Japan 2026

4 – 16 October 2026

Japan Central Alps
by Ninja Tours

Eleven riding days out of Tokyo, ~1,918 km (1,192 mi), ten onsen stays and one round of golf, for three riders — volcano roads, the Sea of Japan coast, and a hot spring every night.

Tokyo → Shima Onsen → Niigata (Sanjo) → Zao (Kaminoyama) → Nikaho Onsen → Iwate (Shizukuishi) → Naruko Onsen → Kaminoyama Onsen → Aizu (Higashiyama) → Yunishigawa Onsen → Tokyo

Overview map of the whole route Open the full trip map in Google Maps ↗

Before you go

Five short guides — worth reading once at home, and again on the plane.

The bikes

Jenifer and Dobi — what each carries, how the pace works two-up, and the fuel and cold problems specific to this route.

Read ↗

Road signs

Seventeen signs you will actually meet, from the red triangle that means STOP to the difference between an SA and a PA.

Read ↗

Riding on the left

One rule that works at any speed, the three moments that catch people out, and a plan for the first hour.

Read ↗

Japanese for the road

Phrases that actually come up — filling up with high octane, paying at the counter, and asking where to park the bike.

Read ↗

Weather & packing

October normals along the route, how much colder every pass is than the forecast says, and what to actually put in the panniers.

Read ↗

Sunday 10/4

Arrive Tokyo

On the road

Land at Haneda Terminal 3. The Airport Limousine is booked: 18:45 departure from Bus Stop 5, arriving Asakusa View Hotel at 20:05 — booking 971557, three passengers, ¥3,900 (about US$26) total, two bags each. The bus sets you down at the hotel door. From there the hotel is one stop from Minami-Senju on the Tsukuba Express, which is where you collect the bikes in the morning.

You land at 17:10, and customs and baggage reclaim can take the best part of an hour — which is why the 18:45 limousine has a comfortable margin. A minibus transfer is also booked and confirmed, US$66.96, as the faster option if you are through quickly. Whichever you end up taking, cancel the other.

Worth stopping for

  • Senso-ji and Nakamise-doriinfo — five minutes' walk from most Asakusa hotels, and best after dark when the day crowds have gone.
  • Nakamise-dori toward the Hozomon gate — this is the middle of the day. Come after dark.
    Nakamise-dori toward the Hozomon gate — this is the middle of the day. Come after dark.
  • Kappabashi kitchenware streetinfo — a few hundred metres of chef's knives, cast iron and lacquerware, if you want something to ship home.
  • The Niimi chef's head marks the Asakusa-dori end of Kappabashi.
    The Niimi chef's head marks the Asakusa-dori end of Kappabashi.
  • Hoppy-doriinfo — a lane of open-fronted izakaya behind Senso-ji, and the easiest first-night dinner in Asakusa.
  • Hoppy-dori after dark — stools on the street, motsu-ni and grilled skewers.
    Hoppy-dori after dark — stools on the street, motsu-ni and grilled skewers.
  • Asakusa View Hotel to Hoppy-dori — about 5 minutes on foot.
    Asakusa View Hotel to Hoppy-dori — about 5 minutes on foot.

Lodging

Asakusa View Hotel (浅草ビューホテル)

浅草 Asakusa is written 浅 (asa) shallow and 草 (kusa) grass. The airport limousine bus from Haneda stops at the door, and the hotel sits on top of Tsukuba Express Asakusa station — one stop and about three minutes from Minami-Senju, where you collect the bikes in the morning. Rated 4.1 across nearly 7,900 reviews, with upper floors looking over Senso-ji to the Skytree. The recurring complaint is noise, so ask for a high floor away from the street. Booked 4–5 October, two rooms, US$601, free cancellation.

www.viewhotels.jp/asakusa ↗
Asakusa View Hotel (浅草ビューホテル)

Monday 10/5

Tokyo → Shima Onsen

Tokyo179 km (111 mi)Shima Onsen

October normal21/14 °C (70/57 °F)→Destination temperature16/9 °C (61/48 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 16 min

On the road

Pickup at Rushcorp, then north out of the city on Route 4 — over the Arakawa, west along the river, and out through Itabashi on surface roads rather than straight onto an expressway. A quiet first hour by Tokyo standards, which is the whole point on a morning when all three of you are still learning to keep left. Out into Gunma as far as Takasaki, then over Mount Haruna on prefectural Route 28. The climb from the Takasaki side narrows at Matsunozawa Pass — no room for anything large — then opens out at Lake Haruna, a caldera lake at 1,084 m (3,556 ft) with Haruna-Fuji standing over it, and runs down the far side two lanes wide with climbing lanes to Higashi-Agatsuma. From there west up the Agatsuma valley on R145 through Nakanojo, where a narrow road climbs the last few kilometres to Hinatami at the top of Shima Onsen, inside Joshin'etsu-kogen National Park. 179 km (111 mi) and about four hours in the saddle — and not the gentle first day it looks on paper, because Haruna is a real mountain road and it lands in the afternoon of the day you pick the bikes up.

The Rushcorp Motorcycle Rentals shopfront in Minami-Senju, under a blue awning
Rushcorp, Arakawa-ku. Look for the blue awning — the shop is behind the folding glass doors, shuttered here before opening. Tel 03-3891-4333.
Route map

Running order

Six hours for 179 km sounds generous. About four and a half of it is riding — the first 50 km are Tokyo traffic and the last 60 are mountain road — which leaves roughly ninety minutes of stopping on a day with jet lag, unfamiliar bikes and the wrong side of the road. That is two stops, not four.

10:00Leave Rushcorp. Don’t stop for the first 50 km — it is Route 4 and suburban arterials, nothing worth the time, and this is where you bank the buffer. Kawagoe’s kurazukuri street is genuinely lovely, but it is 3.8 km (2.4 mi) off the line and through town traffic: forty minutes round trip you will want later.
12:45–13:25Takasaki, 122 km (76 mi) in. Fuel and lunch. The one non-negotiable stop — last easy services before the climb, and you want full tanks before Route 28. Takasaki is the daruma town, and Shorinzan Daruma-ji is 3 km off if you are curious, but on a first day just eat and go.
14:25–14:50Lake Haruna, 145 km (90 mi) in. The payoff: a caldera lake at 1,084 m (3,556 ft) with Haruna-Fuji standing over it, the road running 300 m from the water. Mid-October should have colour coming in at that altitude.
15:10–15:20Nakanojo, 163 km (101 mi) in. Convenience store and the last fuel before the valley narrows.
15:30–15:40The Shima potholes, 168 km (104 mi) in. Eight water-bored shafts in the riverbed, free, a two-minute walk from the car park.
16:00Tsuruya, 11 km (7 mi) on from the potholes. Check-in runs 15:00 to 17:00, so this lands mid-window with an hour in hand.

Worth stopping for

  • Takasaki, the daruma towninfo — 122 km (76 mi) in. Shorinzan Daruma-ji started making them here in the 18th century as winter work for local farmers, and Takasaki still turns out most of Japan’s daruma. The round base is weighted, so a knocked-over daruma rights itself: 七転び八起き, fall down seven times, get up eight. The temple is 3 km (1.9 mi) off the line.
  • Two blank-eyed daruma, one white marked 幸 and one red marked 福
    Sold blank-eyed. You paint the left eye when you set the goal and the right when it happens — the white one carries 幸 (happiness), the red 福 (fortune).
  • Mount Harunainfo — the reason Route 28 is on this route at all. A tight climb out of Takasaki, pinched at Matsunozawa Pass, then hairpins up to the caldera rim.
  • Lake Harunainfo — 145 km (90 mi) in, the caldera lake at 1,084 m (3,556 ft), with Haruna-Fuji standing 1,390 m (4,562 ft) over the far shore. The obvious place to stop before the run down to Agatsuma.
  • Lake Haruna in the caldera with Haruna-Fuji rising beyond it
    The caldera seen from the rim — Haruna-Fuji is the cone on the left, the lake sits at 1,084 m (3,556 ft). Shot in summer; by early October the slopes are beginning to turn.
  • The Shima potholesinfo — 168 km (104 mi) in. 四万の甌穴群. Eight shafts bored straight down into the riverbed rock, not by the water but by pebbles caught in a standing eddy and turning in the same spot for centuries. The smallest is 20 cm across; the largest is over 3 m wide and 3.2 m deep. A Gunma natural monument since 1971. Right on R353 about ten kilometres short of the ryokan, free, with a car park and a two-minute walk down to the decks — and the same blue water as the lakes, held in rock cylinders.
  • A deep circular pothole of clear green water in the Shima riverbed, with rapids spilling over the rock above it
    One of the eight. The rim is the tell — ground perfectly round by a pebble turning in the same eddy, not cut by the current running past it.
  • Shima Blueinfo — Okushima Lake and Shima Lake hold an unusually vivid blue from suspended minerals. Best in flat morning light.
  • Okushima Lake — the colour is real, not a filter.
    Okushima Lake — the colour is real, not a filter.
  • Sekizenkaninfo — the 1691 inn with the red bridge, five minutes down the valley from Tsuruya. Widely cited as an inspiration for the bathhouse in Spirited Away, though Ghibli has never confirmed any single model. The oldest surviving wooden onsen building in Japan either way.
  • The red bridge at Sekizenkan with the 1691 main building behind it
    The red bridge — Keiun-bashi — and the 1691 Honkan behind it. Shot with the trees bare; in October the valley around it is turning.
  • Hinatami Yakushidoinfo — a 1598 temple hall built over the spring, one of the oldest surviving onsen structures in Japan and an Important Cultural Property. A few minutes' walk from the inn.
  • The thatched hall at Hinatami. The plaque above the door marks it an Important Cultural Property.
    The thatched hall at Hinatami. The plaque above the door marks it an Important Cultural Property.

Lodging

Shikanozoki-no-yu Tsuruya (鹿覗きの湯 つるや)

The name reads “Deer-Peeking Hot Spring” — 鹿覗きの湯, from deer that came down to the water. つるや is usually written 鶴屋: 鶴 (tsuru) crane, 屋 (ya) shop or house, so “Crane House” — a classic Japanese business name. Rated 4.1 from 280 reviews, at the quiet top end of the Shima valley. Four private baths plus rooms with their own tub — the large rock bath is what guests single out. English is spoken and reviewers repeatedly mention how well the staff handle foreign guests. A few note the price sits high for what the rooms are.

Tsuruya entrance
The entrance, with the name stone on the right. Parking is on the left as you arrive — the small sign reads つるや P.
tsuruya.net ↗
Check in15:00–17:00 · out 10:00
Solo riderRoom “Sakura” — Japanese/western twin, 40 m² (431 sq ft), open-air onsen bath and toilet, main building, non-smokingRoom Sakura
Two-up pairRoom “Tsuki” — twin beds and living room, 91.3 m² (983 sq ft), open-air onsen bath and toilet, non-smokingRoom Tsuki
DinnerFrom 19:00 — local seasonal course menu
BreakfastJapanese set menu
BathsFour private baths free to use: open-air onsen, indoor onsen, sauna, bedrock bath
Tel0279-64-2927

Tuesday 10/6

Shima Onsen → Niigata (Sanjo)

Shima Onsen242 km (150 mi)Niigata (Sanjo)

October normal16/9 °C (61/48 °F)→Destination temperature20/12 °C (68/54 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 21 min

On the road

Back down the Shima valley to Nakanojo, then west through Kusatsu and up onto the Shiga-Kusatsu Kogen Route. R292 crosses the range at Shibu Pass, 2,172 m (7,126 ft) — the highest point of any national road in Japan — with Kusatsu-Shirane steaming beside it. Down the far side to Jigokudani and Shibu Onsen, then north through Iiyama, across the Chikuma into Niigata, and on through Tsunan and Tokamachi to the Uonuma plain and Sanjo. 242 km (150 mi) and about five and a half hours in the saddle: the longest day of the trip, and the best road on it.

Route map

Running order

The longest day of the trip and the one with no slack in it. 242 km, about five and a half hours riding, and Snow Peak stops taking check-ins at 16:30 — so the stops stay short. Coffee and a sandwich at a 7-Eleven rather than a sit-down lunch.

09:00Leave Tsuruya, down the Shima valley to Nakanojo, then west.
10:15–10:40Kusatsu, 43 km (27 mi) in. Fuel, then the Yubatake — it is a five-minute walk each way from the car park, so the look itself is about ten minutes. Last easy petrol before the pass.
11:35–11:50Shibu Pass, 71 km (44 mi) in, 2,172 m (7,126 ft). Fifteen minutes at the highest point of any national road in Japan.
12:15–13:00Jigokudani, 82 km (51 mi) in. Forty-five minutes. Pay the ¥500 (about US$3) for the upper car park — 10 to 15 minutes’ walk each way, against roughly thirty from the free Kanbayashi lot. The park runs 8:30 to 17:00 in October, ¥800 (about US$5) to enter. Expect macaques but not the winter photograph: in warm months the wardens have to coax them into the bath.
14:45–14:50Tokamachi, 166 km (103 mi) in. Fuel.
16:15Snow Peak, 76 km (47 mi) on from Tokamachi. Check-in closes at 16:30, so every minute over at Jigokudani comes straight out of this.

Worth stopping for

  • The Yubatake, Kusatsuinfo — 43 km (27 mi) in. 湯畑 reads “hot water field,” and it is a cooling plant in the middle of the street. Four thousand litres a minute arrive at 55 °C, too hot to bathe in. Kusatsu will not thin its water with cold — at pH 2.1 the strength is the whole point — so instead the flow is spread across seven open wooden troughs and cooled by air alone before it drops to the pool and runs on to the bathhouses. The sulphur that settles in the troughs is scraped out, dried and sold as yunohana (湯の花, “hot water flower” — the mineral crust the spring leaves behind, packaged as a bath additive so you can make onsen water at home). The granite surround was going to be rectangular until Okamoto Taro — the artist behind the Tower of the Sun at Expo ’70 — was asked to design it in 1975 and made it a gourd instead, so that an organic outline would play against the straight lines of the troughs inside. He laid out the promenade that circles it too, and his name is cut into the stone. Parking: Kusatsu Parking is ¥100 per 30 minutes and about 40 spaces; the larger Yubatake Kanko Parking has a motorcycle area but charges a flat two-hour minimum. Both are about five minutes’ walk, so a ten-minute look costs nearer twenty-five door to door.
  • The Yubatake at Kusatsu Onsen — seven wooden troughs of steaming water crossing a stone plaza, with a pale green pool below
    Seven troughs carry the source across the square. Everything here follows from one decision: cool the water by surface area rather than dilute it.
  • Shibu Passinfo — 71 km (44 mi) in, the highest point of any national road in Japan, 2,172 m (7,126 ft) on R292, marked by a stone and a signboard, and usually a row of bikes parked in front of both. The wording matters: this is the highest national road. Japan’s highest paved road is the Norikura Skyline at 2,702 m (8,865 ft), but it has been closed to private vehicles since 2003 — buses, taxis and bicycles only — so 2,172 m is as high as you can ride.
  • Aerial view of a road switchbacking repeatedly down a steep wooded mountainside with patches of snow
    The hairpins stacked down the slope below the pass — snow still in the gullies. This is the shape of the last few kilometres either side of the top.
  • Jigokudani Monkey Parkinfo — 82 km (51 mi) in, wild macaques at a hot-spring pool in the valley below Shiga Kōgen. Admission ¥800 (about US$5) each. Park free at Kanbayashi and walk the 2 km (1.2 mi) Yumichi trail, about 30 minutes, or pay ¥500 (about US$3) at the Jigokudani lot for a 15-minute walk up a narrow logging road.
  • Japanese macaques at the Jigokudani hot-spring pool in winter
    The winter scene the park is famous for. The macaques are resident year-round but soak mainly when it is cold, so in October expect them on the rocks and around the pool rather than in it — and no snow.
  • Shibu Onseninfo — nine public baths along a stone lane, five minutes from the monkey park and the traditional pairing with it.
  • The Uonuma rice fieldsinfo — harvested and gold in October, and the source of the rice you will be eating all week.
  • Terraced paddies in the growing season — by October these are cut and stubbled.
    Terraced paddies in the growing season — by October these are cut and stubbled.
  • Tsubame-Sanjoinfo — Japan's metalworking capital. Knife and tool workshops open to visitors, and the reason Snow Peak is headquartered here.
  • Damascus-clad blades in a Tsubame-Sanjo showroom — ship anything you buy rather than carrying it on the bike.
    Damascus-clad blades in a Tsubame-Sanjo showroom — ship anything you buy rather than carrying it on the bike.

Lodging

Snow Peak FIELD SUITE SPA HEADQUARTERS (スノーピーク)

Snow Peak writes its name in katakana, スノーピーク, so there is no kanji reading. The town, 三条 Sanjo, is 三 (san) three and 条 (jo) line. Rated 4.4 from over 500 reviews — not a ryokan but a design resort on Snow Peak's own campfield. Architect-built suites and standalone cabins with decks, plus indoor and outdoor onsen and a sauna looking at the mountains. Reviewers rate the spa and the food highly and describe the site as exceptionally quiet at night. Tattoos are allowed in the baths only during limited hours, so confirm at check-in.

www.snowpeak.co.jp/fieldsuitespa/hq ↗
Check in15:00–16:30 · out 11:00
Solo rider“Jubako” — king bed and living room, 24 m² (258 sq ft), shower and toilet, non-smoking. Designed with Kengo KumaSnow Peak room Jubako
Two-up pair“Snow” — twin beds and living room, 50 m² (538 sq ft), bath and toilet, non-smokingSnow Peak room Snow
DinnerFrench course menu. The hotel assigns your start time between 17:30 and 19:00, first come first served — check in early if you want the earlier slot
BreakfastJapanese set menu
Tel0256-46-5650
Snow Peak FIELD SUITE SPA HEADQUARTERS (スノーピーク)

Wednesday 10/7

Niigata (Sanjo) → Zao (Kaminoyama)

Niigata (Sanjo)181 km (113 mi)Zao (Kaminoyama)

October normal20/12 °C (68/54 °F)→Destination temperature19/10 °C (66/50 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 16 min

On the road

North across the Niigata plain to Shibata, then R113 east up the Arakawa valley — the old Yonezawa highway, a river road nearly the whole way — over the prefectural border at Oguni and through Nan'yo to Kaminoyama.

Route map

Running order

181 km and about four hours riding — the first day of the trip with real slack in it. Snow Peak checks out at 11:00, Koyo takes check-ins until 17:00 and dinner is from 18:30, so nothing is pushing.

10:00Leave Snow Peak. Check-out is 11:00, so there is no need to hurry over breakfast. North across the Niigata plain.
11:20–11:30Shibata, 65 km (40 mi) in. Fuel.
12:10–13:00Michi-no-eki Sekikawa, 96 km (60 mi) in. Lunch where R113 runs through the Arakawa gorge — the prettiest stretch of the day.
13:30–13:45Oguni, 117 km (73 mi) in. Beech forest either side of the road, which should be turning at this altitude.
15:10–15:40Kaminoyama Castle, 181 km (112 mi) in. The castle and the samurai street below it, 700 m short of the ryokan — easier now than doubling back tomorrow.
15:45Koyo, 700 m (0.4 mi) on from the castle. Check-in runs to 17:00 and dinner is from 18:30, so there is a bath and an hour spare before either.

Worth stopping for

  • Michi-no-eki Sekikawa and the Arakawa gorgeinfo — 96 km (60 mi) in, the prettiest stretch of R113 and a natural lunch stop.
  • Oguniinfo — 117 km (73 mi) in, beech forest either side of the road, which should be turning at this altitude in early October.
  • Kaminoyama Castleinfo — 181 km (112 mi) in, the castle and the samurai residences below it; free foot baths are dotted through the town.

Lodging

Nihon-no-yado Koyo (日本の宿 古窯)

日本の宿 means simply “inn of Japan.” 古窯 Koyo is 古 (ko) old and 窯 (yo) kiln — an old pottery kiln on the site gave the inn its name. Rated 4.4 from over 2,200 reviews, which is a very large sample for a ryokan. Rooftop bath with an outdoor section, some rooms with private open-air tubs, and dinners built around Yonezawa beef and Tsuyahime rice. Breakfast is served in a large hall, which a few reviewers find impersonal for the price.

www.koyoga.com ↗
Check in15:00–17:00 · out 10:00
Both roomsJapanese/western twin, 60 m² (646 sq ft), open-air onsen bath and toilet, Mt. Zao view, non-smoking. The two rooms are on different floorsKoyo roomKoyo open-air bath
DinnerFrom 18:30 — Yamagata beef sukiyaki course, in a private dining room
BreakfastBuffet
Tel0570-00-5454
Nihon-no-yado Koyo (日本の宿 古窯)

Thursday 10/8

Zao (Kaminoyama) → Nikaho Onsen

Zao (Kaminoyama)206 km (128 mi)Nikaho Onsen

October normal19/10 °C (66/50 °F)→Destination temperature19/11 °C (66/52 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 18 min

On the road

North past Yamagata city to Sagae, then R112 west over the Gassan range — the road threads between Gassan and Yudono-san, and the tunnels and snowsheds along it are there for a reason. Down onto the Shonai plain at Tsuruoka and Sakata, then R7 up the coast to Fukura, where the Chokai Blue Line turns inland and climbs to about 1,100 m (3,600 ft) on the flank of Mt. Chokai before dropping back to the sea at Kisakata. 206 km (128 mi), and the best of it is in the last fifty.

Route map

Running order

206 km and about four and a half hours riding. Koyo checks out at 10:00 and Ichie takes check-ins from 15:00 to 17:00. Leaving at 09:00 rather than at check-out matters because the Blue Line sits at the very end of the day: the early start puts an hour between anything that goes wrong in the morning and the one road you came for, and leaves that hour spare on the mountain if it doesn’t.

09:00Leave Koyo. North past Yamagata to Sagae, then west onto R112.
10:00–10:15Michi-no-eki Nishikawa, 45 km (28 mi) in. Coffee at the foot of Gassan.
11:30–12:15Tsuruoka, 113 km (70 mi) in. Lunch.
12:40–13:00Sakata, 136 km (85 mi) in. The Sankyo rice warehouses and their row of zelkova.
13:25Fukura, 155 km (96 mi) in. The Blue Line starts here.
14:05–14:25Ohira, 175 km (109 mi) in. The top of the Blue Line, about 1,100 m (3,600 ft). Twenty minutes is the plan — but the 09:00 start means you can take an hour here if the weather is worth it, and still be at Ichie inside the window.
15:00–15:15Kisakata, 194 km (121 mi) in. The islands stranded in the rice paddies.
15:35Ichie, 12 km (7 mi) on from Kisakata. Check-in opens at 15:00, so this arrives right on time.

Worth stopping for

  • Yamadera (Risshaku-ji)info — a thousand stone steps up a cliff to a temple among the rocks, where Basho wrote the cicada haiku. 10.9 km (6.8 mi) off the line, so allow ninety minutes all in — which does not fit alongside the Blue Line on the same day.
  • The Kaisan-do and Nokyo-do at the top of the climb, with the Yamadera valley below.
    The Kaisan-do and Nokyo-do at the top of the climb, with the Yamadera valley below.
  • Sakatainfo — 136 km (85 mi) in, the Sankyo rice warehouses with their row of zelkova trees, and the Homma Museum garden.
  • The Chokai Blue Lineinfo — starts 155 km (96 mi) in: prefectural route 210, 39 km (24 mi) from Fukura up to about 1,100 m (3,600 ft) at Ohira and back down to Kisakata, sea to summit to sea. The gates shut at night from around 24 October and the road closes for winter in early November, so 8 October is comfortably clear of both — but the dates move each year.
  • A motorcyclist on an open curve of the Chokai Blue Line high above the coast, the Sea of Japan beyond
    Above the treeline, with the Sea of Japan laid out below — it is in view for most of the climb and most of the way back down.
  • Kisakatainfo — 194 km (121 mi) in. 九十九島, the ninety-nine islands, and the strangest landscape on the route. About 2,500 years ago a flank of Mount Chokai collapsed and ran out to the sea as a debris avalanche; water filled the hollows between the rubble mounds and left a shallow lagoon studded with wooded islets. It became one of the most admired views in the north — Basho came in 1689 and set it against Matsushima, the one cheerful and this one melancholy. Then on 10 July 1804 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck directly beneath it. Three to five hundred people died, a one-metre tsunami flooded three hundred houses here and in Sakata, and the seabed was lifted clear of the water. The lagoon drained. Farmers turned the new ground into rice fields and left the islands standing, so what you ride past is a flat plain of paddy with the old islets marooned in it as tree-covered mounds, Chokai filling the sky behind. A National Natural Monument since 1934. The mirror reflections people photograph come in May and June when the fields are flooded; on 8 October it will be cut stubble.
  • Aerial view at sunset of the flat Kisakata paddy plain with the old islands standing in it as wooded mounds, the Sea of Japan beyond
    The drained lagoon from the air — every wooded mound is one of the old islands. Shot just before harvest; by 8 October the fields will be cut.

Lodging

Ichie (一会)

一会 Ichie is 一 (ichi) one and 会 (e) meeting, from 一期一会 — “one lifetime, one encounter,” the tea-ceremony idea that every meeting happens only once. Rated 3.7 from 250 reviews — the lowest-rated stop on the trip, and worth knowing before you arrive. The rooms were renovated a few years ago and reviewers praise the cypress open-air baths and the traditional breakfast; some rooms have a private sauna and cold plunge. The complaints are consistent too: an ageing building and inconsistent front-desk service.

nikaho-ichie.jp ↗
Check in15:00–17:00 · out 10:00
Both roomsJapanese/western twin, open-air onsen bath and toilet, non-smokingIchie room
DinnerFrom 18:30 — local foods course menu
BreakfastJapanese set menu
Tel0120-353-305
Ichie (一会)

Friday 10/9

Nikaho Onsen → Iwate (Shizukuishi)

Nikaho Onsen156 km (97 mi)Iwate (Shizukuishi)

October normal19/11 °C (66/52 °F)→Destination temperature16/8 °C (61/46 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 14 min

On the road

Inland from Kisakata across the Akita rice plain to Daisen, then north to Kakunodate — the samurai quarter, black wooden fences and weeping cherries along them. On past Lake Tazawa, the deepest lake in Japan, and over Sengan Pass on R46 into Iwate, finishing under Mt. Iwate at Shizukuishi. 156 km (97 mi) and the shortest riding day of the trip — the Chokai Blue Line is behind you, ridden yesterday afternoon.

Route map

Running order

156 km and about three and a quarter hours riding — the shortest riding day of the trip. Ichie checks out at 10:00, Mori-no-kaze takes check-ins until 17:00, and dinner is not until 19:30. Nothing about this day is tight, which after yesterday’s Blue Line finish is the point.

10:00Leave Ichie. Inland from Kisakata across the Akita plain.
11:50–12:50Kakunodate, 86 km (53 mi) in. The samurai quarter and lunch — an hour is about right to walk the black-fenced street.
13:20–13:50Lake Tazawa, 108 km (67 mi) in. Japan’s deepest lake, 2.6 km (1.6 mi) off the line.
14:25–14:55Nyuto Onsen, 120 km (75 mi) in. Optional — 7.8 km (4.8 mi) off the line up a dead-end valley. Worth it only if you want to see it; the baths are for staying guests.
15:30–15:40Sengan Pass, 138 km (86 mi) in. The R46 crossing into Iwate.
16:05Hotel Mori-no-kaze Oshuku, 18 km (11 mi) on from Sengan Pass.

Worth stopping for

  • Kakunodateinfo — 86 km (53 mi) in, the best-preserved samurai district in the north, dark wooden walls and weeping cherries. Twenty minutes' walk end to end.
  • Lake Tazawainfo — 108 km (67 mi) in, the deepest lake in Japan at 423 m (1,388 ft), and a startling cobalt blue. The gilded Tatsuko statue stands in the shallows on the west shore.
  • The Tatsuko statue on the west shore, with Mt. Akita-Komagatake across the water.
    The Tatsuko statue on the west shore, with Mt. Akita-Komagatake across the water.
  • Nyuto Onseninfo — 120 km (75 mi) in, up a side road from Tazawa; if you have a spare hour, Tsurunoyu's milky open-air bath is the famous one.
  • Sengan Passinfo — the R46 crossing into Iwate at 138 km (86 mi) in, 1.3 km (0.8 mi) off the line. Tunnels and long sweepers rather than hairpins.

Lodging

Hotel Mori-no-kaze Oshuku (ホテル森の風鶯宿)

森の風 is 森 (mori) forest and 風 (kaze) wind — “wind in the forest.” 鶯宿 Oshuku is 鶯 (uguisu) bush warbler and 宿 (shuku) lodging: a warbler is said to have healed itself in the spring here. Rated 4.2 from over 300 reviews, at Oshuku Onsen in Shizukuishi with Mt. Iwate behind it. Three linked buildings, large rooms, and options with a private in-room onsen. Reviewers say the exterior looks dated but the interiors are well kept, and single out the dining hall and the evening performance. Two minutes from the golf course.

www.morinokaze.com ↗
Check in15:00–17:00 · out 10:00
Solo riderTatami and futon room, half open-air onsen bath and toilet, non-smokingMori-no-kaze tatami room
Two-up pairTwin beds and living room, half open-air onsen bath and toilet, non-smokingMori-no-kaze twin room
Dinner19:30–21:00 — special Japanese course menu
BreakfastJapanese set menu
Tel019-695-3333
Hotel Mori-no-kaze Oshuku (ホテル森の風鶯宿)

Saturday 10/10

Golf: Hachimantai Country Club

October normal16/8 °C (61/46 °F)altitude math ↗

On the road

No riding. The course is effectively next door to the hotel — under two kilometres — so the panniers stay packed and the day is entirely yours.

Hachimantai Country Club, with Mt. Iwate behind the clubhouse.
Hachimantai Country Club, with Mt. Iwate behind the clubhouse.

Worth stopping for

  • Mt. Iwateinfo — fills the skyline from most of the course; mid-October should have the surrounding forest in full colour.
  • Hachimantai Aspite Lineinfo — an hour north, and a superb afternoon out-and-back if you finish early.
  • Koiwai Farminfo — twenty minutes east, for the tree-lined approach and the soft-serve.
  • The lone cherry on the Koiwai pasture, with Mt. Iwate behind. Blossom is spring — in October the grass is gold and the peak is bare.
    The lone cherry on the Koiwai pasture, with Mt. Iwate behind. Blossom is spring — in October the grass is gold and the peak is bare.

Lodging

Hotel Mori-no-kaze Oshuku (ホテル森の風鶯宿) — second night

Hotel Mori-no-kaze Oshuku (ホテル森の風鶯宿) — second night

Same inn as last night — no packing, no check-in, and the baths are waiting when you come off the eighteenth.

www.morinokaze.com ↗
DinnerSpecial Japanese course menu, different from the first night
BreakfastJapanese set menu

Sunday 10/11

Iwate (Shizukuishi) → Naruko Onsen

Iwate (Shizukuishi)175 km (108 mi)Naruko Onsen

October normal16/8 °C (61/46 °F)→Destination temperature18/9 °C (64/48 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 15 min

On the road

South out of Shizukuishi down the west side of the Ou range — not the R4 corridor through Morioka but the quieter line through Nishiwaga and the Yokote basin, forest and reservoirs most of the way. Into Miyagi past Onikobe, and the last stretch drops through the Naruko Gorge, which in mid-October is one of the best foliage runs in Tohoku. 175 km (108 mi): a transit day with a very good ending.

Route map

Running order

175 km and about three and three quarter hours riding. The thing to know is that Naruko Hotel stops taking check-ins at 16:00, an hour earlier than most of the trip. The gorge is the last three kilometres of the day, so you can stop there and still be in on time — but there is no room for a long lunch as well.

10:00Leave Mori-no-kaze. South down the west side of the Ou range.
11:10–11:20Nishiwaga, 51 km (32 mi) in. Fuel. Reservoir country with almost nothing on the road.
11:50–12:40Yokote, 73 km (45 mi) in. Lunch — Yokote yakisoba if you want the local thing.
14:15–14:35Onikobe, 144 km (89 mi) in. Steam vents and small onsen, about 4.7 km (2.9 mi) off the line.
15:15–15:30Naruko Gorge, 172 km (107 mi) in. Peak colour in mid-October.
15:35Naruko Hotel, 3 km (2 mi) on from the gorge — check-in closes at 16:00.

Worth stopping for

  • Nishiwagainfo — 51 km (32 mi) in and 1.9 km (1.2 mi) off the line. Reservoir country, almost no traffic, and the snowiest inhabited place in Honshu in winter.
  • The Yokote basininfo — 73 km (45 mi) in, 1.9 km (1.2 mi) off. Rice plain ringed by mountains; Yokote yakisoba is the local lunch if the timing lands.
  • Onikobeinfo — 144 km (89 mi) in, about 4.7 km (2.9 mi) off. A geothermal basin of steam vents and small onsen just before the drop into Naruko.
  • Naruko Gorgeinfo — 172 km (107 mi) in, the Ofukazawa bridge viewpoint is the classic shot. Naruko town is also the home of kokeshi dolls, with workshops open to visitors.
  • The Rikuu East line crossing the gorge at peak colour — mid-October is the window.
    The Rikuu East line crossing the gorge at peak colour — mid-October is the window.

Lodging

Naruko Hotel (鳴子ホテル)

鳴子 Naruko is 鳴 (naru) to cry out and 子 (ko) child — from a legend of an infant who cried at the spring. Rated 4.2 from nearly 1,700 reviews, operating since 1873 and five minutes from the station. Water is drawn from several sources and is often milky white — the colour shifts day to day. Private baths can be booked for about ¥2,000 (about US$13) for fifty minutes, the yukata are printed with kokeshi (こけし — the limbless wooden dolls Naruko is famous for), and the dinner buffet gets consistently good marks. The whole town smells of sulphur.

www.narukohotel.co.jp ↗
Check in15:00–16:00 · out 10:00 — note the earlier cut-off
RoomsTatami and futon for all three of you, each with bath and toilet, non-smokingA tatami and futon room at Naruko Hotel
Private bathBooked 17:00–18:50 for all three of you
DinnerFrom 19:00 for 90 minutes, buffet. The restaurant closes at 20:30, and you may go in from about 18:45
BreakfastBuffet
Tel0229-83-2001
Naruko Hotel (鳴子ホテル)

Monday 10/12

Naruko Onsen → Kaminoyama Onsen

Naruko Onsen196 km (122 mi)Kaminoyama Onsen

October normal18/9 °C (64/48 °F)→Destination temperature19/10 °C (66/50 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 17 min

On the road

West from Naruko to Ginzan Onsen, then south and east across to Akiu on the edge of Sendai before turning back west over the Zao Echo Line — over the shoulder of Zao, past the Okama crater lake — and down to Kaminoyama. 196 km (122 mi): a long way round, and the Echo Line is the reason.

Route map

Running order

196 km and about four and a quarter hours riding, and Hashimotoya also closes check-in at 16:00. Leaving at Naruko’s 10:00 check-out leaves under two hours of stopping for a day that has Ginzan Onsen and the Zao Echo Line in it, so 09:00 is the departure that works.

09:00Leave Naruko Hotel. West towards Ginzan.
10:00–10:45Ginzan Onsen, 42 km (26 mi) in. Park outside the village — the street itself is closed to cars.
12:20–13:00Akiu Onsen, 119 km (74 mi) in. Lunch on the edge of Sendai.
14:10–14:35The Okama crater, 165 km (103 mi) in, on the Zao Echo Line. 2.0 km (1.2 mi) off the line.
15:20Hatago-no-kokoro Hashimotoya, 31 km (19 mi) on from the Okama — check-in closes at 16:00.

Worth stopping for

  • Ginzan Onseninfo — 42 km (26 mi) in, a short detour north of Obanazawa; Taisho-era wooden inns facing each other across a stream, gas lamps at dusk. The most photographed hot spring street in Japan, and it earns it.
  • Ginzan in autumn colour. Park outside the village — the street itself is closed to traffic.
    Ginzan in autumn colour. Park outside the village — the street itself is closed to traffic.
  • Akiu Onseninfo — 119 km (74 mi) in and 1.3 km (0.8 mi) off the line. Sendai’s own hot spring town, with the Akiu Otaki waterfall just upstream.
  • The Zao Echo Line and the Okama craterinfo — 165 km (103 mi) in, 2.0 km (1.2 mi) off. The crossing of the Zao range, with the Okama crater lake on the shoulder. It closes at night from early November and for winter shortly after, so early October is clear — but check before the day.
  • Kaminoyama Castleinfo — and the town's foot baths, this time with an afternoon to use them.

Lodging

Hatago-no-kokoro Hashimotoya (旅籠の心 橋本屋)

旅籠 hatago was the word for an Edo-period travellers’ inn, and 心 (kokoro) is heart or spirit — “the spirit of the old inn.” 橋本屋 Hashimotoya is 橋 (hashi) bridge, 本 (moto) origin, 屋 (ya) house. Rated 4.5 from 338 reviews — the highest-rated stop on the trip, and a few doors from where you stayed on Day 3. A rabbit motif runs through the whole building down to the tableware, meals are served in private rooms, and both public baths have open-air sections. Reviewers describe the layout as a small maze and the presentation as the reason to come.

www.hasimotoya.com ↗
Check in15:00–16:00 · out 10:00 — note the earlier cut-off
Both roomsTwin beds or futon, with bath and toilet, non-smokingHashimotoya room
Private bathsTwo kinds, free to use from check-in until 22:00, for all three
Dinner18:00–20:00 — beef shabu-shabu and beef steak course
BreakfastJapanese set menu
Tel023-672-0295
Hatago-no-kokoro Hashimotoya (旅籠の心 橋本屋)

Tuesday 10/13

Kaminoyama Onsen → Aizu (Higashiyama)

Kaminoyama Onsen158 km (98 mi)Aizu (Higashiyama)

October normal19/10 °C (66/50 °F)→Destination temperature19/9 °C (66/48 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 14 min

On the road

South from Kaminoyama through the Yonezawa basin and over into Fukushima, then up onto the Bandai-Azuma Lake Line, the southern of the two Bandai skyline roads, past Goshiki-numa and its five-coloured ponds. Down to Inawashiro and west to Aizuwakamatsu. 158 km (98 mi).

Route map

Running order

158 km and about three and a quarter hours riding, with check-in open until 17:00. An easy day, and the one where Yonezawa finally makes sense: it sits 0.9 km off this line, against 12.5 km on the 7th.

10:00Leave Hashimotoya. South through the Yonezawa basin.
10:45–11:15Yonezawa, 32 km (20 mi) in. The beef at source, and Uesugi Shrine if you want it — 0.9 km off the line.
12:40–13:20Tsuchiyu, about 95 km (59 mi) in. Lunch before the climb.
13:55–14:25Goshiki-numa, 120 km (75 mi) in, at the far end of the Bandai-Azuma Lake Line. The ponds are a short walk from the road.
15:10–15:45Tsuruga Castle, 155 km (96 mi) in, on the way into Aizuwakamatsu.
15:50Konjakutei, 3 km (2 mi) on from Tsuruga Castle.

Worth stopping for

  • The Bandai-Azuma Lake Lineinfo — 115 km (71 mi) in and 1.5 km (0.9 mi) off the line. A ridge road above Lake Akimoto and Lake Onogawa; the higher Skyline is a separate road and is not on this route.
  • Goshiki-numainfo — 120 km (75 mi) in, the five coloured ponds on the Ura-Bandai side, each a different shade from mineral content. A flat 3.6 km (2.2 mi) trail links them.
  • Lake Inawashiroinfo — the fourth largest in Japan, with Mt. Bandai reflected in it on a still morning.
  • Tsuruga Castleinfo — 155 km (96 mi) in, at Aizuwakamatsu, ten minutes from the inn.
  • Tsuruga Castle above its stone base — the keep is a 1965 reconstruction on the original foundations.
    Tsuruga Castle above its stone base — the keep is a 1965 reconstruction on the original foundations.

Lodging

Konjakutei (今昔亭)

今昔亭 Konjakutei is 今 (kon) now, 昔 (jaku) long ago, 亭 (tei) pavilion — “the pavilion of then and now.” Rated 4.3 from 252 reviews, at Higashiyama Onsen on the edge of Aizuwakamatsu. A small property where the service and the food are what reviewers write about — several mention the kitchen accommodating dietary requests without fuss. The baths here are indoor and modest, but guests can walk 150 m (492 ft) to the sister ryokan Harataki for an open-air bath facing the waterfall.

konjakutei.yumeguri.co.jp/index.php ↗
Check in15:00–17:00 · out 11:00
Solo riderTatami and futon room with bath and toilet, non-smokingKonjakutei tatami roomKonjakutei bath
Two-up pairTwo tatami and futon rooms with open-air onsen bath and toilet, non-smokingKonjakutei roomKonjakutei open-air bath
DinnerFrom 18:30 — beef shabu-shabu with local dishes
BreakfastJapanese set menu
Tel0242-26-4126
Konjakutei (今昔亭)

Wednesday 10/14

Aizu (Higashiyama) → Yunishigawa Onsen

Aizu (Higashiyama)188 km (117 mi)Yunishigawa Onsen

October normal19/9 °C (66/48 °F)→Destination temperature15/7 °C (59/45 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 16 min

On the road

South-east out of Aizu towards Shirakawa, then west into Nasu — the Yumoto onsen village under Nasu-dake — and on to Shiobara, a gorge of hot springs and suspension bridges. West again past Kawaji and up the dead-end valley to Yunishigawa, where the road stops. 188 km (117 mi).

Route map

Running order

188 km and about four hours riding, squeezed by two things at once: Kamenoi closes check-in at 16:00 and the buffet starts around 17:30. Konjakutei’s 11:00 check-out is generous but leaving at it does not work — 10:00 does. Shirakawa Komine Castle is 6.4 km off the line and only fits with an earlier start than this.

10:00Leave Konjakutei. South-east out of Aizu.
11:55–12:40Nasu Yumoto, 93 km (58 mi) in. Lunch under Nasu-dake, 3.4 km (2.1 mi) off the line.
13:30–13:55Shiobara Onsen, 131 km (81 mi) in. The gorge and the suspension bridge, 0.3 km off the line.
14:45–14:55Kawaji Onsen, 169 km (105 mi) in. The turn up the Yunishigawa valley is here.
15:25Kamenoi Hotel, 19 km (12 mi) on from Kawaji — check-in closes at 16:00, dinner from about 17:30.

Worth stopping for

  • Shirakawa Komine Castleinfo — 66 km (41 mi) in, 6.4 km (4.0 mi) off the line. Rebuilt in timber to the original method, which is rare.
  • Nasu Kogen and Yumotoinfo — 93 km (58 mi) in, about 3.4 km (2.1 mi) off. Sulphur springs directly under Nasu-dake, and the imperial family’s summer villa country.
  • Shiobara Onsen and the Momiji Valley bridgeinfo — 131 km (81 mi) in and 0.3 km off the line. Eleven hot spring hamlets strung along a gorge, with a 320 m suspension footbridge over it.
  • Kawaji Onseninfo — 169 km (105 mi) in, 2.0 km (1.2 mi) off, where the Kinugawa and Male rivers meet. The turn up the Yunishigawa valley is here.
  • Yunishigawa villageinfo — founded by Heike refugees hiding after Dan-no-ura. Households here still avoid carp streamers and crowing roosters, on the grounds that either might have given the fugitives away.
  • The village strung along the river, thatch among the tile. The road ends a little past here.
    The village strung along the river, thatch among the tile. The road ends a little past here.

Lodging

Kamenoi Hotel Nikko Yunishigawa (亀の井ホテル 日光湯西川)

亀の井 Kamenoi is 亀 (kame) tortoise and 井 (i) well. 湯西川 Yunishigawa is 湯 (yu) hot water, 西 (nishi) west, 川 (kawa) river; 日光 Nikko is 日 (ni) sun and 光 (ko) light. Rated 3.7 from 544 reviews, and the reviews split cleanly. It runs all-inclusive — drinks from 2pm, snacks from 4pm, late-night noodles — and reviewers consistently praise the food, the onsen and the setting. They just as consistently flag that the guest rooms are dated: this was the Heike Honjin before Kamenoi took it over, and the refurbishment reached the public areas more than the bedrooms.

kamenoi-hotels.com/nikkoyunishigawa ↗
Check in15:00–16:00 · out 10:00 — note the earlier cut-off
Both roomsTwo tatami rooms with Japanese-style low twin beds, bath and toilet, 60 m² (646 sq ft), non-smokingKamenoi Hotel room
DinnerBuffet, from around 17:30–18:00 — early, so do not dawdle on the way in
BreakfastBuffet
IncludedAll inclusive
Tel0288-98-0016
Kamenoi Hotel Nikko Yunishigawa (亀の井ホテル 日光湯西川)

Thursday 10/15

Yunishigawa Onsen → Tokyo

Yunishigawa Onsen237 km (147 mi)Tokyo

October normal15/7 °C (59/45 °F)→Destination temperature21/14 °C (70/57 °F)altitude math ↗

Open this day's route in Google Maps Fly this day in Google Earth 21 min

On the road

North-west first, up through Kawamata and into Okunikko — Yumoto Onsen, the Senjogahara marsh, Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls — then down the Irohazaka hairpins past Toshogu to Imaichi. South from there through Utsunomiya and on into Tokyo. 237 km (147 mi), and the first third of it is the best riding of the last week. It ends with city traffic and a handover, so build in margin.

Route map

Running order

237 km and about five hours riding, the second longest day of the trip, and it ends with a bike handover and Tokyo traffic rather than a hotel car park. Dinner at the sushi counter is 19:00. A 09:00 start gets the whole of Okunikko done properly and still has you at Rushcorp with the afternoon in hand.

09:00Leave Kamenoi. North-west up the valley.
10:00–10:15Kawamata, 40 km (25 mi) in. Last quiet stop before the climb into Okunikko.
11:00–11:30Senjogahara and Yumoto Onsen, 65 km (40 mi) in. Marsh plateau at about 1,400 m (4,600 ft).
11:45–12:05Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls, 72 km (45 mi) in.
12:20The Irohazaka, 80 km (50 mi) in. Forty-eight hairpins, one-way downhill. Ride it, do not stop on it.
12:30–13:15Nikko Toshogu, 86 km (53 mi) in.
16:05Rushcorp, 237 km (147 mi) — 151 km (94 mi) of it on from Toshogu, the longest unbroken run of the trip. Confirm the handover cut-off with Ninja Tours — it is the one time today nobody has told us.

Worth stopping for

  • Okunikko: Yumoto and Senjogaharainfo — 65 km (40 mi) in and under 2 km off the line. A high marsh plateau at about 1,400 m (4,600 ft) with Yumoto Onsen at the top of it.
  • Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Fallsinfo — 72 km (45 mi) in, 0.1 km off. A 97 m (318 ft) fall out of the lake, formed when Nantai dammed the valley.
  • The Irohazakainfo — 80 km (50 mi) in and on the line. Forty-eight hairpins down from Chuzenji, one-way downhill, each corner lettered for a syllable of the old Japanese alphabet. Peak colour in mid-October, which also means traffic.
  • Nikko Toshoguinfo — 86 km (53 mi) in, with the Shinkyo bridge too if you swing west before turning south. Adds about two hours.
  • Utsunomiya for gyozainfo — the city is famous for it and it is right on the route.

Dinner

鮨 明 高勢

Rodger and Teruyo's favourite place for many decades — which is reason enough to make it the last dinner of the trip. A sushi counter in Negishi, one stop up the Hibiya Line from where you hand the bikes back. 鮨 is the older character for sushi, and a shop that chooses it over 寿司 is usually signalling a proper counter rather than a casual place. 明 (Aki) is the chef's given name and 高勢 (Takase) the family shop — the noren reads as two names, not one word.

It also turns a hundred this year. 高勢 opened on this ground in 1926, named for its founder 高橋勢太郎 Takahashi Setarō — 高 from Takahashi, 勢 from Setarō. It became an establishment haunt in the bubble years and then lost everything, and the craft moved to Asakusa under Aki's father, 高橋政嗣 Takahashi Masaji. In 2010 Aki — who trained in Western kitchens rather than sushi, at 小川軒 in Ochanomizu — reopened on the original Negishi site as a wa-bistro. When his father closed the Asakusa shop in 2012 it took the full name 鮨 明 高勢, and Masaji came to work alongside his son. So the counter stands at the family's first address, occupied again after eighty years away, and the 明 on the curtain is the chef's own given name. Whether that makes him the third or fourth generation depends on which account you read.

The frontage of Sushi Aki Takase — slatted wood screen with a lit menu board, and the noren-hung entrance to the right
The whole frontage. The menu board hangs on the slatted screen under its own lamp; the entrance is the lit recess to the right, behind the noren reading 鮨 明 高勢. Set back off the street behind a hedge and a railing, with no large sign — easy to walk straight past.
tabelog.com/en · 鮨 明 高勢 ↗
Table19:00, Thursday 15 October
Founded1926 (Taishō 15), on this site — its centenary year
Address東京都台東区根岸4-2-2 パラシオ竹内 1F
Negishi 4-2-2, Taito-ku, 〒110-0003
Getting thereIriya Station on the Hibiya Line, 5–7 minutes on foot. One stop from Minami-Senju, so roughly ten minutes door to door from the Rushcorp handover.
Budget¥15,000–20,000 (about US$100–133) a head for dinner
Opens18:00, and runs late — to 01:00 on weekdays
ClosedMondays. 10/15 is a Thursday, so open.
Tel03-5824-9872
BookingNot reserved yet — a counter at this price needs one. Ninja Tours can make the call.

Lodging

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku

Back in Asakusa for the last night all together, but in Rokku — the old entertainment quarter west of Senso-ji, with Hanayashiki directly in front of the door and the temple four minutes away on foot. It opened in March 2023, so everything in it is new, and the rooms have the tub and shower separated rather than the usual moulded business-hotel unit. The tenth-floor Premium Lounge FURUMAI is free to every guest from 15:00 to 22:00, with Asakusa confections and coffee and a view of the Skytree and Senso-ji’s pagoda; it is built to look like a Showa-era cinema, which is what stood on this ground. One stop from Minami-Senju on the Tsukuba Express and two minutes’ walk, so the bike handover and your bed stay close together — and dinner in Negishi is under ten minutes by taxi.

viewhotels.jp/asakusa-annex ↗
Night15 October — two rooms, all three of you
Check in / out15:00 · out 11:00
Address2-9-10 Asakusa, Taito-ku
LoungePremium Lounge FURUMAI, tenth floor, 15:00–22:00, free to guests
OpenedMarch 2023
Getting thereOne stop from Minami-Senju on the Tsukuba Express, then two minutes on foot; or a short taxi straight from the Rushcorp handover
Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku — the building on Rokku-dori, opened March 2023
The building on Rokku’s old theatre street, opened March 2023. Hanayashiki is directly opposite the door.
Twin room with painted sliding panels showing Kaminarimon, the pagoda, sumo wrestlers, revue dancers and the Skytree
Painted sliding panels run the district’s history behind the beds — Kaminarimon and its lantern, the five-storey pagoda, sumo wrestlers, the Rokku revue dancers, and the Skytree at the right-hand edge.
Wider view of the room: beds on a raised tatami-green platform with the mural continuing around the wall
The beds sit on a raised tatami-green platform, and the mural carries on around the room — Tokyo Tower, a suspension bridge, a shinkansen.

Friday 10/16

Two-up pair departs · HND 16:05

On the road

Aim to be at Haneda Terminal 3 by about 13:00 for an international departure. Check out at 11:00, then about ten minutes on foot to Asakusa station, where the Toei Asakusa line runs through onto the Keikyu airport line — direct to Terminal 3 in roughly fifty minutes, no changes. Leaving by about 11:45 is comfortable. All three of you can ride that same train out of Asakusa: the two-up pair carry on to the airport, the solo rider gets off at Higashi-Ginza about fifteen minutes down the line. The alternative is the airport limousine from the main Asakusa View Hotel, five minutes away — the same service that brought you in on the 4th, and it takes the bags off your hands, though traffic makes it less predictable. Worth having Ninja Tours confirm the outbound times.

Worth stopping for

  • Nakamise-doriinfo — open early, and a last chance for senbei and small gifts before the train. Four minutes’ walk from the hotel.
  • Nihombashi Mitsukoshiinfo — the depachika is the best food-gift hall in Tokyo, ten minutes straight down the Ginza line from Asakusa. Check what US customs allows before buying anything fresh.
  • The central hall of Nihombashi Mitsukoshi, with the Magokoro statue rising through the atrium
    The central hall and its Magokoro statue — 天女像, read magokoro, “wholehearted sincerity”, which is the store’s word for how it means to treat customers. Sato Gengen spent ten years on it and it was unveiled in 1960: eleven metres of 500-year-old Kyoto hinoki, finished in gold, platinum and more than 12,000 inlaid stones. Plenty of people thought it gaudy at the time. Free, and the first thing you see walking in — the depachika is in the basement, and Mitsukoshimae station opens straight into it.

Lodging

Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel Tokyo — extra night for the solo rider

A move across town rather than an extension, and worth the bother for the last morning. The hotel is one minute from Higashi-Ginza Exit A1, which sits on the Toei Asakusa line — the same line out of Asakusa, so it is a direct ride with no changes. It also makes this the shortest airport run of anywhere on the trip: the hotel puts Haneda at about thirty minutes on the Keikyu Airport Rapid Express. Ginza station is two minutes the other way, Ginza Mitsukoshi two minutes from Higashi-Ginza through an underground passage, and Tsukiji Outer Market about ten minutes on foot — which is the one thing in Tokyo genuinely worth being up early for. No large public bath, which is what it gives up.

gardenhotels.co.jp/millennium-tokyo ↗
Night16 October — one room, solo rider
Check out12:00
Address5-11-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Getting thereOne minute from Higashi-Ginza Exit A1; direct from Asakusa on the Toei Asakusa line, about fifteen minutes
HanedaAbout 30 minutes, Keikyu Airport Rapid Express from Higashi-Ginza
Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel Tokyo at dusk, on the corner in Ginza 5-chome
The hotel at dusk. Higashi-Ginza station is a minute from the door, and the Ginza 4-chome crossing two minutes the other way.

Saturday 10/17

Solo rider departs · HND 20:15

On the road

A late flight, so the whole day is usable. Check out at 12:00 and leave the bags with the front desk. Be at Haneda by about 17:15 — and from Higashi-Ginza, one minute from the door, that is a direct thirty-minute run on the Toei Asakusa line, so leaving around 16:30 is unhurried.

Worth stopping for

  • Senso-jiinfo — quiet before nine in the morning, which is the only time it ever is. About fifteen minutes back up the Toei Asakusa line.
  • Kappabashi kitchenware streetinfo — a few minutes past Senso-ji, and the right place to spend a final morning if you want a knife to take home.
  • Nihombashi Mitsukoshiinfo — if the shopping did not happen yesterday, fifteen minutes up the Toei Asakusa line. Ginza Mitsukoshi is three minutes from the door instead, most of it underground.
  • Tsukiji Outer Marketinfo — about ten minutes on foot, running roughly 05:00 to 14:00 with the sushi counters open from seven. The best breakfast in Tokyo and the only thing here worth setting an alarm for. Closed Sundays and national holidays, and some shops on Wednesdays — 10/17 is a Saturday, so it is open.