During this segment we completed our quasi cycling loop in Hokkaido. We were blessed with good (reasonable) weather, road and traffic conditions. We were also pleasantly surprised by the type and quality of our accommodation which proved to be much better than we anticipated. After spending 3 weeks on the island of Hokkaido, we were eager to embark on our 20 hour ferry from Tomakomai (Hokkaido) to Oarai (Honshũ). The ferry departure and arrival times were clearly more convenient and better this time than those we had for our sailing towards Hokkaido. The weather gods were again kind to us for our last few cycling days in Japan as we benefited from a break in the scorching temperatures (36+C) experienced in Tokyo over the past few weeks. Upon on arrival in our accommodation near Tokyo’s Narita International airport, we were especially thankful to our tandem which carried us and our panniers over 2,700 kms from Seoul (South Korea) (~900 kms) to various parts of Japan (~1,800kms) – while experiencing only a single flat tire. Although we cycled roughly 1,300 fewer kms on this trip than our 2022 EuroVelo trip, we did considerably more sightseeing along the way this time.

2024.07.07 – [JP] Erimo ==> Urakawa (40 kms | Total: 2460 kms)

We had a great night sleep in our tatami room. We woke up to the sound of rain. We had a nice Japanese breakfast waiting for us in the dining room. We delayed our departure from the hotel to 10:00am as we did not have a long cycling distance to cover today. As we expected to cycle most of the day under the rain, we put on our shoe covers. To our delight, the rain had stopped when we left our hotel. The fog across the oceans and the mountains made for some nice scenery. The cycling along the highway shoulder was enjoyable as vehicle traffic was very light on Sunday. We passed through 7 much short length tunnels. We stopped 15kms before our target town for some snacks. We were very pleased when we realized that our hotel reception allowed us to check-in to our room at 1:30pm. It rained heavily in the late afternoon/evening. We borrowed umbrellas from the hotel to visit a nearby ramen restaurant for our dinner.

2024.07.08 – [JP] Urakawa ==> Shinhidaka (41 kms | Total: 2501 kms)

We checked out of our hotel close to 10am without eating any breakfast. We stopped at a convenience store a few kms further for some breakfast staples. The sky was covered with clouds but no rain and the temperature was comfortable at 21C. We noticed a a big increase in vehicle traffic, namely large trucks, on the road. The road shoulder was also missing or very narrow during some long stretches. Along the way, we stopped at a “michi no eki” (road station) for a washroom break and some ice cream. When we arrived in our destination town at 1:30pm, we hoped the hotel staff would allow us to check-in early as at yesterday’s hotel. We were lucky again. We relaxed in our room for the remainder of the afternoon. In the evening, although there were many restaurants closed on Monday we managed to enjoy our dinner at the first restaurant we visited. On our way back to the hotel, we purchased some water and beer.

2024.07.09 – [JP] Shinhidaka ==> Tomikawakita (39 kms | Total: 2540 kms)

We had a very relaxing and filling complimentary hotel breakfast – our first one since we left Obihiro – five days ago. We delayed our departure to 10:30am from the hotel to avoid arriving too early at today’s guesthouse accommodation. The road condition, both traffic and shoulder wise, were better than yesterday. We had a bit of light drizzle rain at times. We also encountered a few steep hills along the way but we were quite happy to walk them. We stopped at a convenience store some 6kms before our destination town where I had a latte and Jenny had a very good smoothie. We checked into our guesthouse at 2:30pm. When we reserved our accommodation, we had originally reserved dormitory beds as we thought they were the only choice. Thanks to Jenny’s inquiries we managed to upgrade our stay to a private tatami room. The price of our accommodation included both dinner and breakfast – an amazing value. We had been particularly concerned about the type of sleeping arrangement we would be facing in this 2nd last accommodation in Hokkaido. In the end, our experience was much better than expected. Our guesthouse dinner as a set meal was quite good.

2024.07.10 – [JP] Tomikawakita ==> Tomakomai (47 kms | Total: 2587 kms)

Our guesthouse served breakfast only between 6:00am and 7:00am hence we had to wake up earlier than usual. We again delayed our departure from our accommodation to 10:00am. We were surprised to see the sun after the several days of cloudy skies. Our cycling was mostly along flat roads with long strait stretches. Traffic was fairly light with the occasional stream of large transport trucks. Near town, we saw two deer below a bridge we crossed. They seemed very intrigued by our passage above them. Shortly after arriving in our destination town, we stopped at McDonald’s restaurant for lunch and good rest. We timed our arrival to our hotel with their strict 3:00pm check-in rule. We had initially reserved two single rooms but Jenny felt we could easily manage with only one room as the double bed was quite adequate for our one night stay. The reception desk promptly refunded us the difference. Jenny diligently did a large clothes wash using the hotel’s laundromat facility. In the evening, we visited a Japanese restaurant. By the end, the bill was more expensive than usual but the quality of the food was also much better than usual.

2024.07.11 – [JP] Tomakomai ==> MOL Sunflower Ferry (13 kms | Total: 2600 kms)

Today we planned on showing up at the ferry terminal building at around 4:30pm for our evening sailing to Oarai. Hence, we had to occupy several hours after checking out of our room. We enjoyed a relaxing hotel breakfast and later we checked out of our room at 10:00am. We spent 2 hours in the hotel’s breakfast room reviewing photos and relaxing. Later, we left our panniers at the hotel reception and cycled 5kms to a large shopping mall where we spent a few more hours browsing the stores and purchasing food staples for our dinner and breakfast on the ferry. We cycled back to the hotel and loaded the tandem for another 5kms ride to the ferry terminal building. The ferry check-in was quite efficient. I boarded the ferry with the tandem while Jenny boarded as a foot passenger. Our cabin room was smaller than our previous ferry but to our delight it had a full washroom including a shower. We briefly explored the ferry’s viewing decks for some photo opportunity. After our dinner in our room and a good shower, we fell asleep before 8:30pm – Jenny was even earlier. The gentle boat movement on the ocean – and possibly being without internet access during the sailing – seemed to induce sleep more easily.

2024.07.12 – [JP] MOL Sunflower Ferry ==> Oarai (12 kms | Total: 2612 kms)

Although we woke up a few times during the nights, we managed to have a good amount of sleep hours . We had breakfast in our room after which we stepped out to explore further the ferry’s facilities. Our phones occasionally connected to the internet while we relaxed in the public areas. We enjoyed an electronic keyboard performance by the musician. Although the ferry docked 45mins before our 2:00pm arrival, it took awhile for us to leave the ferry. We faced a light rain as we left the dock. We had to cycle 12kms to our hotel. We encountered heavy rain in the last few kms. We checked into our hotel shortly after 3:00pm. In the evening, we walked to a local chain restaurant we had tried in Sapporo.

2024.07.13 – [JP] Oarai ==> Kashima (62 kms | Total: 2674 kms)

We had a great breakfast in our hotel’s fanciful dinning room. We loaded the tandem and left our hotel at 9:15am for our last longest (and second last) cycling day in Japan. The temperature was hotter than in Hokkaido but still quite reasonable. We cycled for half of our journey on nice and quiet secondary roads. As for the later half of our route, the vehicle traffic forced us to ride on the sidewalk for most of the time. As we arrived near our destination town, we stopped at a DCM store (chain of hardware and DIY interior store) for some supplies to deal with our tandem packing in the next few days. In the evening, we had dinner at a nearby Italian chain restaurant.

2024.07.14 – [JP] Kashima ==> Narita (34 kms | Total: 2709 kms)

Yesterday when we checked into our hotel, we thought having a room on the ground floor was going to be convenient until we heard noise from the 6:00am breakfast crowd nearby. We showed up for breakfast at 8:15am and we were very surprised to see almost all the tables were occupied. We delayed our departure from the hotel to 10am. As we started cycling, a light rain mist was coming down. We cycled almost exclusively on sidewalks which were often covered in thick weeds. As sidewalks on one side of the road would frequently disappeared, hence we constantly had to switch sidewalks and move to the other side of the road. Along the way, we tried to capture images of some convenience store chain that proved to be invaluable to us during our stay in Japan. The stores were always a welcoming sight for us as a rest area while also offering us a reliable source of prepared food, water, ice cream and other snacks. We purchased a few snacks just before arriving to our hotel at 2:00pm. We got a bystander to take an official photo of our arrival at the hotel. Toyoko Inn, one of our favorite budget hotel chain, had two large buildings near the Narita International Airport. Their breakfast room was massive as it serviced both buildings. We look forward to seeing whether tomorrow’s breakfast is as chaotic as this morning. Jenny did another (hopefully last) clothes wash at the hotel’s laundromat. In the evening, we walked over to a Sukiya restaurant outlet for dinner. We visited this popular restaurant chain quite a bit for breakfast when we first arrived in Hokkaido. After dinner, we took the free airport shuttle bus from our hotel to attempt to locate a bicycle box at the airport. Sadly our initial inquiry to purchase a bicycle box proved to be fruitless.