Hokkaido (Japan)

Adventures

Bifue Campground at Lake Shikotsu (Hokkaido, Japan)

Bifue Campground is one of the best spots to enjoy the views that Lake Shikotsu has to offer. Situated on the western end of this lake in southern Hokkaido, Japan, the well-appointed campground faces east, allowing expansive views of Mt. Eniwa, Mt. Fuppushi, Mt. Tarumae, and of course the lake itself. Haidee and I headed there by bike recently from Chitose for a quick overnight trip.

Lake Shikotsu is a favorite for us for an overnighter. It’s only 25km from our house, so it’s an easy 2 hour bike ride on completely separated cycle path the whole way. Usually we’d stay at the Morappu Campground, but this time around, we decided to cycle an extra 18km to the western end of the lake to stay at the Bifue Campground. We’d never stayed there before. With winter fast approaching, this was one of the last weekend’s we’d have to try the campground out.

As usual, we followed the Chitose-Lake Shikotsu cycleway (route here). I was on the mighty Tern Verge S27h (renamed for 2016 the Tern Verge Tour), with a full complement of camping gear.

At this time of year (early October), the kokuwa (hardy kiwi) wild fruit are ripe for the picking. These mini smooth-skinned kiwifruit are delicious, but are very difficult to access. The vines like very high-up places. As it was, however, the cycleway was covered in them due to recent tail end of a typhoon in the previous few days. The high winds had dropped them all along the path (along with copious amount of branches).

We would have spent some more time foraging, but we were a little pressed for time; if we were going to get to the Lake Shikotsu village for lunch, we were going to have to keep moving.

We left home in central Chitose at around 10:00am, and arrived at Lake Shikotsu village at around 12:30pm. We were tempted by the Mizu-no-Uta buffet lunch (which we indulged in for lunch the following day), but opted instead for a quick lunch of udon and snacks.

Post-lunch, we started towards Bifue Campground, almost 20km around the lake. Overall, apart from one very short stretch of gravel, the Saturday afternoon ride was below average on the fun and relaxation scale. Regular large trucks thundering past, a headwind breeze, lots of ups and downs, and very few decent views of the lake meant that we were well and truly ready to relax by the lake by the time we made it to the campgound.

Access to the campground was down a long driveway, dotted with large puddles from the rain in the preceding days.

The hectic approach was made up for, however, by the breathtaking view that awaited us at the campground.

We spent a few moments scoping the place out before hurrying to set up the tent and get some dinner on the go. Even at the beginning of October in Hokkaido, the temperatures are dropping, and we wanted to get some warm food in us.

Bifue Campground is also very good in terms of facilities. There are washers and dryers, coin-operated showers, a basic shop, and of course clean ablution blocks and covered outdoor kitchen areas. As of writing (early October 2015), it cost 1,000yen per person per night to stay.

The clear starry night views were more than worth it.

We had opted to camp on the volcanic-sand beach, which would have been fine, had there not been sporadic squalls roll through during the wee hours of the morning. Gusts of wind and rain meant that at one point we had to hurriedly take down our tarp. Only six of the eight pegs were pegged into hard ground, and the other two had come loose.

The morning broke calm, however, with some amazing golden hour light.

On the menu for breakfast was fresh coffee…

And croissants, warmed in a pot.

When the sun peeked out from the clouds, it was quite warm. Otherwise, the temperatures hovered around 5 to 8 degrees C. We weren’t the only ones making the most of the autumn weather, however. At least a couple of sets of people had paddled by while we were having breakfast, either in canoes or kayaks.

We were packed up and on the road by 9am, and sped back east along the lake towards the Lake Shikotsu village. The headwind we’d had yesterday was now a tailwind, and we made good time. Also being a Sunday, the traffic was less heavy and noisy.

The big mission for today was to splash out and have a buffet lunch at Mizu-no-Uta hotel. This US$400 plus a night hotel has one of the best value buffet lunches in Hokkaido (we think). For 2,800yen per person, you get access to their amazing buffet lunch plus entry to their hotspring onsen. Both are exceptional. Very well worth a visit every now and then, even more so after a chilly morning camping! Talk about luxury.

Refreshed after a leisurely lunch and onsen, all we had to do in the afternoon was roll on downhill back home along the cycle path.

Bifue Campground at Lake Shikotsu. Highly recommended!

A Sapporo bikepacking trip: The Fuchs Loop (Hokkaido, Japan)

“I’ve figured out how we might cycle over those hills,” Dirk said over lunch one day. “A mix of gravel road and singletrack trail through the forest,” he said.

This was music to my ears. Since moving to the Sapporo region five years ago, I’ve eyed up the range of low hills that separate Sapporo City from Jozankei in the west. If only there was a forestry road or hiking trail that would link Jozankei to northern Sapporo, cutting through the dense forest, it would be an off-road cyclist’s dream.

A few weekends later, we were on our bikes to give Dirk’s route a try. From central Sapporo to Jozankei (via Makomanai), then up to Harukayama (via Lake Sapporo), down to Zenibako, and back to central Sapporo. I call it The Fuchs Loop after Dirk’s last name.

We started at 8am from the southern entrance to Hokkaido University, and headed south through the city towards Makomanai. At this time in the morning on a public holiday, we more or less had the roads to ourselves.

For this trip I was on my Surly Karate Monkey (with Jones Loop bars, if you’re wondering), and Dirk was on his Trek X-Caliber 7. The original plan was to stay a night at the Ginrei-so Hut near the top of Mt. Haruka, hence the extra gear we’re carrying.

We made really good time along the Toyohira River cycle path and then up towards Jozankei Village. Usually this would take close to 3 hours. We knocked off the 30km to Jozankei Village in around 1.5 hours. All the while, feeling pity for the lines of holiday traffic inching their way along the highway.

We stocked up on food and beer in Jozankei, anticipating a relaxing evening at the hut. The Jozankei hostpring resort area was looking it’s stunning best.

From Jozankei we cut directly north, towards the artificial Lake Sapporo, and it’s massive dam. This took us through tunnels…

Soaring above the valley, plugged up by Jozaneki Dam…

And next to the clear blue waters of the lake.

We were surprised at our own quick pace, arriving at the gravel-road turnoff to Mt. Haruka-yama at only 11am. So we carried on up the paved road to Sapporo International Ski Field (Sapporo Kokusai), and had our sandwiches for lunch on the lush grass fields.

Lunch done, we hurtled back down hill for a few minutes and found our way onto the gravel forestry road that connects with the Haruka-yama Hut (called the Ginrei-so Hut). I was looking forward to seeing the hut in summer, because I had stayed overnight there a few years back on a ski trip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdScuMG9cDY), and had not been back since.

The route up from the Jozankei side is grin-ear-to-ear gravel road that starts well-kept…

And slowly deteriorates…

Until it is more or less a couple of tracks in the grass.

“A small slice of that,” laughed Dirk, “and your mind will be somewhere else!” The head of this mushroom was about the size of my palm.

We arrived at the Ginrei-so hut at around 1:30pm after the short grunt up the gravel road to get there. The hut is owned and managed by Tokai University in Sapporo. If you want to use the facilities there during the day, then this costs a fee of 400yen. To stay the night costs 800yen each. The hut is fairly dingy and dark inside, but it is cosy.

In principle, in order to stay there a reservation is needed (call Tokai University on 011-571-5111 during office hours). Our original plan had been to stay the night at the hut on the previous Sunday night, and I had put in a reservation for that night. In the end it was raining on Sunday, so we decided to postpone the trip till Tuesday. The problem was that Monday through Wednesday were public holidays, so there was no way of getting in touch with the university to change our reservation.

Long story short, we decided to head up on Tuesday without a reservation and hope for the best.

We were greeted by the chatty Japanese caretaker of the hut, Mr. Hirata-san, who is at the hut year-round. I explained that we had had a reservation for a few nights ago, and he immediately realized who we were. “Ah, Roberto-san, you made it!” I explained that we’d like to stay the night tonight, but he apologized, explaining that today happened to be the day he had to go back down to Sapporo to re-supply. He wouldn’t be at the hut overnight, so we couldn’t stay.

“Can I offer you some coffee instead,” he offered cheerfully. We gratefully accepted and spent at least 30 minutes on the veranda of the hut chatting with Hirata-san. “Once a bear came up on the veranda…” “the hut is definitely more busy in the winter…” “…it takes up to 6 hours in winter to ski up here, and I do it a couple of times a week to re-supply…my pack weighs 30kg!”

It was a pity not to be able to stay, but we knew that from here it was just a quick downhill back to the city. And what a fun downhill it was.

Technical trail for the first 15 minutes or so (which was much steeper than it looks in the photo)…

And then the joy of fast gravel and singletrail…

My slick Schwalbe Big Apple tires were not the best for traction, but they did the job.

After a couple of gates, the trails spat us out into civilization again.

With all the extra time we now had we headed to the beach at Ishikari Bay for a post-ride beer before heading back into central Sapporo (we had, after all, lugged those cans over a mountain range). A last hurrah to a great mission accomplished. A highly recommended 90km loop of very mixed terrain.

Cycle-drive summer getaway in eastern Hokkaido, Japan

My parents were over in Japan in early August, so Haidee and I planned a quick 7-day trip to eastern Hokkaido. The idea was fairly simple: the parents hire a campervan, Haidee and I travel on our folding bikes, and we all meet up at a set location each day. It was a good way to mix cycling, camping, and the ease of travel with a campervan.

Amazingly, we were able to find a Toyota Grand Hiace Campervan for only 9,000yen per day at a local 100yen Renta-car franchise in Kiyota-ku in Sapporo. We had reserved the vehicle almost four months in advance. Early August is a popular time for campers, and even four months out, many places we had called were already completely booked out.

The Hiace was perfect for our needs. Plenty of space to put the folded bikes (Haidee’s Bike Friday Silk and my Tern Verge S27h), and plenty of space for Mum and Dad to spread out at night.

We left Chitose City where we live on a Friday afternoon, on the 7th of August. By the time we made it to the Yuni campground, around 40km east of Chitose, it was already night time. The next morning broke clear and calm. Perfect for a spot of birdwatching.

The main mission for Saturday the 8th of August was to try to get to Lake Kusharo by car, in the far east of Hokkaido. A late-ish start and long distances would mean we didn’t make it that far on Saturday. But this was made up for by the fact we were able to camp next to Lake Oneto. The campsite was unusually quiet, with only a few other campers. We’d find out the next day that this was because the nearby volcanic Mt. Me-Akan had been unusually active recently.

The next morning was another beautiful one. With little to do on Sunday the 9th of August but get to Lake Kusharo 80km away, we took our time at Lake Oneto.

By late morning, we had made it to Lake Kusharo and spent the rest of the day relaxing, and soaking in a nearby onsen (hotspring).

The real action on the scenery front came on Monday August the 10th. We had made it to Utoro Town on the edge of the Shiretoko National Park, and decided to leave Mum and Dad to drive via Shiretoko Five Lakes to Rausu on the other side of the Shiretoko Peninsula. Haidee and I would cycle to Rausu over the Shiretoko Pass, missing out the Five Lakes area detour, since we had been there before.

The weather was the complete opposite to the last time we cycled over this 740m high pass (climbing from sea level). This time, rather than heavy rain and a driving headwind, we had clear blue skies.

We had just arrived at the top of the pass, and were admiring the view of Mt. Rausu…

And mother Russia (the Kuril Islands)…

When Mum and Dad arrived over the crest of the pass. We had to get a photo of them in front of one of the best views of Russia you can get from Japanese soil.

From the top of the pass it was a mad dash down the hill to Rausu, where we had lunch, chucked the bikes in the camper, and drove the rest of the way to Notsuke.

Where we bumped into our friend Dirk from Sapporo (what a small world!), and then it promptly started raining around sunset. Thank goodness for a watertight tent.

The remaining few days of the trip were spent cycling over to Akan (I have no idea where those photos have gone), and then driving back to Chitose to get the camper back in time for the return deadline. All in all it was a much shorter summer cycle trip than we are used to, and one that involved much less cycling than usual too, but it was great to be able to show Mum and Dad some of the places we love so much in Hokkaido.

Exploring the dead straight Kita Go-jo forestry road in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan

The Kita Go-jo Rindo (rindo means forestry road in Japanese) is a conspicuously straight closed-to-general traffic dirt road in Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan. It more or less connects Chitose City proper with the Lake Shikotsu area, and makes for a very nice day trip from Chitose to the lake.

Kita Go-Jo Rindo topographical map (via GSI)

This particular forestry road has long held my attention whenever I looked at maps of the forests between Chitose City proper and Lake Shikotsu. We’ve cycled the more curvy dirt road to the north on more than one occasion (such as the Mt. Tarumae trip, a Lake Shikotsu overnighter from Sapporo, and a more recent Summer Solstice trip), but I’ve always wanted to try heading just a little deeper into the maze of dirt roads and try the Kita Go-Jo road out.

So today, Haidee and I headed out from Chitose late in the morning to try it out. Being our first time to cycle uphill from Chitose to Lake Shikotsu via the dirt roads, it would prove to be a little tiring. Like it’s more curvy brother to the north, the Kita Go-Jo straight road was ‘paved’ with what appeared to be railway-grade gravel. Real tooth-filling-rattling stuff. And it sure was straight.

Such was the deadpan straightness of the road that this was more or less the only photo I took of the ride on gravel. “I’m pretty much over this,” was Haidee’s general view of the route. I was inclined to agree, thinking that this route would be amazing if going the other way. In the opposite direction it would be a fairly even downhill gradient, and with some big, soft tires, it would be a very fast ride.

Our ultimate destination was the Lake Shikotsu township, on the shores of Lake Shikotsu, the large caldera lake west of Chitose City proper (but still within the city limits). Once we hit the Chitose-Lake Shikotsu cycleway, we first pumped our tires up back to pavement-pressures. The PostPump that comes standard with the Tern folding bikes made short work of this.

From there we headed straight to Lake Shikotsu township, arriving just before it started a steady light rain.

Today was the Lake Shikotsu festival. Celebrated with a generous helping of lake-caught sockeye salmon (introduced to the lake many years ago) cooked over hot coals. Delicious.

This was followed up by coffee at the Log Bear Coffee House, run by the effervescent Hideyuki Kikkawa. He roasts his own coffee in his kitchen out the back of the cafe, in a home made LPG gas burner coffee roaster.

Interestingly for us, Mr. Kikkawa, who also runs the Lake Shikotsu Youth Hostel, mentioned that it is possible to use the youth hostel’s hotspring baths (onsen) in the evening, even if you’re not staying there. “Other onsen in Shikotsu-ko recirculate their hot water,” he said.

“Our onsen is never recirculated, it is always fresh. And the spring water quality is very good for the skin,” he boasted, lightly drawing his hand across the skin of his inner and upper arm. Lightly pinching the soft skin hanging under his outstretched upper arm, he said “see look, it makes you nice and soft!” After which he let out his hilarious full-bellied laugh.

This is to say, we had thought that all onsen in Lake Shikotsu shut their doors to day visitors after around 4pm. This new info means that even when camping, it is possible to have a soak in the evening.

We headed off back towards Chitose City proper via the paved cycle path around 2pm. Since the going was easy and the gradient downhill, we felt happy to drop in on some attractions we’d not been to so far, such as the turn-of-the-century Chitose hydro electric station, and a sockeye salmon hatchery.

The Chitose hydro electric station (location here), built in 1910 was perhaps the most surprising. We’d not known it had existed until today, despite being on the edge of a very impressive valley to the north.

The power station mainly supplies the Oji Paper Corporation’s paper factories in nearby Tomakomai City, and has been doing so since the power station was built. The water from the power station comes from Lake Shikotsu, via the Chitose River, and has a head of around 150m. Definitely worth a look if you’re heading through the area.

The other attraction was the sockeye salmon hatchery (location here).

Fishes on their way to being skewered and cooked up to a delightful treat.

From there it was downhill all the way home to Chitose, ending a great day out.

Summer Solstice Overnight Cycle Trip to Lake Shikotsu (Hokkaido, Japan)

Sometimes the stars align and your younger brother you’ve not seen in a year comes to Japan for the weekend. When that weekend is the summer solstice, there’s only one way to celebrate: get him on a bike and take him to one of the most pristine lakes in Hokkaido for a camp-out.

Chris didn’t travel all the way from New Zealand just for a weekend in Hokkaido (although that certainly would not have been a waste of time). He happened to be in China the week before, and had a stop off in Tokyo on his way back to New Zealand. He made the 1.5 hour flight from Tokyo to Sapporo on a Friday night, and we had a full two days to explore.

We are fortunate to live in Chitose City, only 25km from Lake Shikotsu. Lake Shikotsu is a caldera lake, and is one of Hokkaido’s deepest lakes. Best of all, there is a perfectly paved cycle path all the way from central Chitose to the lake, winding its way through cool forest. We packed up some camping gear on Saturday morning, and were out the door by 11am.

We put Chris on my Tern Verge S27h folding touring bike. His first reaction upon riding it before we set off was that “it looks like a kid’s bike, but it doesn’t ride like one!” That pretty much sums up the Tern Verge S27h. Looks are deceiving.

That said, I think for him (height: 183cm), the stock 6° handlepost (350mm length) would be better replaced by the 12° version (http://premiumbikegear.com/product/tern-physis-3d-t-bar-handlepost/). For me, the 6° version provides acceptable effective top-tube length, although perhaps a little longer would replicate the cockpit feel of my bigger bike (a Surly Karate Monkey, converted for touring).

That said, any intricacies in geometry were largely lost on Chris as he well and truly put the bike through its paces. On road…

And off-road…

The Chitose-Lake Shikotsu cycle road is a completely separated cycleway, which I have written about previously (http://14degrees.org/lake-shikotsu-to-chitose-cycling-road-cycle-path-in-hokkaido/). This was the first time we had taken the trip on from the Chitose City end. The previous few times we were going the other way, downhill to Chitose. While the other direction – from Chitose to Lake Shikotsu – is a climb all the way, the gradient is always very gentle.

We arrived at Lake Shikotsu at around 3:30pm, whereby we went straight to the Kyuka-no-mura hot spring for a soak. It was my first time to share a Japanese hotspring experience with my brother. It was mildly weird.

Hotspring formalities over, we tracked down a feed of local kokanee (sockeye) salmon, and made it to Morappu Campground on the southeastern side of Lake Shikotsu just as the sun was setting. I went for a swim. It was properly cold.

We were taken aback at how many campers were there. On all our other trips (either later or earlier in the season) we’ve often been the only ones camping. Tonight, it was like tent city. Like most Japanese campsites, however, the mobs were subdued and orderly.

Day broke the next morning (at just before 4am) clear and warm. Most campers were rousing themselves at around 6am. By 6:30am, the tent city was positively heaving with activity. Barbeques were being stoked, kayaks paddled, and children encouraged to explore the shoreline.

We had managed to put our tents up in a clear space towards the northern end of the campground.

We didn’t get away until just after 10am…it was just too idyllic.

There was only one other cycle tourist at the campground that we knew of. And it happened to be Kumiko, someone I’ve met by chance on two other occasions while either attending bicycle-related events or cycle touring. Kumiko has only ever owned one bicycle in her life, and that is the Surly Pugsley she is riding now. When I asked her what it was like to cycle on pavement with the bike, she explained that she’s not got anything to compare it to, so it feels just fine. The frame bag and other packs attached to the bike are all home made.

Once were were on the road again, it was straight to one of my favorite rides in the Chitose region: the Kita Go-Jo rindo. This delightful slither of very rough gravel road runs through beautiful forest all the way to Chitose City proper, and towards the end runs parallel to a beautiful little creek.

The perfect place to see if the 20-inch wheeled folding bike can take a beating.

The conditions of this road should not be under-stated. On my 29er Karate Monkey, with 50mm wide rims and 60mm wide tires, I’ve come away snake-bite punctures on the jagged blocky gravel. Such is life when you want to have the least amount of tire pressure in order to smooth out the bumps, but not too little pressure that the tire ‘bottoms out’ and pinches the tube between the tire and rim.

The Tern Verge S27h with its 2.15-inch (55mm) wide tires performs really well even on these rocks. “The best strategy is just to go really fast,” said Chris as he careened past me. I couldn’t agree more.

Not to be one to be outdone, however, I cranked past him in order to get some distance in front of him so I might get a photo of him coming towards me. I gained around 100m on him, rounded a corner, and dropped my bike and waited.

And waited.

When he did finally appear around the corner, however, he was pushing the bike. The pressure in the tires was a little too low, it seemed, and he’d ended up with a snakebite puncture.

We managed to fix the puncture(s) fairly quickly, without the need to remove the back wheel. It all made me wonder if it would be at all possible to run the 20-inch Big Apples tubeless…

Puncture sorted, we were on the road again.

Milking every last drop of speed.

And we were soon (all too soon) back on pavement.

All in all a fantastic way to spend a weekend, happy that Hokkaido had put on some awesome weather in one of our favorite locations in Japan.

——-

As mentioned earlier, Chris was on my Tern Verge S27h (see my gravel road review here). The bike is set up with an 11-speed Shimano Alfine hub (42-tooth chainring with 21-tooth cog on the hub), which replaces the stock Sram Dual Drive transmission. The rear wheel is built up with the Alfine hub and a Velocity Aeroheat rim. A Hebie Chainglider provides full coverage of the chain, with very little added friction. On the front of the bike is the Luggage Truss, to which an Ortlieb Handlebar bag is attached. The panniers are some cheap second hand ones that drape over the rear carrier. The saddle is a Selle Anatomica leather saddle. And yes, the kickstand is broken. I managed to land on it when jumping off a curb, which snapped it in half

An easy hike up Mt. Shioya Maruyama near Sapporo, Japan

Mt. Shioya-Maryuama (629m) is an easy hike close to Sapporo City. Access is by bus or car, and makes for a nice hike through lowland bush with large expansive views over the Shakotan Peninsula at the top.

For most hiking enthusiasts in Sapporo City (in Hokkaido, Japan), a popular summer hiking route is the one that goes up Mt. Shioya-Maruyama. This easy route is less than two hours drive from Sapporo City, and is officially within the Otaru City limits.

For this trip, we had two cars for the group. One rented and one from one of the group. If you’ve not got a car, the official start of the hike is a 15 minute walk from the Shioya-Maruyama JR train station.

The trail starts along enclosed bush along a well-traveled trail.

After less than 90 minutes, the trail opens up to views over the northern coast of the Shakotan Peninsula. On this particular day some low cloud obstructed the best of the views.

The top of this low mountain is characterized by bare boulder outcrops. Perfect for a sun-soaked lunch at the top.

On this trip we spent a leisurely 45 minutes on the top before making our way down again.

The day was finished off with a pancake party at Stephanie’s place. A shoebox of an apartment in the Hokkaido University international scholars’ accommodation. We made the most of the space

Aoba Park Campground (Chitose City, Hokkaido, Japan)

Aoba Park Picnic Grounds (Campground) is at the southern end of central Chitose City, only 5km from Sapporo International Airport. If you’re arriving to or leaving Hokkaido by air with a bike, it would be a nice spot to stay the night after or before a flight. Or, just for a nice get away in the Sapporo region.

Chitose City is hardly high on a tourist’s list of places to see. Granted, if you’re coming by airplane to Hokkaido, Japan’s northern-most island, it is difficult to avoid it. It is home to ‘Sapporo’ airport. But in reality, Sapporo’s airport is actually in Chitose City, a solid 30 minutes (40km) by express train from central Sapporo.

In any case, Chitose City itself is rarely anything other than a transit location for most tourists, both Japanese and non-Japanese. Sure, there’s Lake Shikotsu, which is officially (just) within the city limits. This pristine caldera lake is home to plenty of hiking, skiing, and camping options. But it is so far from the city center itself, that it is difficult to really consider it part of the city.

The point is, Chitose City itself is a bit of an enigma. It is easy just to think of the place as somewhere where commuters and airport staff begrudgingly house themselves during non-working hours. But once one starts to poke and probe at its mysterious shell, it starts revealing some startlingly beautiful locations well within the urban sprawl. One such place is the colossal Aoba Park.

This sprawling 1km² (102.3ha) park is home to jaw-droppingly well-equipped track and field ovals, tennis courts, soccer fields, baseball fields, and a huge swathe of wild forest.

Tucked away in the south-western corner of the park is the Aoba Park Picnic Area (aoba kouen pikunikku hiroba, 青葉公園ピクニック広場). The name is a little misleading, because it is as much a campground as it is a picnic area. BBQ facilities can be rented between the hours of 9am and 5pm for not much more than 100yen, but beyond those hours, campers can set up tents on raised tent plots for 300yen (Chitose City citizens) or 600yen (visitors from outside Chitose). There is a very nice onsen (Japanese hot spring) just 15 minutes walk from the campground too (open till 10:30pm); perfect for a soak after setting up the tents. The onsen is right next to the Chitose Inter Golf Club.

The staff are friendly (especially the effervescent Mr. Kutsuwa), and the little BBQ in the photo above is supplied free with the campground fee (charcoal not included).

The campground happens to be less than 15 minutes from where we live in Chitose, so we decided to load up our bikes with camping and BBQ equipment and stay a Saturday night there with some friends.

We were at the campground on the 23rd of May. “This is still very early in the year for camping,” said the enthusiastic Mr. Kutsuwa. He said there had been a couple of travelers stay earlier, but the busiest season won’t start till June.

Being late May, Mr. Kutsuwa was slowly making his way around the campsites, clearing twigs and leaves from tentsites that had accumulated over winter. One of those campsites was the kabutomushi (rhinoceros beetle) site; all the sites had insect names. This site had tentsites covered in the most amazing layer of soft moss. We quickly opted for this spot and set up camp.

By 6pm we had tents set up, our charcoal BBQ hot, and the drinks and food ready.

No one had a wine bottle cork removal implement with them, so I did as I have before, using my Leatherman. The steps are as follows: Find a wood screw (there is always one somewhere in a campground), remove it from whatever wood it is currently screwed into, screw it into the cork, grab the screw head with the pliers on the Leatherman, and pull. Cork is now removed. (Return the screw to previous location.)

Before long it was night time and time for an onsen. Walking through a pitch black dark park is always so exciting…

The next morning broke with clear skies and no wind. Everyone in good spirits.

Breakfast consisted of BBQ goodness…

Including Japanese imo-mochi (mashed potato with potato starch shallow fried, with a dash of soy sauce)…

And of course coffee brewed in a mokapot atop a beer can alcohol stove, the stove made the day before.

The perfect spot for an overnight weekend adventure.

Traveling with a Tern folding bike on the train in Japan

In Japan, traveling on the train with a bicycle is both a blessing and a curse. These are the pros and cons, as I see them.

Pros

You don’t pay extra for taking a bike on the train in Japan. Even on the mighty shinkansen bullet trains. Nada.
You can take a bike on any train at any time on any carriage.

Cons

You have to partially dismantle the bike. That is, at the very least, remove the front wheel. If your bike is of the folding variety, you’re off the hook – no dismantling required.
The bike must be completely covered with a bike bag (or wrapped in something such as a 500 yen large blue tarpaulin).
There are no ‘bicycle areas’ on the trains. This means that if your bike doesn’t fold down small, you may need to stay with your bike and move it when people want to move between carriages etc.

Long story short, if you own a small-wheeled folding bike, traveling on a train in Japan can be extremely straight forward. Here’s how the intrepid Virgina Toy from New Zealand managed it when she visited Sapporo on a whirling academic research visit to Sapporo in northern Japan. I stood back and snapped pictures as she got the bike ready for the train.

Step 1 – Pack your panniers into a lightweight fold-up sack, and attach this to your fold-up trolley. You do have a lightweight fold-up trolley, right? Virginia bought this one for $15 at an electronics store in Sapporo.

Step 2 – Panniers snugly ensconced in their bag and trolley, time to sort out the bike. Prepare the bike bag.

Step 3 – Fold the bike. Virginia travels extensively around the world on academic conference trips and the likes with her Tern Link P24h. The ‘N-fold’ is very simple, and best of all, the bike stays standing upright once folded.

Step 4 – Get that bike in the bag. Virginia’s bike bag is a Tern padded ‘Stow Bag’ made of extra heavy duty fabric and has some degree of padding. She puts the bike on planes just with this bag and the bike seems to have survived multiple inter-continental flights.

Step 5 – Shoulder the bike-in-the-bag, grab the trolley, and head to the ticket dispenser, parting the crowds like Moses and the Red Sea.

Step 6 – Buy the ticket.

Step 7 – Squeeze through the gates and look for an elevator up to the platform. TOP TIP: Trains stop at pre-determined locations on Japanese platforms; find the end or front of the train that you’re fixing to board – end or front carriages usually have less people in them, and less thoroughfare. You’ll spend less time stressing about whether your bike is getting in someone’s way. Also, use the handrails etc to secure the bike from falling over…then just enjoy the ride.

Southwest Hokkaido Cycle Tour Day 5 – Leaving Kuromatsunai by Train

Our final day on our cycle tour in southern Hokkaido involved more train travel than bicycle travel. Needing to be back to work the next day, we bundled the bikes on the train and enjoyed a relaxing journey through the mountains back home.

Taking bicycles on the train in Japan is fairly easy, so long as you come prepared. By prepared, I mean some way of covering and/or wrapping your bicycle. For Haidee and I, we have perfectly-sized bicycle bags that fit our folded bicycles. For Dirk and his 29er mountain bike, I lent him my homemade stretchy mesh ‘bag’, which happily engulfs a bike of that size. Trains do not charge any extra for bicycles, and there are no dedicated ‘bicycle-friendly’ carriages. Just pick your entrance and go for it.

Note: There was no station master at the Kuromatsunai Station…that’s why we were able to sneakily roll our bikes onto the platform. Usually bikes need to be packed before being taken onto the platform.

We were catching the train from the super sleepy Kuromatsunai station. We had arrived 30 minutes early, so enjoyed the warmth of the morning sun on the platform.

Even once we were on the train (a quaint two-carriage one-driver train), we had it to ourselves.

We had chosen a route that would take us through the mountains via Niseko and Otaru towards Sapporo. This is always a nice route to take by train; the trains are uncrowded, and the scenery is spectacular.

We arrived back in Chitose around 1pm, enough time to eat lunch out, and get all our equipment washed and packed away before getting back to work the next day.

All in all, an awesome few days on the bikes, and well worth the extra effort of getting there and away by train.

Today’s Route (by train)

NOTE: The route map below may show the Hakodate-Line selected…we took the more northern-looping route in grey, via Niseko, Otaru, and Sapporo.

Southwest Hokkaido Cycle Tour Day 4 – Setana to Kuromatsunai

We were beaten by the hills and snow yesterday, but today we soldiered onward via the alternate route: the magnificent Japan Sea coast road. With a roaring tailwind to boot.

One purpose of yesterday’s attempt at crossing the Kariba range was to avoid the Japan Sea coast north of Setana Town. The tunnels dotted along this coastal route were the reason for our reluctance to take on this bit of road. Indeed, we were on the road not even a few hours before we hit the dreaded caverns.

Surprisingly, however, most of the longer (over 1km long) tunnels were very new: well lit with wide lanes. The lack of traffic also made them much more hospitable than they might have otherwise been.

And most of the tunnels spat us out into more rugged coastal scenes.

The highlight of the day, however, was the roaring tailwind that blew us most of the way to Kuromatsunai. The forecast was for 35km/h gusting south-easterlies. We were going more or less north-west. A perfect combination. Smiles all around.

Even after we had left the coast, in order to cut inland to Kuromatsunai, the tailwind followed us. This made the climb up the 400 meter pass on the way to Kuromatsunai easier to bear…nothing quite like the invisible hand of a stiff tailwind to help you up a hill.

Curiously, the top of the pass was enveloped in massive concrete snow shelters. Quite the engineering (and national-budgeting) feat.

The presence of a wind farm near the pass suggested that the shelters were warranted; if the wind we experienced today was accompanied by snow (as is surely the case in winter here), the pass would have been smothered in no time.

With our early 7am start and the howling tailwind, we completed the 90km from Setana to Kuromatsunai by 2pm. We checked into the only campground in Kuromatsunai, the Le Pic Auto Campground. Unfortunately they didn’t have any non-powered tent sites left, so we rented a powered site for the night. This worked out to be around 1,700 yen each.

It was a nice treat to arrive at our campsite so early. I bought a bundle of firewood for 600 yen (approx. US$6) and some weaner sausages, intent on having a campfire, a rare treat on our cycle trips.

The extra time on our hands also allowed me to have a go at making a beer can stove (to run on alcohol). I’ve made such stoves before (such as when I was in Switzerland), but the design I’ve used previously uses high temperature aluminium tape to seal the unit, and required the patience to pierce holes in the can. I’d seen on www.tomsbiketrip.com a design that promised to be much more straight forward, so I gave it a go.

The result was a perfectly usable stove that boiled a liter of water in around 10 minutes or so (when paired with a windscreen). Not nearly as fuel efficient as the MSR Whisperlite Internationale (I use gasoline as a fuel in this), but a fun little stove and super easy and cheap to make.

The late afternoon crept into dusk and then night, as we chatted around the campfire. We were all in bed by just after 9pm.

Today’s Route

Category Archives: Hokkaido (Japan)