with a deeply satisfying Hinai chicken oyakodon.
Entries 28 - 36 of 41