300km cycling ride through the Kansai region of Japan. Starting in Kyoto and riding to Wakayama & back through Osaka, a journey over 2 full-days of riding.
A trek through prefectures, terrains, and urban/rural contrasts.
Main cities: Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Osaka
Here is a similar route for comparison: https://www.strava.com/routes/2875743343872159662
All right here I am about to take off to uh to the coast here at a n station this incredible five story pagota iconic and Kyoto post up the bike here all break Sunday morning it’s nice and quiet here can’t get going on the bike path
How to stop by this iconic site though try and get another angle here here from the other side we got the moon in the back there there setting Moon the Rising Sun we’re coming up on the main entrance here at the mountains of coyota here got the sun
Rising making my way to the bike path here through the ancient capital of of N Pawn where you can see the uh the low Ling clouds there all the humidity in the distance bike posted up that’s some brown rice tea with Macho to power me through the
Morning it’s about 7 uh no it’s about 6 6:30 making my way to Nara I get down on the main bike path just going through the uh City here so I’ll uh oh I catch my breath here enjoy some views and make my way towards the Trail Ice seeing that mountain back
There actually hiked that one just a week ago made it to the main B bike path in Kyoto got a nice Shrine here on the left the mountains on the right so this is 180 kilm bike path we going to see how smooth it is how uh how well
Connected it’s a little tight when people are passing but it’s all good just certain spots swarming there for this is super Lun here just love how overgrown it is here Kyoto it’s all over the city like this just got Lush landscape got the mountains blue skies green
Ground just nice brething and fresh air on here making my way about 20 miles in surrounded by Farms we got farms and rice patties got some uh possibly I think some green tea growing as well not 100% sure on that but looks like tea to
Me so we got a lot of mountains and bridges trains everything you think of when you think of Japan people working in the fields here Sunday morning it’s about 8:00 Trail’s picking up a little bit it’s not busy right now but they’re having groups of people some sport cyclist probably going 25 miles
Hour I’m cruising at about 10 to 15 right now it’s my Pace here we got our rice Patty there a bunch of them here Trails super smooth a couple spots are bumpy but right now it’s it’s nice and smooth this bike P cruising right along the river my little pit stop got some
Waters got a little like Aquarius it’s like a Japanese Cade it’s pretty tasty let’s see right back here we got it looks like tea tea growing with these nets gu it’s just a sun sun protection get too hot oh but this rice there’s something about it just smells smells like raw rice it’s
Got a nice pleasant Aroma to it maybe there’s a lot of different smells going on out here but it smells nice nice and fresh got just so much Greenery here get a little selfie cam going here got the floppy hat it’s it’s warming up here all right so I found a
Huge bamboo patch here it’s impressively tall goes back pretty deep pretty long here path’s getting a little bit more rustic let’s take a quick look here got a wow this is this is sturdy got some cut bamboo here looks like it’s drying out probably come collect it sure someone’s that looks
Pretty intentional to me all right got to keep going here super chill here in Japan we got the fish even the fish are pretty Zen here there’s a lot of them we got this artificial Island here with a big moat around it I believe it’s a uh it’s a
Mum and it’s shaped uh the island is shaped like a skeleton key from bird ey View and and when I’ve looked him up before in Japan that usually means that it’s a molum so I’m not going to try and get on there it’s probably uh probably bad luck if I
Uh if I go get on Island so I’m going pass on that leave it to the fish here all right get going look like we got another Pond up here guessing a lot of these rice patties feed into this Pond here all the water run off very Majestic Temple
Here having a quick look at the map here we got rice patties looking healthy starting to get a little winded here just the mountains don’t end can really see them well in the distance all right about to head down this hill take a left here at this section and then head down this
Road I love going through the side side streets it’s uh it’s always so calm not too much traffic this path is not the right way I I don’t know where this one goes but got to stay on course here they cut through this little town making my way south of Nara here
It’s about 1130 Sun’s heating up some clouds are showing up but it’s also heating up at the same time so just trying to stay hydrated all right so we’ve got a detour here have to go around it’s the second time that this has happened they closed up The Path on
Me uh so I’m have to go go follow this route around connect back on it’s not all though all bad though it’s uh back on the trail it’s pretty well laid out there’s a lot of markers lot of these blue blue paint marks on the side show that this is the uh right
Road so making my way the mountains just don’t quit and the rice patties just keep going nice AR here paint painted into the uh the railing it’s about noon now close to about 50 miles in I really want to I really want to hike this mountain not today
Though today we got the road straight ahead right now lot of farms out here like I said earlier here’s a bunch of green houses looks like this one’s empty they’ve already harvested something I’ll watch out this Po’s all bent it’s like someone J okay Straight Ahead here for incredible scenes here I’m going
Straight straight ahead not sure what what lies ahead with the path uh how how I’m going to get through these mountains it uh remains to be seen get have figured that out hopefully there’s a hopefully there’s a mountain pass that uh don’t have to hit too many big Hills
Here getting a little winded but still got plenty of energy got Japan at seven it’s a 70% mountains and there’s just no avoiding it there’s every direction got a rare honk over there don’t hear Too Many honks from uh Japanese drivers guess in the uh smaller
Towns just how you got to do it sometimes got a couple of new tow houses here and a couple of old tow houses oh there a notori off in the distance it’s like a Japanese furniture store getting closer and closer but this past getting a little bumpy so it’s hard to Coast is
Just houses built up all along that mountain side for for that in for for we and climbing climbing up a steep steep grade here got some uh panoramic uh valleys here sounds like someone is shooting not sure exactly what they’re shooting I can definitely hear it the Steep
De I don’t know what that is that one was a lot louder got a steep decline here starting to head uh down the mountain there’s someone shooting some sort of gun a couple minutes here other than that it’s just nature and deep breaths by me it’s starting to really heat up now
It’s about 2:00 2:30 here the day ton of apples I was curious when I was going to see some apple trees out here in Japan just passed a bunch of them up on top of the mountain it’s good spot for them stum I’m getting dizzy that’s not too
Bad hit the Steep decline here there’s a sign that said 900 meters 10% downhill so should be getting good good speeds make up for some time oh yeah it’s a good spot set up a little cabin find one of these abandoned houses come out here all right get some water
Hydrate hit this hill see at the bottom what’s in store all right heading downhill on the main path and it’s just incredible surrounded by Greenery so nice in the summer here take advantage of all the uh the Lush landscape the warm weather you got the fruit in season little bumpy there
Sure be a nice ride in the fall too a little bit uh little bit cooler temperate but uh I like the heat too she got to stay on top of the electrolytes here just following the blue arrows they tell me I’m on the right path here just got people living a nice life
Out here nice size houses I mean look at this is a huge house here I mean that thing’s easily five bedroom Japanese style let’s check out this Shrine here got a little got a little gate let’s check this out why not pretty simple can give respects to Nature out
Here whether it’s Ocean or Marine day or H Mountain day Jaan got it all honoring nature got some Rafters going down here oh there’s some more guess they’re launching more farther down up there it’s nice that hair pin turn people camping out on the Rocks there o I’d love jumping in that water
It looks pretty clean but just got to find a nice uh calm spot looks like back there little swim Cove all right got to hit the trail here getting really uh tempted to jump in there how’s that water looking it’s blue looking like a nice spot to just
Dip in look how calm that is for sweeping views that’s where I’m headed that Valley there I got through this mountain path it’s getting quiet no one else uh wanted a bike from Kyoto today back on the proper bike path here had to pull over get a breather check the
Map got a nice public pool here just biking in this Valley I’m getting there I’m about 85 85 or 90 miles in it’s about 5:30 now starting to fight daylight I got to uh keep up the pace but it’s it’s been a really good ride just CR or yeah just cross that bridge
Over there still csing here and walk my prefecture now got about 95 miles in like it’s going to turn into a night ride here still rolling slowing down though just trying to keep the keep the momentum but it turned out to be a great day got a couple clouds in the
Afternoon starting to really cool down now so that’s that’s nice just cruising though there’s no one else out here it’s uh got the whole Trail to myself haven’t been passed by anyone going this way in a while now so everyone’s missing out it’s a good day get around here
Though yeah so I’m at over 150 km now pushing for the Sentry haven’t done a sentury before so really just got to keep going I can’t stop under 100 we’ll see I’m going try and find a hotel here once we get into the city don’t have anything booked got a couple spots
Scoped out but we’ll see may have a change of plans there’s a hotel next to restaurant that looks good might have to pull over but got to get to over 100 miles we’re getting there just everything’s over gr helmet all whole Trail it’s just been great smells great
Sights got little trucks going by stopping at vending machines that’s that’s the great thing here too there’s snow stress I’ve been running out of water just pull over go to the vending machine there’s plenty of them even out in the country got a car here taking a
Shortcut all right so I finally made it into town here wakiyama just just went over the bridge got a uh got a castle here probably check that out in the morning it’s nice with the lights on all right I made it to the hotel simple room it’s only uh my little bathroom
Here got a nice size bed got a great view of the castle got the moon here have to flip that light off show the castle better let’s see here all right so this is this is what a 4,400 Yen room get you get a view of the
Castle the seventh floor so 4,400 yen is about 305 maybe maybe even less and that’s that’s a really good deal can’t do can’t do much better than this so $35 but I’ll enjoy the room in a little bit I gotta go get some food I am starving e e for
So after doing 110 miles yesterday I didn’t have it in me to retrace the same route so I’m going north of wakiyama through to Osaka and I just had to climb by walking couple kilometers but I was just able to storm downhill super quick so hopefully there’s not too much climbing compared
To yesterday I knew that it would start off with a big climb here about 400 m and now I’ve been rewarded with a really Lush Valley so I’ve got a slight downhill here hopefully that continues it should be pretty smooth once I get to Osaka Nar the mountains of Nar we’re pretty
Gnarly uh just don’t have it in me to retrace some of those inclines so I’m going to do a go ahead and do the loop see how far I can get but stocked up at 7-Eleven I got snacks ready to go I stopped out a bakery got some donuts well I got
Doughnut hole and a mystery mystery pastry some sort of a cinnamon Walnut thing so ready to keep going here chilling out at the beach here just crossed into South Osaka made a little detour come check out the coastline line here there all sorts of boats boats in the distance
Shipping boats fishing boats there’s a marina here got a pretty long stret of beach I think it keeps going past those rocks too people come to chill out here on a Monday morning starting to get warm I think yesterday it was 36 which is about 97 Fahrenheit I think today it’s
Supposed to be uh a little bit cooler it’s cloudier but still in the 90s still in the mid mid-30s so it’s going to start heating up it’s about 11: now I still got a while to go we’ll see if I can make it to Kyoto making a modified route this morning
And we see it should be flatter got a boat boat zooming out there going to check out the waters so we’ll see the the route it’s kind of a make my own route today got a little bit a little bit windier than yesterday but it should be
Cooler and flatter so as trade-offs I’ll I’ll take a little bit of headwind just to not have uh steep steep hills shouldn’t be so bad though think be able to make a nicer Pace but I’m at the beach here just had a pastry all right I think I’m about to uh
Gear back up do a do a few stretches and uh and head north head head north along the coast here all right so I started biking down I stumbled ACR across there’s a uh a beach volleyball Stadium right along the the beach here let’s see here looks awesome looks like they got
A beach soccer going as well so I’m sure it’s the right season for it just uh not going to check that out though not today got Green Space here we got the ocean got the coastline here it’s just incredible what’s more chill than the ocean got endless
Inertia our energy is not created or destroyed seems like all the energy for millions of years has just been absorbed by the ocean ends up there somehow just crashing waves endless right here’s an example of a Japanese summer garden here coming in full swing look they’ve got all sorts of stuff
Gone got some squash some Taro basil looks like maybe some some other herbs got some corn but I don’t think that’s going to grow quick enough got some squash it’s just great seeing the uh small scale agriculture here it’s all over so this is good example I can see
This every every kilometer or so like I just see so many Gardens like this makeing my way there got a sign here that says asanka 44 kilm so it’s not too bad with the bike parked down here saw a little vantage point so I want to come scope it
Out got a little murky Pond here but nice view of the Cascades made a little pit stop got a nice view of the Cascades here there murky Pond I just posted up right down here by the side we got Driving School guy got the the bike post up got a sign here
That says Osaka 44 km so I’m making my way should hit aai in about an hour so just checking out checking out some views I think the route today is going to be about 40 miles less maybe less uh we’ll see just just an estimate but it’s going to be less mileage than
Yesterday so we’ll see see if there’s anything else cool to check out might get some lunch here in a couple hours May some uh something juming KN something something on brand taking a short break here just just heading along paths just like this there’s a couple bike paths on
The street a little bumpy but a lot of traffic just a lot of small businesses here this is good to see uh the urban environment you know the corner stores are nearby whenever I need to pop in and but just a lot of small businesses just a local feel here Monday early
Afternoon just down the road got a uh some sort of Castle here it’s built up pretty high looks like there’s a moat as well you see that stone it’s built up 20 ft tall it’s pretty massive up there got an entrance it’s cool seeing the uh the architecture of uh Japanese Antiquity on
Display it’s right here on the street Street’s been here 100 years paved at least this has been here I’m sure hundreds of years so I’m sure this is an old dirt road it’s been modernized got Kishi W hanaki been having a lot of fun with these street signs
All right I’m passing through Osaka City got uh Urban Vibes here pulling up through North of Sanka City it’s really really hectic in the downtown I’m about to uh pop on the bike P Osaka is honestly super chill it’s uh start seeing people with purple and blue hair and people just email it’s
Definitely a big city VI got a small Shinto Shrine they are uh all over largest religion in Japan I prer Buddhism been riding all day started 3 hours later today so it’s starting to get earlier uh but I just needed the rest I’m on the trail here uh heading to
Kyoto I just got out of Osaka City uh maybe 45 minutes ago so I’m heading north here along the trail right along uh this Trail is a long river so all this green right here is just growing up around the the river spin like this and uh this basically how the
Trail is right just tree lined brush lined but it’s well maintain wellmaintained uh there’s a lot of activity Fields people are playing soccer baseball all sorts of stuff H so it’s fun to see see that action but starting to fight daylight here here tonight hopefully and really I’m I’m hoping that it doesn’t
Rain that’s really what I’m fighting here I’m good energy wise I just got to uh beat the rain if it is good to rain so I’ll probably be riding into the night for a little while but we’ll see got a got about 30 miles to go give or take so we’ll see
All right I just biked all the way up this road I’m about to crossing the Kyoto I think I’m actually going to do it all right here we go it’s all parked up back in Kyoto where I started yesterday at 6 a.m. now it is
9:30 the next day so I topped out today I think about 75 miles I think it was 76 so about 187 miles it’s great they’ve got this bike parking here it’s nice and secure yeah that’ll do it for me I’m spent I’m going to go get some meals
And not do anything I’m go buy some ice for my legs so that’s what I’m going to go do now all in all it’s a great great journey got more of the city Vibes today yesterday was all about the nature so I definitely recommend trying it out
I think it’d be go to space it out over 5 days or three three days that way we can check out some of the sites check out some shrines but just had to keep the pace here it’s getting dark it didn’t rain on me so I’m happy about that oh yeah I did
It here’s quick little update right when I walked back to my hotel it started raining pretty wild I got back just in time I would not this is what I was scared of getting caught in the rain I made it back just in time