Mount Haruna and Ikaho Onsen
A 349 km loop
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Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. 349 km round from Machida - plan on about 7 h 15 of riding. The stops in between: Kokubunji, Scenic stretch in Ageoshimo and near Satte. near Sagamihara is the high point.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Machida
fuel
Machida is a big commuter city on the south-western edge of Tokyo, poking into Kanagawa prefecture like a thumb, so that locals joke about whether it really belongs to Tokyo at all. It is busy, built-up and practical, with department stores, train stations and endless convenience stores, and it makes a straightforward starting point for rides into the mountains to the west.
The city sits in the Tama Hills, a landscape of low, wooded ridges and valleys that has largely been covered by housing estates since the 1960s. Pockets of the old countryside survive, though, in parks and green spaces where satoyama, the traditional mix of woods, fields and ponds, is preserved. The Yakushiike Park, with its pond and lotus flowers, is a pleasant spot.
As a start and fuel stop, Machida is easy, with service stations along the main roads, especially Route 16, the great ring road around greater Tokyo. Convenience stores sell rice balls, coffee and snacks, perfect for a quick breakfast before a ride. From here, the roads west lead towards Sagamihara, Lake Sagami and the mountains of the Tanzawa and the Fuji Five Lakes.
Traffic is heavy in and around Machida, especially on weekdays and at rush hour, and Route 16 is notorious for congestion. An early start, before dawn, is the best way to escape the city. Once you are past Sagamihara, the roads become quieter and the mountains close in.
- High point near Sagamihara
pass
Sagamihara is a big city on the western edge of the Tokyo sprawl, but it stretches surprisingly far into the mountains. Its western part takes in the Tanzawa foothills, Lake Sagami and Lake Tsukui, two reservoirs on the Sagami river surrounded by forested hills, and the change from suburb to mountain happens quickly.
The city has a space connection: the Sagamihara campus of JAXA, the Japanese space agency, managed the Hayabusa missions that returned samples from asteroids. There is a small exhibition hall open to visitors, and the city is proud of its role in space exploration.
For riders, the high ground west of Sagamihara is the start of some of the best roads near Tokyo. Route 413, the Dōshi road, runs from Sagamihara through the mountains to Lake Yamanaka, near Mount Fuji, a long, winding route through forests and valleys, with countless bends and a few steep climbs. It is hugely popular with motorcyclists, and on weekends you will see many of them, as well as at the roadside rest areas along the way.
Traffic can be heavy, especially on weekends and in the autumn foliage season, and the roads can be narrow, with blind corners. Watch for cyclists, oncoming traffic cutting corners, and wildlife, including deer and monkeys. Fuel is available in Sagamihara and at a few points along the route, but stations are sparse in the mountains, so fill up before you go.
- Near Kokubunji
finish
Western Tokyo does not look like much from the train, a continuous sprawl of houses and stations, but walk a little and the old landscape shows through. Springs emerge at its foot, feeding small streams like the Nogawa, and some of the paths along them feel almost rural, with bamboo groves, old trees and the sound of running water.
History runs deep here. In the eighth century, Emperor Shōmu ordered a provincial temple, a kokubun-ji, to be built in every province of Japan, and the one for Musashi province stood here, giving the area its name. The foundations of the great temple can still be seen in a park, and a smaller temple continues the tradition nearby. A spring-fed path known as Otakanomichi, meaning the falcon's road because the shoguns once hunted here, leads past a pond and through gardens.
Koganei Park is one of Tokyo's largest, famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and home to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, a collection of historic buildings moved from across the city, including farmhouses, shops and a bathhouse. It offers a rare glimpse of the Tokyo that has largely disappeared.
The riding starts once you escape the city. The Okutama ride follows the Tama River west past Ōme into the mountains, where the road winds along gorges to Lake Okutama, a reservoir surrounded by forested peaks. The Myōgi, Karuizawa and Haruna rides go northwest into Gunma, with Mount Myōgi's jagged rocks, the highland resort of Karuizawa and the hairpins up Mount Haruna, made famous by the street-racing manga and anime Initial D. Expect traffic and lights through the suburbs, and use the tolled expressways if time is short.
Fuel, convenience stores and restaurants are everywhere in the area, from ramen shops to family restaurants near the stations. Riding in Tokyo means keeping left, watching for bicycles on the pavements and finding parking, which can be scarce and strictly enforced. In summer the heat and humidity are oppressive, and typhoons can bring heavy rain in late summer and autumn, so spring and late autumn are the most comfortable seasons for riding.
- Scenic stretch in Ageoshimo
scenic
Ageoshimo is a district of Ageo, a commuter city in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, on the flat Omiya plateau between the Arakawa and Ayase rivers. In the Edo period, Ageo was a post town on the Nakasendō, one of the five great highways that radiated from Edo, linking the capital with Kyoto through the mountains of central Japan. Travellers, merchants and feudal lords on their way to and from the capital stayed in its inns.
Today, Ageo is largely residential and suburban, but traces of the old countryside remain in its fields, groves and shrines. The Arakawa river, to the west, has wide floodplains with parks, golf courses and fields, and the embankments offer long views across the plain. On clear winter days, Mount Fuji appears far to the south-west, and the mountains of Chichibu rise to the west.
As a scenic stretch, Ageoshimo is honest about what it is: a passage through the suburbs on the way to the mountains. The roads are flat and straight, with traffic lights and convenience stores, and traffic can be heavy. But once you head west towards Kawagoe and the Chichibu hills, the landscape opens up. Kawagoe, known as Little Edo, has a beautifully preserved district of old merchant houses with thick clay walls and a famous bell tower.
Fuel and food are plentiful in Ageo. An early start helps you beat the traffic and reach the mountains while the roads are still quiet.
- Photo stop near Satte
photo
Every spring, along an embankment in Satte, about a thousand cherry trees bloom at the same time as fields of yellow rapeseed beneath them, and the combination of pink and yellow draws huge crowds. Gongendō Park, on the levee of an old river, is the place, and if you happen to ride through in late March or early April, it is a sight to remember. The rest of the year, Satte is a quiet town in the flat farmland of north-eastern Saitama.
The Kanto plain here is low and flat, crossed by rivers and canals, with rice paddies, vegetable fields and scattered towns. The Tone River, one of Japan's largest, flows nearby, and the history of the region is a story of floods and the efforts to control them, with levees, channels and pumping stations. The embankments themselves offer the best views in the area, with wide skies and, on clear winter days, the mountains of Nikkō and even Mount Fuji on the horizon.
The riding here is easy but not exciting. Roads are straight and flat, with traffic lights and junctions, and traffic can be heavy on the main routes. The Ken-Ō Expressway passes nearby, offering a fast route around the Tokyo region. In summer, the heat and humidity can be intense, and in winter, a cold, dry wind blows from the mountains.
Satte is well stocked with fuel stations, convenience stores and eateries. A stop at a convenience store for a coffee and a snack is a Japanese riding tradition. Mount Haruna and the hot springs of Ikaho lie to the north-west in Gunma, a much more scenic destination, with winding roads and an onsen bath at the end.
- Near Ōami, on the way back
swim
It is farming country: rice paddies, vegetable fields, greenhouses and patches of woodland, with low hills to the south and a scattering of small towns. Chiba is famous for its peanuts, and in autumn the fields are dotted with drying stacks, called bocchi, a sight unique to this part of Japan.
East of here, beyond Ōami, lies Kujūkuri beach, one of the longest beaches in Japan, stretching for roughly sixty kilometres along the Pacific coast. It is a broad, flat beach of fine sand, with powerful surf and strong currents. Swimming is allowed at designated beaches during the official season in July and August, with lifeguards and flags. Outside the season or the flagged zones, the sea can be dangerous, and drownings occur every year.
The Kujūkuri toll road runs behind the dunes along the coast, a straight, quiet road with views of the sea and the pine forests that protect the land from the wind and sand. It is not challenging riding, but it is relaxing, with little traffic and a cool sea breeze.
Inland, the roads are flat and straight, running between fields and through small towns. Watch for slow farm vehicles, sudden junctions and cyclists. The hills to the south, around Mobara and Ichihara, offer more interesting roads, with gentle bends and wooded slopes.
Grilled clams, hamaguri, are what the Kujūkuri coast is known for, eaten hot from the shell at roadside shacks in season. Ōami and Mobara cover fuel and convenience stores; out in the fields, do not assume the next village will have a pump.
- Food stop near Kisarazu
food
Kisarazu is the Chiba end of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, and for riders that alone makes it special. The Aqua-Line crosses the bay from Kawasaki in two halves: a long tunnel under the water, then a low bridge that skims across the surface for several kilometres into Kisarazu. In the middle sits Umihotaru, an artificial island with a parking area, restaurants and a deck with views over the bay, where on a clear day you can see Mount Fuji to the west and the towers of Tokyo and Yokohama to the north. It is tolled, and crosswinds on the bridge section can be fierce.
The town itself is an old port on the eastern shore of the bay. Its tidal flats are known for clam digging, shiohigari, a favourite family outing in spring and early summer, and asari clams turn up in local dishes. The temple of Shojoji is associated with a well-known folk song about dancing tanuki, the mischievous raccoon dogs of Japanese legend, and you will find tanuki statues around the town.
As a food stop and finish, Kisarazu has plenty to offer, from seafood restaurants near the harbour to family restaurants and convenience stores along the main roads. A bowl of clam ramen or a seafood rice bowl makes a fine end to a day.
The roads inland from Kisarazu lead into the Boso hills, with winding routes through forests and small valleys towards the Pacific coast. The hills are low but steep, and the roads can be narrow and twisting. Traffic is heavy around the Aqua-Line approaches on weekends, especially in the evening, when everyone heads back to Tokyo. Fuel is plentiful.
- Back to Mount Haruna
finish
Minamirinkan, in Yamato city, is a little to the south, and the road that connects them is Route 16, the great ring road around Tokyo, which carries enormous traffic.
The ride that ends here began in the mountains of Gunma, around Mount Haruna and Ikaho, so the last section is an urban one. The roads are busy, with lights and lanes, and the surface is good but dull. Do not expect to be alone: bikers of every kind use this ring road, and on a dry Sunday morning you will see groups of riders on big tourers and small commuters sharing the same lanes. Route 16 has a reputation in Japan for car culture and late-night drivers, and its big roadside stores, restaurants and car dealerships are all around. Keep your distance and watch for lane changes. A weekday evening is the busiest, so a weekend morning is better.
Despite the sprawl, the area has green pockets. The Tama Hills are crossed by narrow lanes between woods and bamboo, and a few old farmhouses and small shrines survive. Machida has a long history as a market town, and its main street, near the station, has a lively, crowded character. The nearby Tsurukawa Kaido, an old road, was once used to carry silk and other goods to the port of Yokohama.
Fuel is no trouble. Stations are frequent along Route 16, and family restaurants, ramen shops and convenience stores are everywhere. A bowl of ramen and a plate of gyoza at a roadside restaurant is the usual rider's meal. The Odakyu and JR lines run through Machida, which makes the final leg home easy.
Take your time on the last stretch. The mountains are far behind, but the evening light on the hills can still be pleasant.