Adventure biking in Japan requires special considerations

Adventure biking in Japan leaves its participants with unforgettable breath-taking experiences. Adventure biking across a country, affords its participants a unique perspective unobtainable through a car or train window.  There are many ways to experience Japan by bike, all of which come down to what your desires are. Take the time to create your own unique adventure. Include in it, all your dream locations and activities. After you create your adventure plans, follow these basic guidelines and be aware of some of the different conditions bikers face in Japan . This will make your adventure more a more enjoyable and safer one. Below is a basic guide to biking in Japan .

 Who can ride?

Just about anyone, young or old, in-shape /not in such good shape can create amazing bike adventures. In fact, it's very common and interesting to see a large number of elderly Japanese citizens biking from place to place, day or night, country or city, everyday. If an 80 year old Japanese woman can bike her way around town, so should most any else who has the desire. Your adventure starts the minute you picture yourself on a bike surrounded by 360 degrees of fantastic scenery.

Why does biking in Japan require special considerations?

Japan is a unique mountain country with thousands of miles of small windy country roads in-between and sometimes parallel to massive, busy, wide highways. During a day of biking it is easy to move in an out of both of these types of roads. In addition, Japanese bridges and roads are unique, tunnels can be dangerous, and bike paths can be confusing. Furthermore, the Japanese drive on the left side of the road. If you forget this, a surprising blast, from the horn of an angry motorist, may remind you of it if you're lucky! Stay on the left side of the road!

Language Barrier

Finding yourself in a country whose native language is not your own creates challenges. To compensate, you may decide to take a basic crash course in Japanese or just "wing it"! The great news is, most road signs are in both English and Japanese or contain easy to understand pictures. In addition, many Japanese can speak English. However, in rural areas this is less likely to be true, so you may need to mime-communicate.  

The Road

Once again, the Japanese drive on the left side of the road. When you're from the United States it becomes programmed in and second nature to cross the street with cars driving on the right side of the road. It's easy to forget, causing you to look in the wrong direction, and begin to cross, when it's really not safe!

Bridges

If you are traveling from Kyushu to Honshu (two of Japan 's major Islands ) it is illegal to cross the Konmonkyo suspension bridge (one of the world's largest suspension bridges), by bicycle. In order to cross, the Japanese have set up a free service which involves loading the bicycles on trucks and the cyclists on busses. Up-to-date pick-up and drop-off locations and times can be obtained in the offices at the entrances of the suspension bridge.

Many bridges located in urban areas contain special walkways and bike paths. Some modern new bridges that do not allow for bikers/walkers to cross often have their smaller, older historic sister bridges, running parallel, in such places walkers and bikers are welcome to cross.

Tunnels

Japan has some very large and busy tunnels. Some tunnels do not allow walkers and bikers; look for pictorial signs posted at the entrances that indicate such allowances.  Many tunnels are very long, very loud and very dangerous. If you intend to go through, stay focused, maintain a balanced purposeful path as far left as possible, and turn your light on! Some tunnels have concrete barriers or metal posts jutting out of the middle of the road, meant to keep drivers in-line, a safety feature which is meant to prevent head-on collisions. But, for bikers, these barriers are very dangerous; it means that a trucker cannot afford you a little extra room by moving into the median even if it is safe to do so. It's sad to say but, trucks and larger vehicles often pass bikers within inches of each other!

Steep Hills

Japan is a mountainous island nation; steep hills are the rule in the rural areas.  Make sure your tires and breaks are in good shape and bring an extra inner tube. In some areas the roads are so steep you may need to stop frequently to rest and rehydrate. If mountain biking sounds to strenuous, limit your trip to the cities where the terrain is flat and the ride is easy. If you do like mountain biking, the sites of Mt. Fuji , the volcanoes in Hakone National Park and thousands of other incredible places are open to you.

The Ocean

Japanese ocean views are eye opening. Mountains jut out of the ocean, forming picturesque scenes of steep rocky hills engulfed in the vast ocean.  The Pacific Ocean, (at times rough), surrounds Japan to the east while the calmer Sea of Japan encompasses Japan 's western coastline.  Bike paths are common along much of the Japanese coastline allowing bikers access to these incredible sites. Japan 's elongated shape makes for enormous coastlines.  Luckily, no matter where you are in Japan , you are never far from ocean.

Japan 's climate/weather

Japan is an mountainous island nation. The mountains in combination with the seasons create many localized climates. Japan on the whole however, is a very rainy country with a few small local dry areas, making the exception. Bring raingear on your trip and expect to get rained on. At night, the temperatures may drop 20 degrees or more; take warm clothing if you plan to stay out late.

Enjoy your trip!