Japan Exodus - Day 43: No KM Window Shopping Update

There will be no cycling today on account of a rainy day. 

Rain doesn't really mean rest however. All the small tasks I add to my list (mostly Internet needed research), emails, messages, blog updates and the such, all these things happen on rainy days because if I am not going to be productive on my bike, I as sure as heck will be in other ways. I ventured over to a cafe by foot, donning my lama wool bucket beanie and purple messenger filled with my laptop and other papers needing my attention. 

I may be somewhere in the middle of adulthood, but the quickest way still to get me to do something is to tell me not to do it. Yesterday, I was kindly reminded not to eat so many sweets along the way. A completely unfounded warning as the only dessert dabbled is the occasional ice cream on hot days. So, in my logic, if I am going to get nagged about something, I might as well do the thing I was warned about, right? That way, at least, the complaint has meaning.  

OK, this is the coolest thing I did today. After tooling around with Google maps for a good hour, becoming frustrated with the limited amount of route changes I could make, and doing a little external research, I found BikeMaps.net  This site let me make a custom route all across Japan, for as long as I wanted and with as many twists and turns as I actually made on my bike. Lovely. 

The very first leg of this tour from my house in Tosa city, Kouchi to see my buddy Kyle, and our way through the rigorous snow covered mountain tops of Shikoku, around the northern edge, and back down along one of my favorite routes (still) in Japan, the Western stretch of Ehime Prefecture. From the square point marker, it was good bye to Kyle and Shikoku, and off to the island of Kyushu.

Shikoku cycling: 714 kilometers

Total: 714 kilometers

Kyushu is a great island. All the times that I have taken the ferry there, I always head North first, where the famous onsen beaches of Beppu await. This last time through the nature filled island, I moved south for the first time and really enjoy my routes. First time to Miyazaki Prefecture to boot, which is always nice. 

I counted this cycling through the island all as one line, though you should notice that at the bottom (around km marker 300) did I leave Kyushu and shoot down to Okinawa before returning and cycling the second half of the way North, through earthquakes, landslides, and a wicked storm.

Kyushu cycling: 758 kilometers

Total: 1472 kilometers 

Okinawa island is one of the more forgettable experiences, aside from the last two days that I was finally able to get away from roads and found some peace tucked away between two palm trees. The all you can eat pizza restaurant was pretty awesome too.  

Okinawa cycling: 205 kilometers

Total: 1677 kilometers

Honshu cycling (as of May 9th): 1452 kilometers

Total: 3129

Oh Honshu, you are the big boy of the Japanese block. You can find everything here: ancient cities, modern cities, ocean, beaches, mountains, people, solitude, music, counter culture, sun sets, and spaghetti flavored ice cream popsicles.  

What is significant about breaking the 3000 km marker is that the fastest route through Japan, that is a straight shot from Kagoshima at the bottom of Kyushu to Hokodate at the Southern point of Hokkaido, is 3,000km in distance. That is, roughly, the length of Japan. Or, half way across America in a little more than a month. 

I don't flinch however that I am only about half way through the island of Honshu. The twists, turns, and switch backs are all done and accounted for. From this point on, the plan is a straight shot to Tokyo for some metropolis shenanigans and then a route up, up, and up until I reach Hokkaido where I have two or three things to check off my bucket list. We'll see what kind of time I make. 

After enough coffee and donuts, updates, and logging in and out of various sites, I needed a walk to clear my mind. That it was raining limited my options. I decided to aim for a second hand store and see what there was to see. Recycle Shops, as they are known here, are a new phenomenon and steadily becoming more popular. The idea of buying used has been around for a while, though the sort of things you could buy were mostly kitchen appliances, washing machines, mechanical devices and the sort. Only recently has the market expanded to include clothes, books, and well, just take a look at all these sweet toys! 

For those of you too young to recognize this right off the bat, its a vinyl record. It is what music used to be stored on before digital recordings, before Compact Disks, before tape players. 

Cowboy Bebop is one of the more "in the know" animes of the 90's. You had your Dragon Ball and your Gundam, but if your viewing roster was a little more expanse you also found Bebop, Yu Yu Hakusho, and the historically tittled Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Check it. 

And of all the animes that became popular enough to spawn a television series, fans always point to the Bebop soundtrack as being among the best there was and is. If you have never, check out the opening jazzy number here: Cowboy.

Now we are getting into some real geek fan memorabilia. If you have this in your collection, you are certified. Classic vinyl printings to Star Trek: The Next Generation soundtracks divided by seasons. How I wish I was still living in Japan, and had a record player. 

And, if I owned a TV, I wouldn't have thought longer than two seconds before purchasing this a Super Famicom (thats Family Computer as one word) and all the games I could find for it. As the first home entertainment system I ever had (the American version, titled Super NES), this one holds a special place in my heart, and in the hearts of several avid gamers around the world. Whats more, the price still holds relative. A Super Famicom is more expensive today than a PlayStation 2 - which was at least three generations down the home consul line. That is, you could buy a freaking blue-ray PlayStation 2 for cheaper than this 1990 top loading cartridge nostalgia.  

Before talking a short walk in the hard rain back to camp where I could only hope that no one messed with my bike during my eight hour absence, I make a stop at the grocery store to pick up some dinner. It was rainy and cold. And if I didn't have this little stove to keep up my spirits, I don't know that I would have been so satisfied with eating preserved convenience store food for dinner again. I enjoy cooking the way and style I cook.  

It might not be pretty, but its the best tasting food you will find tonight in the rain. Also, have you noticed that I am eating more veggies? So hard to get them in on the road if you are not cooking your own meals. What I really need now is stove cover, so that I can start steaming my veggies and rice. With a little more practice and testing the limits of what can be made using this single burner and pot, I should arrive in Hokkaido with an expert chef's instincts and inspiration. Cheers!


Today ended up being a good day for resting my legs after all. I even got most of my work down, sans this dang blog updates. One update takes me about an hour and half to do, with all the research and editing and photo uploading. Its a good break now when I have the two hours to spare, a little harder when, like riding through traffic lights, you have to keep start and stopping.


3000 km Love,
-A