Table of contents

• Motorcycle tour Japan Fuji gone
• “Mountain where are you?”
• Fuji can only be seen on the info card
• Brightly colored and crisp
• With the BMW through the metropolis of Tokyo
• Local tour guides are unfortunately no weather gods
• Mountains and forests are sacred to many Japanese
• New travel destination turns out to be spot on
• A return is planned
• Info

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Failing on an 8000 is no shame. But not to pack Mount Fuji, which is barely half as high in Japan? That is weak.

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Close to the mystical Aokigahara forest, we stalk with travel enduro bikes over hidden gravel paths through a fairytale-like nature.

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In the land of the rising sun, people like things colorful. In Tokyo’s bustling Akihabara district, it is brightly colored and cracking.

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ockmittel: Very young promotion girls in flashy manga comic outfits advertise on the electronics shopping mile with discount campaigns. Obviously with success.

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Take a look, there to the left of the lake, there is – or better said: if – you can see Mount Fuji. But “would, would if” is of little use in this case, so keep going!

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Bad for people with back problems: no bed, only roll-up mats in the onsen hotel. But paper walls and funny yukata bathing robes are part of the basic equipment.

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Rural: Small roads lead through rice fields. In the Japanese prefecture of Nagano, things are pleasantly leisurely.

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Attention, left-hand traffic! A comfortable country road pace of 80 to 100 is recommended to get a lot of the charming surroundings.

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The colleagues Tsutomu (left) and Eiji know the best motorcycle regions in their home country and give everything as tour guides – but they are not weather gods.

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Mountains and forests are sacred to many Japanese – in Shinto mythology, these are considered to be the home of deities.

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Capital: Tokyo, area: 377 835 km2, foundation: 660 BC Chr., Currency: yen, population: 127 million.

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Travel time: 8 days, traveled distance: 1200 kilometers.

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At this point, ladies and gentlemen, you can enjoy a unique panoramic view of Mount Fuji. Millions of tourists do that – not me, aargh!

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to travel

Motorcycle tour Japan

Motorcycle tour Japan
Fuji gone

Failing on an 8000 is no shame. But not to pack Mount Fuji, which is barely half as high in Japan? That is weak. Especially since it’s not about mountaineering, just a leisurely motorcycle tour around this one.

Thorsten Dentges

11/21/2013

Collecting is my passion. I collect almost manically. No postage stamps, coins, bottle caps or similar nonsense. This is for a full spinner, I’m just a half spinner. No, I collect seas, valleys, cities, entire countries, islands, rivers and mountains. It usually starts on the globe or map: the finger wanders over it, then starts to tremble slightly, then digs more and more firmly into the desired object – after all, it happened to me, I have to go there, it doesn’t cost anything it wants.

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Fuji gone

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“Mountain where are you?”

Others call it “traveling”. Because of me. But it’s not always great: in Colombia, gun at the ready, unfortunately in front of my nose, in Canada with the front wheel just stopped in front of a mother bear and her flock of children, lost in the jungle on Borneo. No matter, the main thing, in the end, I can drive a pin into my personal hobby world conquest map: Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Machu Picchu, Vatican and so on.

And just as I really wanted to marvel at the stupid cliff divers of Acapulco once in my life – which, by the way, I could hardly make out because of the rain, and my passport was unusable afterwards – I am now in the middle of Japan. And scream: I FINALLY WANT TO SEE THIS CLICKED FUJI !!! Mountain where are you I didn’t travel halfway around the world for you to hide from me. Please don’t do this to me. Coward. Come out there behind your cloud curtain, show yourself, you pig!

Fuji can only be seen on the info card

Mount Fuji, also known as Fudschijama or Fuji-san, is the highest mountain in Japan at exactly 3,776 meters and 24 centimeters, is located in the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka, around 100 kilometers southwest of the capital Tokyo. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and has been considered a sacred mountain for centuries. This chunk of earth and stone with the beautiful snow cap looks like drawn with a set square, it is rightly one of the most beautiful volcanic cones in the world. In summer, thousands of tourists are drawn to the summit, some with slippers and sneakers, in short: no particular challenge for adventurers. But I didn’t care, I just wanted to see the part, just like millions of other vacationers, and thought to myself, a nice trip around the motorcycle would be just the thing.

Eiji and Tsutomu, two fellow Japanese journalists, promised in advance that they would provide suitable mopeds and routes. The rental machine that Eiji made clear is a BMW F 800 GS with halfway coarse studded tires. The plan is to circumnavigate Mount Fuji partly on off-road tracks. The tires can really do a lot, grip well on asphalt and have everything under control on loose ground. But clouds, damned clouds, cannot drive them away either. At the moment, these block the unobstructed view of the mountain like insurmountable castle gates. So we stand at this nice lake with an information display and a panorama map, Mount Fuji is shown.

I have the Japanese text with facts about the mountain translated, but in my head it only says: “That would have been your price! Unfortunately, you only pulled the Zonk. ”It is summer, and in Japan it is often blessed with high humidity. Such a weather situation is called a “laundry room”. Now also rain, so demolition, back to Tokyo. Daily balance: drove a good 250 kilometers, nothing mountain, grrr.

In the evening we meet with Mister Ken Nemoto, a dignified gray racing driver who was involved in the Grand Prix circus in the 1960s and 1970s and still folds the asphalt and sometimes his opponents at youngtimer competitions. We meet in a teppanyaki restaurant, where the cook prepares the dishes at the table. When I describe my Fuji dilemma to him, the old man looks at me wisely like a karate kids martial arts teacher, smiles mildly and says: “But you rode a motorcycle, didn’t you?” Well, he’s right. Blocked mountain, but seen and experienced delicious country roads and gravel paths. I didn’t count the corners, but it quickly becomes obvious that Japan is a great motorcycle country as soon as mountains open up.

Dentges

Attention, left-hand traffic! A comfortable country road pace of 80 to 100 is advisable in order to get a lot of the charming surroundings.

On the plate in front of me the eye of a raw fish is staring at me, next to it a nubby leg, wrapped in algae, of something from unfathomable depths of the sea. Do you always have to experience and try everything out? I take a long sip of Asahi beer – drink courage.

The next day. My dear friend Susanne, who ended up in Tokyo 15 years ago and who is now married to a financial juggler, lives on the 26th floor of one of these skyscrapers in the center of the mega-metropolis. She says on the phone: “The Fuji? Can see from my living room window. ”That sounds good, so I get on the motorcycle. In the dense city traffic of Tokyo, the easy handling of the machine helps, full concentration is required. First, the term “multi-lane road” is given a new meaning here: “countless lane” would fit better. Second, I don’t understand a single traffic sign because of cryptic characters. Oh yes, and left-hand traffic makes things even more difficult.

Brightly colored and crisp

Dentges

Attractant: Very young promotion girls in flashy manga comic outfits advertise on the electronics shopping mile with discount campaigns. Obviously with success.

Because my memory card is broken, but the promised photo session with the Fuji is about to begin, I make a detour via the Akihabara electronics mile, which is paved with neon advertising the size of a tennis court. I park the machine next to a pedestrian light; When it turned green, it felt like half a million people were rolling towards me like a tsunami wave. How crowded it is here! Passers-by jostle on the sidewalks, promo girls in crazy disguise handing out discount vouchers from individual shops. Men take the flyers from the pretty girls with marginally short skirts and thank the four times as young things with deep bows for the small advertising gift. Strange, this people!

Women in splendid kimonos stand next to extremely elegant business people and young people who, with their brightly colored hair and tons of make-up on their faces, seem to have come from a manga comic. In general: Ancient traditions and over-engineered, modern life seem to harmonize well with one another in Japan. Exciting. When I get back on my motorcycle after my shopping, people smile at me. It’s a sincere smile. 

With the BMW through the metropolis of Tokyo

I chug my BMW through deep high-rise canyons over wide road bridges through Tokyo City, which has a population of more than nine million. A good 40 million Japanese live in the metropolitan region. Crazy, you drive on several storeys high routes almost through the living room of the residents. Below such city highways, through which the traffic flows as if through thick veins, narrow alleys become a labyrinth that is only penetrable for those familiar with the area.

I somehow make it to Susanne’s residential tower and park the BMW in front of the lobby of the Glass Palace. After a warm welcome, I’m only fixated on one thing: Mount Fuji. Where is the vaunted view? I pull out the camera. “Sorry,” says Susanne, “a little while ago clouds came up again.” She shows me pictures taken from the sofa on her iPad. Fuji is indeed easy to see, nice, but I want to see it for real. Live and in color! Can’t be that difficult, damn it. After a green tea I postpone our meeting and call Eiji and Tsutomu to see if they are ready to go.

Local tour guides are unfortunately no weather gods

Dentges

Take a look, there to the left of the lake, there is – or better said: if – you can see Mount Fuji. But “would, would if” is of little use in this case, so keep going!

Finally out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Tokyo is not a Moloch, despite millions and millions of people, everything looks very sorted. Even in the provinces. There, well-kept Toyotas, Hondas or Daihatsus park in front of garages and artfully landscaped front gardens. Small snack bars, supermarkets and petrol stations line the country roads, on which we hike according to regulations at 80 to 100 km / h at touring intervals. Everything looks like it does at home, like in the Sauerland, Black Forest or Harz Mountains. In fact. Because the houses have strange roof shapes. And the vegetation is subtropical in some places. Besides, no chapels or churches, but strange prayer shrines. No potato fields, but rice fields. So everything is different.

Tsutomu stops his motorcycle in front of the entrance to a military cemetery. He points to the top left. I pause, what does he want? “Fuji-san”, he explains, “very close!” So ​​theoretically the best view of the mountain, but practically zero visibility because of low-hanging thunderclouds. It’s no use here, we drive on and turn off a mini-road onto an off-road path that climbs slightly. Eiji explains that on this path we will approach Mount Fuji from the other side, where there is perhaps a clear view. I rush after the two of them, gravel and stones whirl up, we stand at rest, dense,
lush green of bushes and trees surrounds us. Three quarters of an hour later we stop at another lookout point.

Mountains and forests are sacred to many Japanese

Dentges

Close to the mystical Aokigahara forest, we stalk with travel enduro bikes over hidden gravel paths through a fairytale-like nature.

The legendary Aokigahara forest is very close. Since the success of a novel over 50 years ago, this has become famous in Japan as the suicide forest, because in the book an unhappy lover chooses to commit suicide under Mount Fuji. Since then, up to 100 corpses of imitative wearies of life have been recovered in this inaccessible area during special searches. A scary place. My Japanese friends look very unhappy and desperate, the mission has failed again – no Fuji, only fog to see.

To do this, you have to understand the Japanese, even if that is probably even more difficult than conquering the summit of the volcano with a Gold Wing. Eiji and Tsutomu seem to have made it their business to grant their German colleague his wish, and the term “failure” does not seem to exist in Japanese. Even my encouragement and some “take it easy” do not help. You keep apologizing, avoiding direct eye contact. Oh man, they are even more stubborn with their willingness to help than I am with my travel destinations. I just hope that hara-kiri is out in this beautiful, albeit strange, country by now.

New travel destination turns out to be spot on

To cheer up my colleagues again, I rave about the excellent motorcycle routes they have taken me to so far. Oh, they explain modestly, there are much better ones, on the island of Hokkaido, for example, in the far north, or in the west in the ski areas around Nagano: great enduro routes, the smallest mountain roads, thousands of hairpin bends, old Japanese culture, nice hotels with natural hot springs called onsen. In addition, the BMW GS Trophy for Japan is currently taking place there, explains Eiji, and that he is on good terms with the organizers. Well, that sounds like a plan. Fuji, you can get me now, I’ll get you later!

The new travel destination is spot on. In fact, I haven’t been served such good route delicacies in a long time. We are allowed to ride on the route of the GS Trophy, meet nice boxer pilots from all regions of Japan, surf epic forest paths through an Alpine-Asian fairytale world, roam remote settlements with a few mountain farmers, enjoy nature and get drunk on an overdose of serpentines . In the evening in the onsen I stretch out my tired limbs in the volcanic spring water, later we sit on tables just a few centimeters high on bast mats and eat sticky rice, miso soup and again strange things from the sea, which I now pounce on with an appetite.

A return is planned

Everyone in the hotel is wearing kimonos or yukatas, traditional bath robes. The employees roll out futon mats in the evening, and the paper-walled rooms are pleasantly air-conditioned. I sleep soundly and finally no longer dream of mean mountains hiding from me.

Online weather reports and webcams indicate that a tour to Mount Fuji would not make much sense the next day either, so we’d better stay in Nagano Prefecture and drive, drive and drive through a true motorcycle paradise. There is little time left, the return flight will be soon. So still to the mountain, one last try? Oh nonsense, I just enjoy the rest of the time in Japan, cruise leisurely back to Tokyo, let myself in on the country and its people. Plus: I have a good reason to come back. I definitely will. The Japanese are said to have enormous patience and perseverance. But me too, dear Fuji. The pin is in the box, just waiting to be pinned to the right place on my world map at some point.

Info

The outward journey is long, but it’s worth it. Because Japan offers motorcycle visitors a good selection of short destinations such as Mount Fuji or the mountains around Nagano.

General: Flights to Tokyo cost from 650 euros, direct flights (11 hours) from Frankfurt a. M. from 850 euros. German citizens only need a passport (max. 90 days stay). Information on radiation exposure from the destroyed nuclear power plant in Fukushima at www.auswaertiges-amt.de. May is considered the best time to travel.

Motorcycle tours: 250/400 can be rented from around 50 euros, larger touring bikes from around 120 euros per day (e.g. at www.japanbikerentals.com). Filling station density and fuel prices similar to those in Germany. Warning: left-hand traffic! Tip: The MOTORRAD action team is offering an organized 13-day tour at the end of September 2014, information on this at www.actionteam.de.

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Travel time: 8 days, kilometers driven: 1200 kilometers.

Accommodation / Culinary: Accommodation in Tokyo is expensive, middle-class hotels usually cost more than 100 euros, simple accommodations and hostels can be found from 40 euros. The prices for traditional inns (some with onsen baths) in the province are between 70 and 150 euros. Eating can be expensive, but doesn’t have to be expensive: lunch for 10 euros, noodle or miso soups for less than 5 euros. Multi-course dinners (teppanyaki or sushi) in upscale restaurants can easily cost over 100 euros per person. Many restaurateurs promise to only use non-contaminated, controlled seafood and fish from non-Japanese waters – however, this information can hardly be checked as a guest.

MOTORCYCLE heroes: Club members can ask the author questions at www.motorrad-helden.de and receive more information and pictures.

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