CYCLING around a Japanese Volcanic Range | Fukuoka to Nagasaki, Kyushu 🇯🇵

CYCLING around a Japanese Volcanic Range | Fukuoka to Nagasaki, Kyushu 🇯🇵

Today we’re heading out on a 2-day cycling trip from Fukuoka down to Nagasaki with the goal of circumnavigating the Tawadaki volcanic peninsula, a dormant volcano that formed more than a million years ago. Day one is a relaxed 100 km ride, mostly flat, where we’ll stay in the peaceful coastal town of Kashima for the night. Day two is a tough 140 km with over 2,000 m of climbing as we circle the Tardaki volcano via the Rainbow Road, Orange Road, and Green Road. Stick around to see how we handle the unseasonable heat, relentless climbs, and the cool views of the volcanic landscape and tea fields. Also, see how Rachel reacts when she finds out I tricked her about the difficulty of the ride. [Music] There’s a [Music] [Music] [Music] Here’s Rachie for 7-Eleven. 111 stop of the trip. Definitely in the right clothes for it. Feels a bit like a time loop. Huge moment here. Megas gripping tailwind. Wo! Shinkans. I’d like to be on that. It’s extremely hot. Cars. Not the best breakfast. Secret from the night staff. Chocolate chip cookie. Huge moment here. We got a lot of stuff for one night. 120k. Coffee making montage. [Music] [Music] light. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Yeah, I’m sure that This is the Matsura River cycling path. It’s a nice little path that runs for most of the Matsura River. Fortunately for us today, it is a ripping tailwind also, so it’s making the ride really easy. We’re about halfway there to our hotel in Kashima. Really nice tailwind right now. Almost to a great little Family Mart spot on the river ahead. About to Family Mart in time for an obligatory smash cut coffee making montage. If it’s not too busy. If it’s not too busy. It’s sports day today in Japan, so it’s super busy everywhere. Sports day tomorrow. Sports day tomorrow. Okay. Leaving the Matsuru Gawa. Unfortunately, that was a Family Mart, so very off-brand for me today. That’s okay. Highway G. Everybody’s probably dying for a little bike gear check. So, an overnight trip. So, we got our tail bags with the Rinko bag on top so that we can train home later. Uh, tools here. Got our super cool podium fully stainless steel bottle so they keep it ice cold. It looks light but it’s not. It’s very, very heavy unfortunately. And that’s kind of it. The shame about a one night trip is that it takes the same amount of packing as like a month-long trip because you just need clothes to wear when you get off the bike. You got a lot of stuff for one night. [Music] [Music] [Music] We have McDonald’s. What [Music] do you need? [Music] We are getting very close to our stop of day one in Kashima. It’s been pretty, but the sun’s been in our eyes all morning, so I haven’t loved that all day. Hey, how are you doing? Yeah, good. Energy is high. Energyy’s high. Okay, could use another coffee. Yeah, another coffee. But yeah, almost there. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Yeah. [Music] Okay, and that’s it. We’ve made it to our hotel for the day in Kashima. And actually, we’re staying at these cool little cargo crates called Hotel 9, The Yard. Hotel 9, the Yard, if you’re listening, would love a sponsorship. These are located all around Japan. They’re already cheap, but free would be better. The guys were really nice. They were agreed to hold their bags tomorrow while we bike around the volcano, but as long as we keep it secret from the night staff. We cannot tell the night staff that they’re agreed to hold our bag. Now, while I won’t get the hot sponsorship anyway. Okay. See you tomorrow. [Music] [Music] Day two, we left the hotel after a very not good sleep. Turns out Hotel 9, the yard is very convenient, but not very comfortable. So maybe I want to resend that sponsorship request. Anyway, we’re at 7-Eleven now because this is the only one that we will get to all day, at least for the first 50k or 1,000 m or so. So, we’re having a little breakfast. Not the best breakfast, but breakfast on uh post postal booth. Postal box. Post box is the word. And then we’re heading off on the Takadake Rainbow Road. Today we have the rainbow road, orange road, green road, two green roads maybe. I don’t know. Okay, we’re well on to the Rainbow Road now. The Takadake Rainbow Road, which we’ll use to start circumnavigating the volcanic Takadake range. We’re hoping it’d be totally empty. It’s actually pretty busy, which sucks. National holiday today. It’s Japanese sports day, so I don’t know whether that’s helping it. This route today is about 120k with 2,000 mters of climbing and it circles the Takadaki volcanic range and the largest highest mountain, Mount Kio in Saga. 120k. That’s to get back to the Takia. This way overlooks the Aryak Sea. And the sun is driving me crazy today. And so are these cars that should be on the national route. Get out of here. Rach, what do you think of this road so far? Yeah, it’s fine. It’s okay. So far, so far it’s not great, honestly. So far, wouldn’t recommend cuz it’s pure climbing all day. It’s just up and down. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh, I guess the Takadaki Rainbow Road feels a bit like a time loop. We’re constantly going over these bridges. You descend, you climb, you pass a green valley of rice overlooking the central Takadaki range, and then you do it all over again. It is nice, but a little trafficy today. That Okay. Big huge moment here. We are entering Nagasaki Prefecture which is great. Leaving Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki. And actually I was wrong. We were on the Takadake Orange Road and now we’re entering the Takadake Rainbow Road. So good thing traffic got a little less. As you can see, still quite a bit though. Okay, Rachel, what do you think so far? It’s nice. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not It’s honestly not amazing. It’s fine. Okay, in the distance now you see Unzen, the Unzen volcano. Realizing right away that Nagasaki Toddake Rainbow Road is way worse quality, but the signage is better. Little rainbows on the sign, so huge win. All right. All right. Let’s go to [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Oh, we descended down from the Teddake Rainbow Road for a bit to get back to sea level. And we’re at a 7-Eleven for the first food of the day. About 50k and 1,000 m in. And it’s a good 7-Eleven. Cool egg things, a burrito, chocolate chip cookie, and a smoothie. Yummy. We’re now officially back on the Rainbow Road. the this time the Amura Rainbow Road and it has gotten very very hot. It’s extremely hot and now we’re climbing in the full sun with no shade, no breeze. Middle of October, computer says 40° here. Perfect. Jesus Christ. So, we’re at this great little Michinoi that we know about from the last time we were on a bike trip here. It’s extremely hot. We have a lot of the ride left and it’s very, very hot. Get out of here. And lots of climbing to go. Looking forward to getting it done. Let’s go. [Music] [Music] Okay, we’re making some progress. We are about halfway through the Amura Green Road or maybe Rainbow Road. I think it’s the green road here. Oh, train coming by. Whoa. Shan. I’d like to be on that. That was the Nishi Shu Shin Kan Sun. The one that goes from I don’t know somewhere to Nagasaki. Yeah, it’s still super hot, but it’s nice here now. Rachel’s loving it. She’s loving it. This area of Amora is famous for matcha and tea. So, here’s a bunch of tea fields. There’s tea fields everywhere. It’s great if you like tea. I’m a coffee guy. And that’s the Omora Bay behind us. Nagasaki Peninsula, Sassibo, Saikai, I think it’s called. Moving on here. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] A cola. Things are pretty desperate here. Super hot. A big spider zone here. And there’s a fish on the ground. So interesting. So terrible. Get me out of here. [Music] Okay, huge moment here. We’ve successfully circumnavigated the Tardaki volcanic range. 110k and 2,100 m. It was really hard. Definitely a do it once kind of thing, never do it again. Now we’re back at the hotel to pick up our bags that they’ve secretly stored for us for the day. And we need to figure out how to get back to this train station in Takiao. But yeah, I would say good ride, but super glad it’s over. There’s Rachel. You got the bags. He was like, what the here? Ah, so it’s my [Music] [Music] Okay, we made it back to Takiao. Made it to the train station. Bags are packed up, ready to go on the train. All done. Really hard ride. Back to Hakata. Still more riding. Still more riding. Did Rachie enjoy the ride? She loved it. No, it was really hard. It was a really hard ride.

Join us on a two-day cycling trip from Fukuoka down into Nagasaki Prefecture, where we take on the challenge of circumnavigating the Taradake volcanic peninsula, a dormant volcano formed over a million years ago.

Day 1 takes us on a relaxed 100-kilometer ride along quiet rural roads to the coastal town of Kashima, known for its sea life, tidal flats, and the strange mudskipper fish called the mutsugoro.

Day 2 is a much larger ride — 140 kilometers with over 2,000 meters of climbing as we loop around Taradake via the Rainbow Road, Orange Road, and Green Road. Steep climbs, sweeping ocean views, tea fields, and the unseasonable summer heat Japan is famous for.

Whether you’re planning a cycling tour in Japan, looking for new routes near Fukuoka, or just love seeing Japan’s hidden backroads and volcanic landscapes, this ride has a bit of it all.

0:00 – Introduction
2:00 – Day 1: Fukuoka to Kashima (100 km coastal ride)
9:58 – Day 2: Taradake Volcano Loop via Rainbow, Orange & Green Roads

📍 Route Highlights:

Fukuoka to Kashima (Day 1)
Taradake Volcano loop: Rainbow / Orange / Green Roads (Day 2)
Ariake Sea coastline & rural Nagasaki
🎥 Filmed in: Kyushu, Japan
🚴‍♀️ Distance: ~240 km total
⛰️ Elevation Gain: ~2,00 m