Table of contents
- Travel report – motorcycling in Japan Around the Fuji-san
- Fuji-san rises in the distance
- Thick clouds follow the haze
- Raindrops turn into snowflakes
- More information about a motorcycle trip to Japan
Jorg Lohse
14th pictures
Jorg Lohse
1/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
2/14
Autumn mood at Lake Motosu: the sky is gray on gray, but we are cruising through a surging sea of colorful leaves.
Jorg Lohse
3/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
4/14
That can’t go well – a trip to Fuji without a home-made bike. The holy mountain prefers to be wrapped in clouds. It’s good that tourist Angela from Hong Kong can help us out with a copy for a souvenir photo.
Jorg Lohse
5/14
Fuji Express Line? Puff cake! From Mishima you can easily walk for an hour until you are in front of the mountain.
Jorg Lohse
6/14
Welcome refreshment: egg custard soup à la Nippon.
Jorg Lohse
7/14
The conciliatory finale: We never lose sight of majestic Fuji until sunset at Lake Yamanaka.
Jorg Lohse
8/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
9/14
Sought-after souvenir: the Fuji on a scale of 1: 6000. But how to give it up on the return flight without being exposed? You’d better swap Ritter Sport for rice cakes.
Jorg Lohse
10/14
What the two long noses do not suspect: that the heart emojis have long been posted all over the world.
Jorg Lohse
11/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
12/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
13/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
14/14
Motorcycling in Japan: Around Mount Fuji-san.
to travel
Travel report – motorcycling in Japan
Travel report – motorcycling in Japan
Around the Fuji-san
You build motorcycles without end, but can you actually ride a motorcycle properly in Japan? The wish was delicate and the goal a very high one. But who dares wins. Showdown in the shadow of mighty Fuji-san.
Jorg Lohse
07/06/2017
The question long before our trip to the motorcycle country of the world caused great irritation among our hosts: “You want something? Motorcycling? In Japan? Alone? On the street? ”- Yes, yes, yes and yes again. We can literally see over the phone how beads of sweat form on the forehead of Hisao Suganuma, an engineer at the tire manufacturer Bridgestone, 12,000 kilometers away. The boys mean business. Isn’t it enough that we have sent millions of motorcycles of all shapes and forms across the oceans over decades? That we deliver suitable tires “made in Japan”? That we even build helmets that are suitable for long noses? Do you now have to ride a motorcycle with us? Have to – no, but we want to! Experience Japan on two wheels.
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Fuji-san rises in the distance
Months later, the Shinkansen “Kodama 639” spits us out after a breakneck fast leg from Tokyo 120 kilometers further southwest in Mishima. From the high platform on this early autumn morning we look at a dreary business metropolis. Tightly built up, gray on gray, spanned by thousands of power lines. Beautiful is different. But on the horizon we can make out the huge outlines of our destination for the day. Because in the distance, Mount Fuji-san rises from the haze of Shizuoka Prefecture. The mountain of the mountains of Nippon, landmark, sanctuary, attraction for tourists, but also for locals. A Japanese proverb says that anyone who conquers the 3,776 meter high volcano is wise. If you do it twice, you’re a fool.
Thick clouds follow the haze
When we take over the bikes for the tour at Rental 819, we wonder if we even want to dare. The pilgrimage to Fuji, of all things with heavy metal from Harley-Davidson? Is that Hisao’s revenge for the beads of sweat we initially gave him? Anyway, we saddle up and lurch out of Mishima in start-stop mode. Green Wave? You don’t need that in Nippon. A traffic light every 200 meters, and each one is red. That too is motorcycling in Japan. And with every stop we lose sight of our target more and more. As soon as we have crossed the city limits, thick clouds follow the haze, followed by heavy showers. And finally, the unique panoramic view through the visor of Mount Fuji is gone.
Raindrops turn into snowflakes
No less impressive, however, is the golden-yellow forest tunnel through which we swing on the passage to the five lakes around Mount Fuji-san. The cherry blossom in spring is one, the other colorful highlight clearly autumn in Japan. We drive the Twins over the Subaru Line to the Gogome mountain station at 2,300 meters. The raindrops turn into snowflakes, the fingers into icicles, but the magical dome remains hidden from us up here. So let’s slide down the slippery cul-de-sac again. Even from what is probably the most famous perspective on Lake Motosu, which adorns the old 5,000 yen bills, we are looking against a gray wall. We want to turn away in frustration when we remember: Aren’t patience and humility also typical Japanese virtues? We let the twins trickle down on the bank, flit stones over the water and let thoughts fly. The wind picks up, the afternoon sun burns a hole through the clouds – and suddenly the snow dome is reflected in the water. Yes, 10,000 years, long live the Fuji-san – Banzai!
More information about a motorcycle trip to Japan
Empire, industrial nation, island nation … Japan cannot be reduced to one formula. It becomes even more diverse when you travel to certain regions by bike.
Generally:
Vacation in one of the most densely populated countries in the world? Why not! Japan can definitely score with an unbelievable variety of nature and culture. The number of islands alone is enormous. The East Asian state in the Pacific has over 6,800. The four main islands are best known: Hokkaido in the north, Shikodu and Kyushu in the south and the largest in terms of area: Honshu, also the cradle of Japanese culture (including the old imperial city of Kyoto). The seething hotspot is of course Tokyo, an unbelievable metropolis with a crazy mix of futuristic skyscrapers (Roppongi Hills), dizzying towers (mandatory: the 634 meter high Tokyo Skytree), but also impressive temples and parks around the Imperial Palace. Keyword: Japan is a parliamentary democracy, but also one of the last empires in the world. This is what you should keep in mind if you want to understand Japanese tradition. Eating and drinking can be very special, exquisite and expensive, but in the traditional beer houses it can be very down-to-earth and tasty.
Getting there:
Flights to Japan are extremely expensive, but if you book in advance, you can get the twelve-hour flight there and back even with well-known airlines (Lufthansa, ANA) for less than 800 euros. In the country itself, you should take the Shinkansen high-speed trains made by Kawasaki at least once. The tickets are not cheap, but definitely worth the 300 km / h ride.
Motorcycling:
You are much slower on the bike. You quickly got used to left-hand traffic, but in comparison to other Asian countries, the Japanese drive extremely defensively and cautiously. The German driver’s license must be translated before the trip (the international one does not apply), the cost is around 25 euros. Info: www.japan.diplo.de. Rental 819 is a motorcycle rental company with over 100 locations across the country, offering a wide range of products from the Yamaha jog scooter (approx. 30 euros / day) to the Suzuki Hayabusa (approx. 120 euros). Info: www.rental819.com. Worthwhile destinations: the Fuji region south or the Tama mountains north of Tokyo.
More information about Japan:
Capital: Tokyo
Area: 382,871 km²
Foundation: 660 BC Chr.
Currency: yen
Population: 127 million
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