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A year ago yesterday we finished our ride through Japan and reached the southern most tip - Sata Misaki. Aya and I are extremely nostalgic for Japan these days and wanted to show the last few weeks of our ride that we didn’t get to fully share with you all, nor fully document for ourselves. So stay tuned and hope you’ll join us for a time machine ride from where we left off through the rest of Shikoku, Southern Honshu, and Kyushu. ❤️🗾 (at Sata, Kagoshima) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIhj5y4FSGb/?igshid=8n2xbfq6q8zo

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We still can’t believe we made it unscathed after all these days and are forever grateful 🙏🏽 Special shout out to being highly visible and safe on the road with some special gear thanks to family and friends ! Each day we thanked God and started our rides with a prayer to our guardian angels biking along side us. 👼🚲BIG thank you to: Rebekah who always provides the shimmer with these reflective spoke bits ✨ James who gave me a Blue Lug onigiri to stave off hunger and danger. 🍙Myles for the bright pink vest on loan from his Special collections. 💗 My sister for arm protectors ⚡️💪🏽 My mother for our marching yellow hiviz shirts and her Daily Prayers for us ! 🔆 And Dynamo Hub wheels so we are always LIT 🔥 #NihonIssueSafetyIssue #NihonIssueGearIssue https://www.instagram.com/p/B6I97T0lXjJ/?igshid=1o3bbqblvwu2q

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Day 42: 29km - 252mtr A slow day from the quarry peninsula of Aji to Kokubunjicho after tiny kitchens and first swims. ••• Our guesthouse at the end of Aji was hosted by a cyclist/jazz-enthusiast/zen-Buddhist who told us after serving a beautifully simple breakies “making breakfast is not my job, it is my hobby”. Ikeda-San was even gracious enough to let us make our dinner in his super-efficient little kitchen the night before. There we met Elle and Jaap - Elle is basically the lady to know if you are Dutch and trying to do the 88 temple pilgrimage of Shikoku aka the Ohenro. We learned a lot from her. Rode down to the end of Aji and finally threw our bodies into the ocean - our first and only of the tour - it felt amazing. But even in these serene little beaches - and in a place we associate with cleanliness like Japan - the scourge of our plastic is felt. We found many of these little plastic spacers that we later learned are used for the scallop shell lines in oyster seeding around Hiroshima, but used to be made of bamboo slices! From there we biked back across Takamatsu and on towards the strange mounded hills west of the city. At dusk we found our way to the combination sports-park/public-bath/elderly-care-home/campsite. Watch out for more boars! https://www.instagram.com/p/B6I5aE5lRmU/?igshid=db4zw1uhw3p8

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DAY 40: Takamatsu, Shikoku with Solomon! ••• Why are we so lucky?? @skongalong comes all the way from Tokyo to join us in Takamatsu! So of course we do it ALL and eat udon in the Udon Capital of Japan, enjoy some famous local black pepper chicken and imbibe on a responsible 1 hour of karaoke followed by some restorative neighborhood osento ♨️. We pack the next day with a visit to the sacred Isamu Noguchi garden museum, more noodles at Yamadaya Udon, even a cable car ride to Yakuri Temple, #85 of the Shikoku Ohenro (pilgrimage of 88 temples). What a treat for us to have our dear friend, Solomon, join! Complete with a sleepover at the ever so thoughtful Wakabaya guesthouse. The owner opened five years ago inspired by the many people who’ve opened their homes to him as he traveled through Africa, Asia and South America so now it’s his turn to share space for others. https://www.instagram.com/p/B6IkcFeFqFI/?igshid=1ngw9k91i7mob

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#nihonissueDrawQA @celestewilson thank you for asking about the Dark 🌑🌕 You gave me a chance to share this supernatural story. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5w-bUGluZ9/?igshid=1pfull6yyplpl

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You know you’re in Shikoku when there’s so much citrus everywhere! Thank you @yuni_tae for these cycling gloves! Thinking of you daily with these 🧤🍋🍊💚 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5w9FrLlgmC/?igshid=dtls6folfeti

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Come Craft in Japan! Day 37: Tokushima to Awa 35km, 261m climbed We say bye to our new friends from Colliberty guesthouse and rush through the palm lined streets of Tokushima city to Ruafu indigo dyeing studio! Thanks to Sae san who helped us make an appointment. This family run studio is amazing Their Dye is made from indigo leaves dried and fermented for 40 days then mixed with oak ash and lime powder. We Learn that they are also catholic ! so we talk a little about the Pope visiting Japan in a few days and they kindly send us off with tons of candy! We arrive Awa, a lush mountain area and can hear the river in the dark as we descend to the onsen and warm meal at the inn under the bridge. Day 38: Awa to Shionoe 38km, 872 m In the morning we wake up to the clear river from a morning Hotspring bath before we go to Awagamk Paper Factory for another workshop! @mayakyanon ‘s old stomping grounds :) Washi Paper Making is a long time art and the workshops at the factory are accessible to all. They also have aizome (indigo) dyeing station goes 2 meters deep! I would happily submerge myself in that blue black vat. The soft pulpy paper is perfectly formulated with plant fibers from Kozo, mitsumata and gampi plants and a goopy demulcent Neri plant to help suspend the fibers. A VHS teaches us the laborious process of harvestig, processing and crafting this very strong and beautiful paper. You can Even use it for kites! Day 39: Shionoe- Takamatsu- Megijima 26km, 225m, 20 min ferry ride Why do we write all this? Mostly to share our unique days with you but also to share Japan! We got you visit, especially tokushima and the Seto insland sea some day. This is where the famous art islands are like Naoshima. We leave the Tokushima mountains and enter Kagawa prefecture. We get a preview of Takamatsu city before taking a ferry to Megijima island to camp for the night, also known as Onigashihima, island of demons from the Japanese folktale everyone in Japan knows, MomoTaro, a boy born from a peach who goes on a heroic adventure with animal companions. The only creatures we witness by our our pine tree beachside campsite are wild boar and kittie cats. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5w8ToZlwaw/?igshid=15p9klo3pm0pc

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#nihonissuedrawQA @robotnation asks about Calmest Place. the worn wooden walls within Shu Sui Tei Tea House in the corner of Kyoto Imperial Gardens definitely gave us the gift of calm. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5w3SPWl7Kc/?igshid=1gvm5hyb6039u

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DAY 60 LIVE : Dec 5. We are about to bike to Sata today 🗾 Almost there, always here 🌅 (at Kanoya, Kagoshima) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5q4OqwF_6l/?igshid=syzizedc7c3b

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Day 35&36 Day 35 Tenri to Hashimoto, 51km, 613m We left Tsubame house and set our destination as a bakery we saw on a fancy local foods flyer: yielding tasty lunch and unforeseen mountain climb through Kaki orchards. Rice harvesting season shows us many things, from burning husks which later is folded into manure for good soil Ph, to drying the harvest of these handmade wooden racks. Spotted our first vending machine for fresh local eggs! We arrived in Hashimoto and had a great soak at this hot spring that everyone fills their jugs to bring home the special water. Upon finding our campsite closed afterwards, we took advice from cyclist friend Nobu-San to sleep out by the roadside station. Worked great and slept until the rain woke us up! Day 36: Hashimoto to Wakayama ferry to Tokushima. 55km/ 382m We wheaded to a nearby temple - that we learned is Jisonin - the start point many pilgrims take when hiking up to Koyasan. Koya-San did not welcome women visitors until the 1800s, so this temple was a place where women could worship before that time. Mt. Koya is HQ of Shingon Buddhism - a “Chinese influenced esoteric sect” founded in early 800s - jisonin is now a temple where people go to pray for women’s health! Especially mommas and mommas-to-be. We followed a paper map bike route given by our Nara guesthouse host along the river from Hashimoto to Wakayama city. So many birds: herons, cranes, black-eared kites. Many turtles and cats-lots of cats by the river. We ate Kaki on the roadside - bought a basket for 200 yen thinking we were paying for 1 fruit. What gifts we receive in life. Crossed a bunch of big bridges and arrived at our ferry early. Shikoku bound! This ferry was the first to feature a large area of floor only chill space - people sleeping and snacking and talking - all with no shoes on. Truely inspiring. Arriving in Tokushima 2 hours later, we rode to find our guesthouse and were surprised to find Bromptons in the entrance! Our hosts were also cyclists and super folks who just took on this Hostel. As the only guests, they went with us to the best Tokushima ramen in the town. We won’t forget their kindness and energy! (at Wakayama Prefecture) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5qAblLlMDS/?igshid=1hedwnqf5147u

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#nihonissueDrawQA Question from @kingbicycletricycle What has been the best view? A: Endless citrus orchards with long afternoon shadows and blue sky on Ohmishima in the Seto Inland Sea 🍊🌊🍋🌊🍋🌊🍊 (at 大三島) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ne6OfFBD6/?igshid=6o22c795j4k3

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Day 34: Nara to Tenri 12km,70m We met the friendliest people at Tsubame Guesthouse in Tenri. It’s new and everything is beautifully made with care and so much was built by hand themselves! They truly host with big hearts and we totally recommend it if you visit Tenri which has ancient sites along the oldest road in Japan. Thank you for your hospitality and takoyaki party! We also met their friend who is doing the famous 88 temple ohenro (pilgrimage) in Shikoku island by bicycle then running the Okinawa marathon, and coming back to finish the ohenro! We love Nobu san’s energy and bicycle rig! がんばってください！ (at Tenricho, Yamatokoriyama-shi) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5naEXZFNA_/?igshid=ykujb3eq4zd0

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Day 33: Kyoto to Nara 55km/ 33mi, 502m/ 1,647ft While biking along the amazing bike path along the kamogawa river from Kyoto to Nara we met a pair from Australia who were just finishing their epic bike tour from Albania, Georgia , South Korea, southern Japan and finally, Kyoto! They had such cool bikes and fresh energy. We spotted their 2 aerobis from afar! Thank you Sarah and Ben for your Shikoku preview stories and good vibes! We were welcomed to Japan’s ancient and first capital by the hosts of Naramachi Guesthouse. It is an established and friendly guesthouse that used to be a calligraphy school about 200 hundred years ago. We highly recommend it✨✨Don’t let the small size of this city fool you. It rich in history and we’ve spotted a lot along these windy roads like a trendy omurice spot, mochi cafes, local izakaya, massive old buildings like Todaiji Temple (the biggest we’ve seen!) , deer 鹿 everywhere, mechanical toy museum, and more hidden the closer you look gems. At the Todaiji Temple, one known for its sheer size (and really the biggest we’ve seen) there was great contemporary work on display front . In Kyoto and Nara we got to see some amazing art work by people with disabilities and in general have felt strong centering and celebration of the special needs community by Japanese institutions. The couple who runs the GH has so much knowledge and resources. They’re house has so much info and we got a great cycling map to go to wakayama in the next few days! Of course we went to the local osento (public bath) before bed and got to walk 20 steps to a neighbor’s place for a ¥500 朝ごはん　breakfast. We love breakfast restaurants! https://www.instagram.com/p/B5nXlidlsL4/?igshid=adbs8x5drg66

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DAY 54: Today we biked from Kusu to the ridge of a 100,000 crater and witnessed the largest caldera in the world: Aso san in Kumamoto prefecture. 60km and 1,269 m of elevation gain. 阿蘇山　熊本県 We biked down the caldera to stay at a wonderful Asora guesthouse and then biked out of the north western ridge of the crater the next day. We are so in awe of Kyushu and feel so changed and inspired after this stay in Aso. It feels like the whole tour prepared us for this place. •••• We are also on our final week of our tour believe it or not. I am taking advantage of 7eleven wifi since we’ve been camping (last two photos are from this morning). More sporadic, discordant and abridged updates of days 32~53 will emerge in the days to come. Thank you for following us along! It really feels like you’re with us. ••• Today is actually Day 57 and we’ll continue biking through the southern inland of Kyushu. Please wish us more power, safety and we’ll thinking how to draw answers to your amazing questions. Off to another mountain climbing day to Isa! ⛰💗⛰ https://www.instagram.com/p/B5jOBT9FBSg/?igshid=u5w9euy11nsq

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Can anyone guess what these are for? https://www.instagram.com/p/B5jMUX1lm0h/?igshid=ujnqkrfbj13d

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Day 29- Tsuruga, Fukui pref To Kyoto. 100km along Biwako, Japan’s biggest lake! Starting at 6am out of the ferry, we were on our bikes for 14 hours. This was our longest and most difficult ride. It felt like multiple days in one but we arrived to the warmth of friends who made food! I met Chika at Roots and Remedies conference in Ypsilanti near Detroit, Michigan and we’ve reconnected in Japan! She hosted us with open arms and feel so inspired by her Japan ritual revitalization studies and waves she’s creating. Day 30- Chika brings us to her friend’s farm to harvest rice in Keihoku! 稲刈り　We meet Dennis, Chika’s friend from Singapore, who is doing amazing work connecting people with rural communities in Japan. We meet more of her friends studying earthquake engineering, deep culture Japanese exchange program for young people, atmospheric science. All these world changers! Day 31-32 a few more days in Kyoto in the cozy hostel @niniroom and meet Kyoko san who teaches us about Omotenashi and the history of this woman owned business who had a dream to convert this old printing office to a space for people to stay and build community. Next door we had the best breakfast two days in a row. We barely got close to Kyoto’s many offerings. It felt like if we had two days in rome. We took a bus to the busy Bamboo forest of Arashiyama and then not being used to so many people, we found a peaceful refuge for just ¥100 in the imperial tea house Shu Sui Tei . thank you @japlan2019 for sharing about this place! @hakumonster and @milesendo please visit this beautifully worn architectural gem. If you ever go to Kyoto, please do as we were told by a woman named Lima and spend some time on the kamogawa river bank. Let its waters run through your feet. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gk9Y-Fp0L/?igshid=javduxk2jd4m

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Day 28: Murakami to Niigata 56km/34mi & 471m/1545ft Our day started with a ride to Murakami’s most well known shop - the salmon and sake House Sennensake Kikkikawa. It’s beautiful traditional building filled with 1000s of hangdrying salmon. It smells amazing and transports you to another time. We sampled different cured salmons and had a fire warmed Omezake - fermented sweet rice drink. A random lady stopped her car on the side of the road and ran across to ask us if we wanted to have lunch at her house with a friend! Bummed we had to decline to make our boat - but also WTH is with these super generous folks?? Other than that amazingness, Our day on the road was simple and uneventful. Leaving murakami took us through more rice fields and sprawling coast marshlands on the way to the coast. We dipped our feet in the Japan Sea for the first time on this trip. Into Niigata we wove our way through the manufacturing areas and shipyards along the water, arriving at our second overnight ferry. We literally sailed off into the sunset headed for Tsuruga. Also this ferry has an arcade 🏒💨 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5gixEEFVmY/?igshid=i7yx1vndozag