Myogi Mountain and Karuizawa · part 2

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tokyo / Kanto rides

   Chiba prefecture is the thumb of land that sticks into the Pacific east of Tokyo, and its southern end is lower, softer and far more rural than most visitors expect, with ridges of forested hills, small rice valleys and a long coast of surf beaches. Katsuura, with twenty-two thousand people, and Ōhara and Kamogawa, both a little further along the coast, are the main towns.

   Read the complete Tokyo / Kanto rides return write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tokyo / Kanto rides is where the day begins. Next is Photo stop near Mitsukaidō.

2. 2. Photo stop near Mitsukaidō

   Mitsukaidō, now part of the city of Jōsō in south-western Ibaraki, lies on the vast, flat Kanto plain north of Tokyo, beside the Kinugawa river. The landscape is one of rice paddies, irrigation channels, farmhouses with windbreak trees and long river embankments, under a big sky. To the north-east, Mount Tsukuba rises alone from the plain, its twin peaks visible from far away, and on clear winter days Mount Fuji can sometimes be seen far to the south-west.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Mitsukaidō write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Photo stop near Mitsukaidō comes up about 132 km into the recorded legs. Next is Scenic stretch near Noda.

3. 3. Scenic stretch near Noda

   Noda is a city in the north-west of Chiba prefecture, between the Edo and Tone rivers, and it smells, faintly, of soy sauce. For more than three centuries, Noda has been one of the main centres of soy sauce brewing in Japan, and it is the home of Kikkoman, whose origins lie in the brewing families of the town. The company's museum offers tours where you can learn about the brewing process and taste the results.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch near Noda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 158 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch near Noda. Next is Myogi Mountain and Karuizawa checkpoint 8.

4. 4. Near Kokubunji

   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.

   Read the complete Near Kokubunji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Myogi Mountain and Karuizawa checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Myogi Mountain.

5. 5. Back to Myogi Mountain

   Hachioji sits where the Tokyo plain finally runs into the hills, a city of well over five hundred thousand people at the foot of the Tama mountains, and the Myogi ride comes back to it as to a front door. In the old days it was a post town on the road to the western provinces, famous for silk, and merchants carried raw silk down the Hachioji road to the ports of Yokohama for export. That trade made the city rich, and the old route is still remembered as the Silk Road of Japan.

   Read the complete Myogi Mountain write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Back to Myogi Mountain. That is the ride.