Winter Motorcycle Riding on Honshu Island, Japan
Update 49 (December 2023)
North East Honshu Island, Japan
My weather window started closing after a few days in Numata. There was snow on the way so I needed to move towards the east coast. The whole central and western side of Honshu Island is now getting regular snow, not in great volumes but enough to disrupt my riding.
I have bought new riding gear since arriving in Japan. I still use the same Japanese brand, Komine. I have now added 12 volt heated pants to my heated jacket. I haven’t ridden in temperatures below 0°C yet but have often been below 5°C. Generally I manage to stay warm enough, although I have trouble with my thumbs and fingers going numb. I have also bought new gloves, one summer and one winter pair. I wear internal liners to the winter gloves but it’s not enough. I could buy heated gloves but they are weak on the safety side so haven’t bothered yet.
Upon leaving Numata, I decided to try cutting through the mountains to avoid the cities. I knew the weather might be against me but I decided to give it a go. The day started sunny, then it rained, then it snowed. Marunuma Kogen Ski resort above.
This is just after I turned around near Marunuma Dam. I was at about 1400 metres and I knew the road got as high as 1820m. I had already lost traction a couple of times. I might be getting soft but lifting the bike is just too much trouble these days. I had to back track about 30 kilometres but I was still glad I tried going through the mountains.
About an hour down the road near Sonohara Dam. It was a nice day again.
Another hotel room view – Yuinomori, Utsunomiya. The air is so fresh and clean at the moment.
A nearby market, looking for lunch. I found some pretty good sushi.
Rice hay, presumably drying out. There doesn’t seem to be as much use of mechanical harvesters here compared to South Korea.
This is Kamaishi on the Sanriku coast. There is still some activity in the town but it has been in decline for many years. The town was badly hit by tsunamis in 1960 and in particular the 2011 earthquake. The town museum has a good display that shows what people have been through here.
Above is the Fukushima Nuclear Plant number 2, in the town of Tomioka. It was damaged in the tsunami but unlike number 1 they were able to shut it down before any major damage.
The town was also badly damaged in 2011 and then evacuated for at least two years because of the radiation from plant number 1 just up the coast. It was many years before rebuilding was completed and people had somewhere to move back to.
The Australian Government has a Do Not Travel advisory for the area but I chose to ignore it. I stayed in Tomioka going north and south. It was a nice town and it just seemed right to go there and spend some money.
Tomioka Beach at sunset.
Just some clean small waves, but this guy had his pick.
Tomioka Beach
A quiet coastal lane near Omoe.
Near Omoe.
Arriving at a hotel. I am not quite sure what my fellow guests make of me. I am certainly pretty rough around the edges compared to them.
This is Misawa, in Aomori prefecture, complete with a few Christmas lights. It was the end of my travels north. It was time to head back south to warmer regions. I ended up just back tracking down the coast. Inland was too cold and snowy.
Back near Tokyo now. The hotel motorcycle parking, my bike had some company for a while.
Tsuyama to Numata, Japan
Update 48 (November 2023)
Tokyo to Kushimoto, Shikoku
Update 50 (December 2023)