Japan: Part 3 - Sunset Over the Land of the Rising Sun

By Marisa Notier

Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

If you want to read our previous blog posts on Japan, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.

Our trip around Japan has finally come to its epic, and actually, abruptly unexpected conclusion. Because although our trusty Triumph Tiger 850 motorcycle (rented from the incredible UBTouring.com) had thus far stayed loyal and true, it wasn’t until we got to what felt like the ends of the earth that we faced an insurmountable problem that meant we could no longer continue.

But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

In the last blog post, we left off in the ancient samurai city of Kanazawa on the main island of Honshu. If you were to look at the map of Japan, we were more or less in the middle, and a long way from our final destination of the northern frontiers of Hokkaido. Our goal had always been to head north as the summer season shifted into rain in the south, therefore escaping the clouds and thunder. And for a while, our plan mostly worked.

From Kanazawa we rode through Japan’s “northern Alps” where what seemed like around every turn we encountered thatched roof villages called “ga-sshō zukuri.” Many of these are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and museums, and we stopped at a few, marveling at this living testament to a natural and beautiful way of life that was virtually untouched by the modern world.

The structures are huge and impressive, with entire families having lived under one roof. The thatch needed to be incredibly thick, and the rooftop inclines would have to be steep to withstand heavy snowfall. Typically on the first floor were living quarters, a shrine, and an open fire pit for cooking. But the second and third stories was where they got busy, either with silkworm production, or grain storage, reed-weaving, and other activities that could continue under a warm roof even in the harsh winters.
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And harsh winters makes sense, because we were in the high-altitude region of Honshu where Japan’s tallest mountain ranges are located, many still with snow on top.

Riding a motorcycle through this beautiful alpine area is like being an ant lost in a treasure chest of stunning gems. We crossed ruby red bridges suspended over sapphire rivers, nestled between emerald hills and golden rice paddies patchworking through the valleys. And surrounding us were the jagged mountains capped in the blinding light of snow shimmering like diamonds.

And then we got to Mastumoto Caslte – the Fortress of the Black Crow.

You may recall us previously exploring Himeji Castle – the Fortress of the White Heron. Painted so white, it almost glistened pink, like a blushing cherry blossom in the sunlight. Well, Matsumoto Castle is as much Himeji’s opposite as a castle ever could be.

Black and foreboding, Matsumoto doesn’t beckon you or whisper warm words of welcome. It stands with broad shoulders against a backdrop of snow-tipped mountains, dwarfing the peaks as if they’re nothing more than decoration. And like those natural barriers of mountain ice surrounding the castle, a deep and silent moat edges Matsumoto’s steep stone walls, while iron-sharp gables crown its upturned rooftops.

Needless to say, we loved every second we were there. In fact, if you had to ask me which was my favorite castle of Japan that we saw (and there are many we sadly missed), I might just have to say this one. Even though Himeji is bigger and more famous, it’s the mystique, the stark juxtaposition, the stoic ferocity that Matsumoto gives off that makes me so in awe of it.

After leaving Matsumoto, we traveled north into a land of dramatic seismic activity. And it all started with the snow monkeys.

So it was summer and there wasn’t any snow. But you may have at one point seen a picture of a cute red-faced Japanese monkey sitting in a hot spring as the snow falls all around like she’s just enjoying herself at a monkey spa. The "snow monkeys" as they're called, can be found at Jigokudani (a.k.a. Hell Valley) where we got to see these fascinating privates hang about, play with the young ones, and even go into the natural hot springs!

Of course, there wasn’t any snow around, and it was a hot enough day that most monkeys felt no need to take a dip into the steaming water. But they were there, they were wild, they were adorable, and it was a dream come true to see them!

But the real volcanic showstoppers were still to come. Past Jigokudani we rode high into the mountains, but these weren’t typical mountain roads. We didn’t realize it at first, but these were highways crawling up the slopes of volcanoes!

We’d ride up and up, until patches of snow blanketed the edges of the pavement. And then what seemed like out of nowhere, we’d take a turn and were confronted with a stream of steam spouting from the rocks, or sulfur-smelling gases bubbling out of mud. The cracks between sickly yellow-green-streaked boulders would hiss and spew out toxic fumes.

At one point in time, we parked the bike and stepped onto a path that edged along a volcano crater that was filled with an unnaturally green lake, as deeply rich as sea kelp.

At another point we trekked through the snow to the “Dragon’s Eye” that can only be seen in the first week of June. The icy-blue eye of the beast only shows its pupil as the snows begin to melt, before the summer transforms the dragon iris back into its disguise of just an ordinary pond.

At yet another point in our journey north, we came to a geothermal area where people laid out small tatami mats onto the warm stones to “rock bathe” in the volcanic heat. Honestly, we were a bit confused by this new (but probably really ancient) spa treatment, since people were laying there breathing in the sulfuric gases all day. It didn’t seem healthy to me, but then again, Japanese people do live to be very old. Maybe there was something to it. 

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Finally, we came to the city of Aomori at the end of the road on the main island of Japan. From there, we hopped on a four-hour ferry that brought us to Japan’s mysterious northern neighbor -- Hokkaido.

Hokkaido is known as the Wild North of Japan. And that’s because for most of Hokkaido’s history the Japanese never lived there, and it was inhabited primarily by the Ainu people, a group culturally and linguistically very different from the Japanese. While staring up at the their giant totem poles where owls, bears, and eagles reached to the sky, to my American mind, the Ainu reminded me more of the Inuit and the people of Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest than the people of Japan.

It was here in Hokkaido when a typhoon hit and the storms caught up to us. We sought shelter in the big city of Sapporo (where the beer is from), and enjoyed the hot springs of our luxurious hotel there. But high prices and a tight time constraint on our trip didn’t allow us to stay there for long. So once the storm seemed to have mostly passed, we crossed our fingers and headed away from the coast and into the heart of the island.

I can’t express how different Hokkaido is from the rest of Japan, and how much it felt like home for me, as in the good ol’ Midwest. Yes, it had the forests and vastness and bears of Alaska, but it was actually like Alaska meets… Wisconsin. Weird, I know.

In order to get to Hokkaido's famous volcanic mountain ranges, you have to first go through long stretches of what most of the island consists of – land that's completely flat. Straight roads to nowhere. Silos and dilapidated barns. Dairy farms and wheat fields. And lots and lots of more of that.

Hokkaido was not fully colonized by the Japanese until the late 1800’s when Japan wanted to fend off any threat of Russia taking it. Much like in other places of the world, colonization had a big impact on the local Ainu people, displacing them, assimilating them, and wiping out much of their cultural practices. Thankfully, it’s not all lost, and if you can get past the eternal rows of soy and corn, you'll find that the heart of the Ainu still beats proudly in Hokkaido.

We found that the true magic of Hokkaido is in its wild places. And in these dense boreal forests and snow-laden peaks, what really caught me by surprise was how completely unafraid the wildlife was of us. That’s obviously a problem when it comes to bears, which is always an issue while camping in Hokkaido, but all the other animals made me feel like I was Snow White followed by a fellowship of forest creatures.

Deer were everywhere. And little fawns with spots would nestle into the bushes next to where we’d put our tent. But the absolute best for me were the red foxes. With black-tipped ears, remarkably bushy tails, and very clever-looking eyes, they would wander the roads and campgrounds gracefully, greeting us like we were just another fox. Sometimes we'd see as many as eight in a day! It was truly an special experience.

And Hokkaido’s final stroke of wildlife spectacle was an encounter with orcas. Because as fortune would have it, we just so happened to be there at the best time of year to see killer whales! 

So of course, we got on a whale watching tour, saw our first pod of steam-breathing marine mammals in the distance, and got out our cameras… only to find that they didn’t work. All of our cameras... failed us.

It was the weirdest thing. We were eventually able to get pictures off our big Sony when it decided to function properly, and video off of Tim’s iphone, but every action camera was glitching so badly, it was turning on and off every four seconds on its own… it was very weird.

And then, the moment we stepped back on shore, they all worked again and have been flawless ever since.

We don’t know what exactly happened to our cameras, but we do know one thing – we were really close to Russia. Unlike Sarah Palin, we could actually see it. In fact, one time as we were chasing a pod of whales, we had to stop because we couldn’t go into Russian waters. Those orcas had officially crossed the border and had become Russian whales. Oh well.

Back on dry land on the Shiretoko Peninsula, we were loving our time in the northern reaches of Japan, even though we knew our trip was soon coming to a close. But we expected to ride the bike all the way back down to Tokyo, to UB Touring where we had rented it from.
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What we didn’t expect was that the next day, our trip would to come to a very abrupt end.

As the sun rose and we crawled out of our tent, I started eating my 7-Eleven breakfast of soft-boiled eggs while Tim was checking the tires... when he realized that there was cord showing.

​This was bad, really bad.

We had been trying to get new tires for weeks, calling different dealerships, but no one in Japan stocks tires, and ordering them would’ve taken weeks. Wes from UB Touring had stepped in to help us, he even had new tires that he was willing to ship out to us, but the dealerships refused to change them for liability reasons. We were stuck with the tires we had, and now these tires were worn to the bone.
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Riding on tires so bald that the cord shows is ridiculously dangerous. So we made a quick emergency change of plans to head to the port in Hokkaido where there was a ferry that could take us and the bike straight back to Tokyo. All in one fell swoop, we’d be back. Wes would pick us up at the dock in Tokyo, so all we needed was to get that bike to the ferry in Hokkaido.

It was only a couple hours of riding, but we were nervous the whole time. We went slowly and pulled over to check the tires over and over again. Luckily, the rubber seemed to be holding strong and we were able to make it to the ferry. We made it back to Tokyo, and our trip in Japan was suddenly over.

Before we knew it, the sun over our Japan journey had set.

But wow, we couldn’t have asked for a better couple of months riding through scenery that will forever be etched in our memories. Arigato🙏 to UB Touring, and most of all, to the incredible country of Japan.

And thank you, our beloved Patrons, for being patient as we haven’t been able to get videos out during this time. But now we’re back in Malaysia and working hard, so the content should be beginning to flow again!

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