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Good rides, good eats and good sleeps too!

Velojim

Cruising
Nov 16, 2009
35
3
With respect to planning some potential routes for my solo bike tour of Japan in October, I realized that it's not only about specific roads to cycle along but also about cool, funky places to eat. I've been focused on scouting various climbs and scenic places to visit but Japan has also got great cuisine. There's nothing better than a good meal whether it's a lunch break during a day long ride or a hearty dinner at the end of the ride after a good soak in the onsen.

With that in mind, are there any eateries that people can recommend? My initial plan is to start in Tokyo and ride counter-clockwise up the Arakawa, to Nikko, over to Minakami, Kusatsu, Togakushi, Matsumoto, Norikura, Yamanashi and hopefully finish with a climb up Mt. Fuji. All these locations may seem ambitious but I will try to fit in as much as I can in 2 weeks. I'm also willing to jump on a train if it rains to seek out drier areas. I recall that there is a pizza place that is often a lunch stop for many of Yamabushi's rides. Can someone provide an exact location? Any type of cuisine is fine as long as it is reasonably priced (...no Jiro's Sushi-like establishments please!) If these eateries are located in out of the way areas, so much the better, it would make it all the worthwhile to ride there.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Velojim--I guess I would never have thought of adjusting a tour, or a route on a tour, to get to a particular restaurant.

Onsen are sometimes on a bike route you might choose, and there is plenty of great food at those places. And if not, the minshuku in those or other areas often do just as well.
 
I really recommend doing it the Japanese way. Go miles out of your way to find a "special" soba restaurant serving soba that tastes exactly the same as soba anywhere else.:rolleyes:

You're ignoring the ambience. If Togakushi-soba (which I haven't experienced) is like Mizusawa-udon (which I have), then you'll know you've arrived when the architecture suggests that half a small forest has been slaughtered for the single building, and when you're greeted outside by an electric-powered waterwheel and the traditional cry of オーライ to reversing bus drivers, and inside by yuusen set to a Japonesque channel and further enormous quantities of what mostly turns out not to be wood after all.
 
jdd - your suggestion to consider onsens or minshikus as potential route destinations is appreciated. I'm looking at a stop in the Shima area to stay at Ryokan Kashiwaya. Their link is http://www.kashiwaya.org/e/. Has anybody stayed here? If there are other suggestions of good onsens or minishukus worth riding too, please send them along.
 
A TCC approved list of restaurants, onsens, ryokans seem to be in the making.

Indeed!

Here's my candidate for a list, even though it's in a different area: This seafood restaurant overlooking the Pacific ocean near Higashiizu on the way down to Shimoda (about half way between Ito and Shimoda) has been a personal favourite of mine for something like 20 years:

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It's not big, it's not touristy, reasonable prices, great food, great view, nice people!

It's a pity the eastern side of Izu is not as nice for cycling as the west side, otherwise more of us might be passing through...
 
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