Tokyo · Miura Peninsula Coastal Morning
A 152 km loop from Tokyo bay exit
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Why this ride
Sea air, compact bends and an easy coastal reset south of the city. A 151 km loop that starts and ends near Tokyo, about 3 h 23 of riding. It goes by way of Yokohama, Kamakura, Hayama coastal road and Jogashima water stop.
Roadbook
- Tokyo bay exit
start · 10 m
Ten metres above sea level on Tokyo's own shoreline, this stop sits on land that did not exist four centuries ago. Since the Edo period the city has pushed out into the bay, one reclamation at a time, and the districts around Ota, Shinagawa and the Haneda approach are largely built on that fill. From here the waterfront is a quarter hour away, and the water smells of salt, diesel and wet concrete.
The scenery is industrial and strangely beautiful: container cranes, warehouses, canals with moored barges, and the great arch of the Rainbow Bridge a little way north. Planes from Haneda, one of the busiest airports in the world, pass low overhead on approach, and you can watch them from park lawns by the shore. Parks such as the Wild Bird Park at Tokyo Port, a managed wetland of reeds and tidal pools, bring herons and migrating shorebirds to this edge of the megacity, and the contrast with the high-rise skyline across the water is memorable.
On a motorcycle, the bayside is both easy and awkward. The Bayshore Route, a broad road, runs close to the water, with long signals and steady traffic, and the Metropolitan Expressway crosses overhead with its tolls. Weekends are lighter for trucks than weekdays. Strong wind off the water can be tiring, and fog on winter mornings is not unusual. The joy comes in the evening, when the lights come on across the water and ships slide out of the harbour.
Services are plentiful, with fuel stations along every major road and countless restaurants. The nearby fish market district and old Shinagawa post town have places for sushi or a simple grilled-fish lunch. Parking for motorcycles is available in coin lots, though prices vary. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, when the air is clear and the wind quieter. Take a short walk along a pier before you leave, and watch the city show its working side.
- Yokohama fuel gate
fuel · 5 m
Yokohama is where modern Japan met the outside world. After the arrival of Commodore Perry's black ships in 1853 and the treaty signed here the following year, the little fishing village of Yokohama was chosen as a treaty port, and when it opened in 1859 foreigners settled on the Bluff and traders built warehouses along the waterfront. Today it is Japan's second-largest city, with more than three and a half million people, and the old brick warehouses by the harbour, now shops and restaurants, stand next to the high towers of Minato Mirai.
At sea level, this is the flattest of starts, and the stop is mostly about logistics. Fuel stations are everywhere, many open around the clock, and the roads are wide and well signed. It is also worth knowing that Yokohama has a number of expressways that carry traffic across the bay and around the port, among them the Bay Bridge, a double-deck structure completed in 1989, with a viewing parking area at Daikoku, where motorbikes and cars gather on weekend evenings. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, and you will see all kinds of machines.
Food in Yokohama is an experience of its own. Chinatown, the biggest in Japan, has hundreds of restaurants, many offering steamed buns, noodles and dim sum, and it is lively until late in the evening. Ramen is another local obsession, and the district around Shin-Yokohama has a museum devoted to it with a recreated street from the 1950s. Seafood from the bay and the nearby Miura peninsula is fresh and varied, and a morning at one of the fish markets can be fun.
The ride from here goes south toward Kamakura and the Miura peninsula, a lovely stretch of coast with views of Fuji on clear days. Be ready for traffic on weekends, when day-trippers fill the roads, and take care at the many tolls and junctions. The air has a salt tang, the breeze is steady, and the quiet hours before dawn are the best for riding. In summer the humidity can be heavy and typhoons can bring strong winds and rain in early autumn. Parking for motorbikes in the central district is limited, so look for designated areas, and remember that illegal parking is quickly ticketed.
- Kamakura coffee return
food · 8 m
Kamakura is a small town with the weight of a capital, because for about a century and a half, from the end of the twelfth century, it was the seat of the shoguns. Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the military government here in the 1180s, far from the imperial court at Kyoto, and the city was chosen for its natural defences: hills on three sides and the sea on the fourth, with narrow passes cut through the rock as the only land entrances. Those passes, the Kiridoshi, can still be seen, and they are part of what gives the town its enclosed, intimate feel.
The Great Buddha, a bronze figure thirteen metres high, sits in the open air at Kotoku-in, the hall that once sheltered it having been swept away by a tsunami in the fifteenth century. It has watched over the town for about seven centuries, and the calm expression and the weathered green patina are moving. The main shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, stands at the end of a long approach lined with cherry trees, and its steps and halls climb the hillside above.
For a rider, though, Kamakura is a place for coffee and patience. The streets are narrow, the traffic is heavy at weekends and holidays, and finding parking for a motorbike can take time, so look for the designated areas near the station. The reward is a good cup of coffee in one of the many small cafes tucked into old houses, a walk along the shopping street of Komachi-dori, and a feeling of calm in the temple gardens. The Enoden, a little tram-like railway that runs along the coast to Enoshima, rattles past the houses and is worth a look.
It stands about eight metres above sea level and the sea is close, so the air carries a faint saltiness. Zushi and Hayama lie to the south, both smaller seaside towns, and the coast road leads on toward the Miura peninsula. Fuel is available in Kamakura, but the town is busy, and it may be easier to fill up in Yokohama or on the main road outside. Early mornings are the best time to visit, when the streets are empty, the shops are still shuttered and the temples are quiet. In June, the hydrangeas bloom along the temple paths and attract large crowds, so avoid that month if you dislike company.
- Hayama coastal road
coast · 10 m
Hayama is a small town on the sea with a reputation for being quietly rich. For more than a century, Hayama has been a retreat for Tokyo's elite, and the imperial family still has a villa on the shore, a simple wooden house in a pine grove, guarded and not open to visitors. Thirty thousand people live here, and the coast road runs straight through the middle of the town, along the cliffs and beaches, with yachts in the harbour and pines clinging to rocks.
The road is Route 134, the Shonan coast road, and the stretch between Zushi and Hayama is its prettiest, with the sea close on one side and low wooded hills on the other. The surface is good, the bends are gentle, and the pace is slow, thanks to traffic lights and a limit that does not allow for much speed. On weekends in summer, the road is jammed with cars, surfers and cyclists, and a ride along it can take twice as long as expected. A weekday morning or a winter dawn is a different experience.
Sunset is the best moment. Mount Fuji, which is visible across the bay on clear days, appears as a dark silhouette against the red sky, and the beaches fill with people who have come to watch. The Morito coast and the beaches of Isshiki are especially good, and small cafes along the shore serve coffee and cake to the sound of the waves. In winter, the air is cold and clear and Fuji appears with a white cap, while in summer, haze and humidity often hide it.
Food in Hayama has a good reputation. The town is known for its beef, raised locally and served in a few restaurants, and for a café culture that has grown up around the beach. The Miura peninsula as a whole is famous for fresh seafood, tuna in particular, and for its radishes and cabbages, grown in fields on the plateau behind. Fuel is available in Hayama, but the choice is wider in Zushi, two or three kilometres away, which has sixty thousand people. In busy periods, parking is difficult, so be prepared to circle. The salt air is hard on chains and metal, and a rinse after a coastal ride is good practice.
- Jogashima water stop
swim · 5 m
Jogashima is an island at the very southern tip of the Miura peninsula, joined to the mainland by a short bridge, and the end of the road in a literal sense. A narrow lane drops through fields of cabbage and radish and a scatter of fishing houses, passes the small town of Misaki, and crosses the bridge to a rocky islet with a lighthouse, a headland path and a view of the open Pacific. On a clear day, the low shape of Izu Oshima appears on the horizon, and freighters slide across the mouth of Tokyo Bay below.
The lighthouse, first lit in the early Meiji years, was one of several built by the British engineer Richard Henry Brunton for the new government, which wanted to make the dangerous waters around Japan safe for foreign ships. The tower on the island today is a later rebuild, but the site is the original. A walk around the rocky shore leads to a sea arch and cliffs of layered sandstone, carved by waves into curious shapes, and the tide pools are full of small crabs and anemones.
Misaki, close to the bridge, is among Japan's best-known tuna ports. The harbour lands fish from far-flung fleets, and the town's restaurants serve tuna in every form: raw, grilled, fried, and as rice bowls with thick slices of dark red flesh. A meal at one of the small places near the harbour is the high point for many riders, and the price is generally fair. Fresh fish is the rule, so do not expect elaborate dishes, just very good ingredients. The fish market opens early, and the best time to visit is in the morning.
Miura has about fifty thousand people and its fuel stations lie along the main road, so fill up there before crossing to the island. Parking on Jogashima is limited and tends to fill up quickly at weekends, but motorbikes are usually squeezed in. Wind blows constantly and can be strong, so be careful on the exposed bridge. Drinking water and toilets are available near the lighthouse, and the shops sell cold drinks and ice cream. In autumn and winter, the light is clear and the air cool, and a late-afternoon visit gives you the sun setting over the sea.
- Back to Tokyo bay exit
finish · 10 m
The route ends here after 151 km.