Journey in Noto peninsula. This is a kind of bicycle tour I have been longing for since I started riding a bicycle. I basically followed the route described in the book, Cycling Japan by Takashi Niwa : 10 of the best rides. I did the coast-to-coast ride also according to the book last May. I trust his presentation and have not been deceived so far.
During the trip, I tried to choose the road as close to the coast line as possible all the way, visiting small rustic fishery villages. It is told this area is sometimes deemed to show the original Japanese scenery. This four days journey turned out to be the best of the best to me. I admit I expressed the same note for the last coast-to-coast trip but this time I would say this one is better than the last one in terms of traditional beauty of the rustic fishery villages along the coast line.
It was 410 km from Kanazawa city in Ishikawa pre. to Himi city in Toyama pre. I spent four days for this.
Day 1. I arrived at Kanazawa city by Shinkansen and express train around 11:00AM September 6. Soon after passing the busy city, I used a bike path along the ocean. But this route is boring. It is along the ocean but unfortunately I could not see the ocean. It runs along the high way or behind the wind break forest. You may want to ride rather inland where you will enjoy nice quite country road. After 45Km ride, typical ocean side road with small fishery villages start. I see almost no traffic along the ocean. The first day was over at Shiga town. 85Km from Kanazawa station and 500m climb
Day 2. Riding the same type of ocean road, I was able to encounter many small villages where same type of houses is lining along the small road. Its roof is covered by traditional black tiles. It is shining. Its wooden wall is painted in dark brown. It looks very simple but shows Japanese beauty.
After riding 20km, turnoff was there. One is the normal route to Wajima city, the major city in Deep Noto, and the other is heading toward the ocean. I unsuspectingly chose the latter direction toward the ocean since this was my policy for this trip. However, this route gave me hard time twice. Soon, the road headed toward the hill. There was no road along the ocean. I was unexpectedly forced to climb up 300m. But this 300 m climb gave me enough reward to view the whole picture of the ocean and coast line. After riding down to the ocean again, comfortable ride continued 10 km, visiting some small villages again. This route was the best since no traffic comes into this area.
This comfortable ride did not continue for a long time, I noticed the road again climbing up toward the hill. This again gave me another 300m climb. My GPS did not show any road but I kept going forward the steep narrow road since this is the only choice. Unfortunately I found the road discontinued after climbing down about 3km!!!! So, I had to climb up again the same route for 3 km and found alternate road toward a local road that connects to the ocean. This hardship rewarded me with another beauty of the ocean and traditional Japanese villages.
Passing through the Wajima city, I rode along the ocean all the way to Rokugou area, checking in a small ryokan in front of the fishery harbour.
120km ride and 1800m climb in total.
Day 3. Ocean side road continues. The weather is just perfect for bike riding all the way. It is not too hot not too cold.
Passing the city of Anamizu, I noticed the traffic is getting heavy, seeing pleasure boats instead of fishing boats in a cove. Houses are painted in a different color. This means the end of the Deep Noto. I checked in a traditional city ryokan in Nanao city.
170km ride and 1300m climb.
Day4. Initially I planned to go further to Niigata pre but decided not to go any further and decided to go back home. I wanted to keep the mental image on the Deep Noto as much as possible, not being disturbed by city traffic.
From Nanao city, I rode to Himi city 40Km to take a local train.
The Deep Noto was just a healing area.
Minoru Arai
During the trip, I tried to choose the road as close to the coast line as possible all the way, visiting small rustic fishery villages. It is told this area is sometimes deemed to show the original Japanese scenery. This four days journey turned out to be the best of the best to me. I admit I expressed the same note for the last coast-to-coast trip but this time I would say this one is better than the last one in terms of traditional beauty of the rustic fishery villages along the coast line.
It was 410 km from Kanazawa city in Ishikawa pre. to Himi city in Toyama pre. I spent four days for this.
Day 1. I arrived at Kanazawa city by Shinkansen and express train around 11:00AM September 6. Soon after passing the busy city, I used a bike path along the ocean. But this route is boring. It is along the ocean but unfortunately I could not see the ocean. It runs along the high way or behind the wind break forest. You may want to ride rather inland where you will enjoy nice quite country road. After 45Km ride, typical ocean side road with small fishery villages start. I see almost no traffic along the ocean. The first day was over at Shiga town. 85Km from Kanazawa station and 500m climb
Day 2. Riding the same type of ocean road, I was able to encounter many small villages where same type of houses is lining along the small road. Its roof is covered by traditional black tiles. It is shining. Its wooden wall is painted in dark brown. It looks very simple but shows Japanese beauty.
After riding 20km, turnoff was there. One is the normal route to Wajima city, the major city in Deep Noto, and the other is heading toward the ocean. I unsuspectingly chose the latter direction toward the ocean since this was my policy for this trip. However, this route gave me hard time twice. Soon, the road headed toward the hill. There was no road along the ocean. I was unexpectedly forced to climb up 300m. But this 300 m climb gave me enough reward to view the whole picture of the ocean and coast line. After riding down to the ocean again, comfortable ride continued 10 km, visiting some small villages again. This route was the best since no traffic comes into this area.
This comfortable ride did not continue for a long time, I noticed the road again climbing up toward the hill. This again gave me another 300m climb. My GPS did not show any road but I kept going forward the steep narrow road since this is the only choice. Unfortunately I found the road discontinued after climbing down about 3km!!!! So, I had to climb up again the same route for 3 km and found alternate road toward a local road that connects to the ocean. This hardship rewarded me with another beauty of the ocean and traditional Japanese villages.
Passing through the Wajima city, I rode along the ocean all the way to Rokugou area, checking in a small ryokan in front of the fishery harbour.
120km ride and 1800m climb in total.
Day 3. Ocean side road continues. The weather is just perfect for bike riding all the way. It is not too hot not too cold.
Passing the city of Anamizu, I noticed the traffic is getting heavy, seeing pleasure boats instead of fishing boats in a cove. Houses are painted in a different color. This means the end of the Deep Noto. I checked in a traditional city ryokan in Nanao city.
170km ride and 1300m climb.
Day4. Initially I planned to go further to Niigata pre but decided not to go any further and decided to go back home. I wanted to keep the mental image on the Deep Noto as much as possible, not being disturbed by city traffic.
From Nanao city, I rode to Himi city 40Km to take a local train.
The Deep Noto was just a healing area.
Minoru Arai