Planes. Japan has a very good but complicated transportation system that includes, intercity buses, trains, and of course planes. From the Bay Area the main direct airports are Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) near Tokyo or Osaka airport (KIX). Odds are your tour is starting somewhere else so you’ll likely need to get to your start town from either Tokyo or Osaka airports. Flying is generally easy but keep in mind that most intra-Japan or domestic flights from Tokyo originate at Haneda, not Narita. If you fly into Narita, you may have to transfer to Haneda to catch your connecting flight; Narita has a limited number of domestic flights. If you fly into Narita, you can transfer to Haneda either by train or limo bus. Keep in mind that clearing passport control, retrieving your luggage and getting through customs takes time. That will be true at Haneda too as you’ll have to go through check-in and security. The time it takes by train or limo bus is about two hours depending somewhat on Tokyo traffic (for the limo bus). So you’ll need to set aside about five hours to complete the transfer comfortably. If you can, it’s better to fly into Haneda instead of Narita if you plan to catch a domestic flight.

If you don’t want to rush, you can try a layover in Tokyo or at an airport hotel and proceed to your final destination the following day. A flight from SF to Tokyo is about eleven hours. If you tend to be exhausted after a long flight or perhaps you can’t relax and sleep on a Trans-Pacific flight, then a layover may make sense for you as long as you’ve set aside that extra day. We usually try to get to the destination city right away even though we may be tired. But we have done a layover in Tokyo and taken the Shinkansen—“bullet” train—from there to Kanazawa. One advantage of flying is that navigating the airport is much simpler than going into Tokyo to your hotel and then getting to a train station to catch a train.

By the way, the procedure for using airport limousine service in larger cities is usually to proceed to the stop where there will be an electronic kiosk for paying your fare and getting a ticket. (Be sure to have cash in order to pay.) When the limo bus arrives, you load your bags into the undercarriage before showing or giving your ticket to the driver and boarding. Depending on the route you may need to know which stop to debark from. But there is electronic signage and audio informing you of the next stop so you do not miss your stop. At your stop the driver and the ground assistant do not unload your bags and you will have to do that.

Airports in Japan function very similarly to airports here but there are a few differences. Here in the US almost all flights depart from a terminal. But as in Europe large airports in Japan often have flights that aren’t at a terminal jetway; instead you take a shuttle bus from the terminal out to the tarmac and board from the ground. This is important mainly because you’ll need to make sure you’re at the gate to catch the shuttle bus to the plane. If the last shuttle has departed from the terminal, you won’t be able to board your flight.

Airport procedures seem more efficient than in the US. Baggage handling and actual boarding are quicker. A half-hour between your arriving flight and a departing flight is not uncommon. Japanese airlines seem to have no problem boarding a full plane in about 15 minutes, which would be impossible here in the US. One time we were delayed in getting through customs and passport control and missed our connecting flight to Nagasaki. The next flight was in 20 minutes and it was the last one for the night. We checked our luggage and sped through the airport to a shuttle bus that took us to a different terminal. We arrived at the gate literally at the last minute before the scheduled departure and we got into the tail end of the boarding line. They shut the door behind us and we took off. Our bags arrived with us too. The shuttle driver clearly knew what he was doing!

Security in Japanese airports is similar to here except that there is no TSA Pre or Clear—everyone has to go through the same rigorous procedure including removing shoes, all laptops from carry-on, etc.

Trains. The railway system can be complicated because there are many independent train systems that serve local areas. For getting to and from major cities and towns it’s fairly transparent because they are served by one of the Japan Railways (JR), which were formed when the national railway system was privatized decades ago. Japan also has high speed rail, the Shinkansen, which can be faster than taking a regional flight because you don’t need to check in early nor go through an extensive security check. The Shinkansen trains, or ‘bullet’ trains, go about 180 MPH and are very smooth. Another advantage of taking the train is that train stations are in the center of towns whereas airports are usually on the outskirts. Train tickets can be ordered from the railway system in advance or you can buy one when you get to a station. Usually you can buy a ticket at a kiosk or in person at the railway office if it’s open. Be careful though: Japan is mainly a cash based society and foreign credit cards are not always accepted. This is changing since the 2020 Olympics. The kiosks can be faster than the office, which often have lines, but not all of them accept credit cards and definitely some do not accept foreign credit cards. If you use one, you can select English so that the entire transaction is understandable. Train usage in Japan is very high so purchasing a ticket in advance especially for the Shinkansen is advised as it can sell out. Rail stations are often centers of commerce as well. They are filled with businesses—restaurants, stores, food stalls, electronics stores, etc. so they are rife with services if you need something at the last minute.

As in the airports electronic signage for departures and arrivals is in Japanese as well as Roman script so you will be able to read them and know when the train arrives and on which track. Railway staff rarely are able to communicate in English.

Trains in Japan are punctual. They arrive and depart on schedule almost all the time. The rail system is about as efficient as in Switzerland. Train usage is very high in Japan. As with just about any place in Japan trains are marvelously maintained and clean. There are luggage bins as you enter the trains where you can stow your luggage before seating. Don’t worry them being stolen. As in Europe you select and purchase a specific class of ticket and you’ll need to make sure you sit in a car that is that class.

If you’re concerned about getting a seat on a train, you can purchase a ticket in advance for a reserved seat. However JR (Japan Railway) will not send the ticket to you and you’ll have to pick it up at a JR office either at the airport or at a station. If you want to have the ticket sent to you in advance, you will have to use a third party service to do that. The advantage of using JR directly is that you can select your seat, which you cannot do with a third party site. (The latter will select a seat for you.) Purchasing a ticket in advance for the Shinkansen is recommended!

About the Shinkansen. If you’re heading to a start town from Tokyo or Osaka, the bullet train is a viable option to catching a connecting flight. Grabbing a connecting flight at Haneda to your start location is so easy that you aren’t likely to entertain taking a train instead. However if you are planning to visit Tokyo before your cycling adventure, then consider taking a train instead of heading back to the airport. For a detailed and clear explanation about using the train system and buying tickets go here. There are just a couple of remarks I will add that aren’t mentioned in the above link. If you are bringing your bike you may not want to use the train. Not only is lugging a bike box/case around a burden in Tokyo but bringing luggage on trains is limited to no more than 160 cm (= 63 inches) for combined height plus width plus depth. Your case might be too big. An option is to leave your bike at a luggage storage facility at a train station to avoid dealing with it in Tokyo. But this won’t solve the size issue. If you’re using a S&S case you should have no trouble taking your bike on the train assuming there is space in the luggage storage bins in your train car. You can bring your bike on trains in Japan (and some buses) as long as you use a rinko bag though if you’re arriving in Japan by plane it’s unlikely you’ll be using just a bag to ship your bike. But this is useful if you plan to use trains during your cycle tour. For information on how to rinko your bike, go here. For rinko supplies including bags go here.

Entering the train system is much like entering BART: put your ticket in the slot in the automatic gate, it opens and you enter, and then retrieve your ticket. If you are taking a Shinkansen you will receive two tickets when you buy them, one ticket is the base fare ticket and the second gives you access to the Shinkansen. When you first enter the station, you just put in your base fare ticket. Once inside you enter a second set of gates to enter the Shinkansen area. Here you put in BOTH your tickets as the same time—not separately—and retrieve them on the other side. The automatic gate will read them both at the same time.

In town. Towns where tourism thrives such as Kanazawa or Hiroshima or any big city such as Tokyo or Osaka have very well developed public transportation systems. Usually you can purchase a one-day ticket that lets you hop on and off buses and light rail so you can tour the town at will. You can purchase a ticket at the Tourist Information offices.

Taxis. I can’t recall if we have ever seen an Uber of Lyft in Japan. But we have seen many taxis. Taxis in Japan are operated very professionally. Drivers are well dressed and always—as do bus drivers and train operators—wear white gloves. In the big cities taxi drivers are familiar dealing with Western tourists even if they can only speak Japanese. If you’re heading to a well-known hotel, they will probably know exactly where and how to go. If you have the address, you can show it to the driver. If you’re heading from a hotel to a location, you can ask the front desk to summon a taxi at a specific time and tell them the destination. That will be conveyed to the driver so you don’t need to be concerned about communicating with the driver. As in restaurants—really everywhere in Japan—you do not tip taxi drivers.

Safety. The biggest crime in cities is pickpocketing but it doesn’t seem to be anywhere at the level you’d find in Europe or the US. Armed robbery and mugging are very rare. On tours we’re mostly in the countryside and smaller towns where the level of crime is even lower. We’ve never had a problem leaving our bicycles outside a shrine, restaurant, public toilet, or shop and not locking them.

Starting a ride in a city. Japanese cities just as here and in Europe can have dense car traffic and it’s only when you get outside the urban center that roads calm down and you can relax. There are usually recommended bike routes to get in and out but as here it’s often a “bike route” i.e. just painted lines on a road that has no additional shoulder or room to accommodate cyclists, as opposed to a bike lane or bikeway. Despite how hectic traffic can be in some Japanese cities, the speed is often low and drivers are more attuned to cyclists due to how common it is to cycle to run errands in Japan. As mentioned before riding on sidewalks is acceptable in Japan especially if there is an explicit sign allowing it. Riding in the road and then jumping up onto a sidewalk or multi-use path when necessary is common in Japan. Despite the very well developed train network in Japan it still has a huge amount of lorries hauling goods everywhere. Even though they are smaller than the trucks in the US, the roads are narrow and they can appear very intimidating. Although they may seem to driving very close to you they know to pull out as they pass you to give you space. If they can’t pass, they will slow down and wait until they can.

Arrival and checking in at reception.
When you arrive at a hotel or inn, the staff are supposed to inspect your passport and make a record of it. If you are traveling not as part of a group, this would certainly be true. Our experience being part of an organized tour group is that this varies. Sometimes reception will ask to see and make a copy of your passport but sometimes this does not happen. This may be because the tour company has provided that information in advance and the staff feel they do not need to verify it when you arrive. But you should have your passport ready when you arrive at the hotel to check in just in case they don’t have it yet. The guides will tell you if you need to show your passport to the front desk.

By law when you travel in Japan you are supposed to have your passport on your person at all times. In reality we often leave it in our luggage in the support van. Other than when checking into an accommodation we have never needed to present a passport while traveling in Japan. But the police have the right to ask to see it.

Rooms.
Some hotels in Japan may offer a choice of Western or traditional Japanese rooms. However even if you prefer a Western room, there may not be one available that night. A Western room is what we would term a regular hotel room: beds, carpeting, a desk and chair, etc. Japanese rooms are what you might find in a traditional Japanese home as in the picture above: futons not beds, a low table called a zataku rather than desk, legless chairs called zaisu for the low table, sliding washi paper doors to enclose the main room, and perhaps a separate sitting area with regular chairs and small table (hiroen). There is always an alcove (tokonoma) with decoration, often a scroll or painting. Hotels catering to business travelers often have Western rooms; resort hotels may have only Japanese rooms or maybe just a few Western rooms. Ryokans usually do not have Western rooms, which means that you will be sleeping on a futon rather than a bed. A futon is similar to a mattress but much thinner and consisting of dense batting.

Futons are kept in a closet and put out by the staff while you’re at dinner. They are then stowed in the closet the next day. You won’t be able to lounge on your futon during the day since it won’t be out when you arrive. You’ll either have to sit at the low table or in the sitting area. If you expect to get “work” done on your laptop, there isn’t a convenient desk to use and you’ll have to make do with the small or low table or your lap. Because futons are thinner and denser than a mattress and there are no springs, they feel quite different. Some futons are thinner than others and they may feel hard to you. Your back may or may not like sleeping on a futon. On thinner futons your hip, shoulder, or lower back bones may be uncomfortable due to the minimal cushioning. If your futon is just too hard, you can try taking a spare futon from the closet and stacking two (or three) together to make it softer. Traditional Japanese futon pillows are smaller, denser, and less comfortable than the foam or down pillows we’re used to. They are stuffed with buckwheat hulls usually. If you find them uncomfortable, you can stuff some of your clothing in a sack to use instead. Also getting up from a futon takes more effort than a bed since you’re on the floor—you can’t just slide your legs off the bed and rise. If you’re next to the low table, which is moved by the staff from the center of the room to the side when they make up your futon, you can brace yourself against it to help getting up. Some ryokans have a piece of small furniture that looks like a freestanding armrest for a zaisu. This is intended to help you get up from the floor. Finally, futons have comforters, which you will welcome in cold weather but can be too hot in warmer weather (well, at least for me).

Japanese rooms have tatami flooring so you’ll need to remove all shoes while in your room; it is very rude to walk on tatami with footwear of any kind as it soils and degrades it. So you are either barefooted or in socks while in your room. In Japan cleanliness is highly valued.

In some ryokan or minshuku (small, private guesthouses) there may not be a private bathroom. The toilets and sinks may be in a common area. If you’re in the habit of waking in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, you may find this inconvenient. But many have en suite toilets. Ryokans with an onsen may omit a private bath/shower in which case you’ll have to use the onsen to shower up at the end of the day’s ride.

Bathrooms.
Bathrooms run the gamut at inns in Japan. A lot of hotels with Western rooms have all-in-one bathrooms, i.e. bathrooms that look manufactured as one whole unit and then retrofitted to a hotel room. In actuality these hotels are certainly new enough that rooms were constructed with a bathroom in mind and I guess a smart manufacturer must be building them specifically for hotels trying to minimize the square footage in the hotel room. These bathrooms are typical Western bathrooms just smaller. They contain a sink, toilet, and bathtub/shower. Everything is tightly squeezed in. Showers sometimes have no curtain; this isn’t too surprising because showering/cleaning in an onsen there are no curtains or barriers to contain the spray. Some bathrooms that have no tub and you just shower on the floor, which has a drain. These bathrooms always have a stool and a bucket, which is what you’ll find in an onsen. Some hotels and ryokans have separate rooms for the toilet and the bath/shower not unlike what you’d find in old Victorian flats in San Francisco. At ryokans these toilet rooms often have toilet room slippers, i.e. slippers left in the toilet room and used only while you’re in there. They are always a different color than the slippers provided in the room and to make things glaringly clear they are marked “Toilet” for the ignorant Westerners. Since in a traditional Japanese room with tatami flooring you’ll be padding about in either bare feet or socks, toilet slippers make sense in order not to soil the rest of the room.

Toilets.
Toilets in Japan are similar to bidets; there have an electric powered water jet to wash your bottom and then blow dry it; toilet seats are often electrically heated. If you are not familiar with the style of toilet, you’re in for a surprise if you accidentally activate it! Because the control panel and/or remote control is in Japanese, it can be very intimidating for the novice and you’ll probably avoid using it. However use Google Translate to decipher them or see this link and this link. And yes, there is toilet paper too. Japan also has “squat” toilets similar to what you’ll elsewhere in the world but these are never in hotels or ryokans. Some restaurants and bars still have squat toilets; some public toilets are squat but the number seems to be decreasing as they are replaced by newer toilets.

Like much of the rest of the world, you won’t find plush terrycloth towels in Japanese inns (but some high end hotels do have them). In my experience Japanese towels are adequate although sometimes they’re a little smaller than in the US. If the hotel or ryokan has an onsen you will find towels in the closet or armoire in your room rather than the bathroom, one large towel and one small one for each person. These are to be used at the onsen and brought back to the room.

In ryokans your room will often include either an electric teapot or a carafe of hot water for you to make green tea, which is kept in a container on the zataku. (Sometimes they are placed in the tokonoma.)

Yukata.
Ryokans and most hotels include yukata robes. Usually they are in the room when you arrive. However at larger onsen hotels, i.e. you may have to select your size yukata in the lobby. A yukata is a floor length robe with a sash that you wrap around your waist (twice) to hold the robe in place. The proper way to dress yourself is to put the right side of the robe under the left and then wrap and tie the sash to the right. (Note that putting the right side over the left is only done for the deceased.) In colder weather there is a jacket you may put over the yukata. Yukata resemble bathrobes but their function is for casual lounging of any sort. Walking around the premises and even on the street in a yukata—especially if it’s a hot springs town—is accepted. Going to your meal in the hotel or ryokan in a yukata is common. Yukata come in different sizes, usually small, medium, and large; if the one in your room doesn’t fit, you’ll have to ask at reception for a different size although some places have only one size. If you don’t select a yukata in the lobby, it will then be in the closet along with any things needed at the onsen (if there is one). You can find more detailed information at this link.

Slippers are at the entrance of the ryokan but in hotels you will find them in your room. You don’t wear your regular slippers in the toilet room (nor in a Japanese room at all!) nor go in barefooted. Use the toilet slippers. If the toilets are down the hall, you’ll always find toilet slippers there for your use. Slippers in ryokans and hotels tend to be on the small side for Americans males. If you’re a size 10 or above, you should plan to pack your own slippers or flipflops unless you enjoy cartoonishly clomping along in tiny slippers. You can probably walk around in your socks or barefooted in the ryokan although I must admit that I have never seen Japanese do this. In hotels you are allowed to wear shoes even into your room unless it has tatami mat floors. But even in hotel rooms without tatami you will find slippers in your room for your use. Ryokans are another story. I have yet to stay at a ryokan or minshuku that allowed street shoes or cycling shoes to be worn indoors. When you arrive you’ll find slippers at the front door. Usually there is a step or two up to the ryokan floor and that’s where you are expected to take off your street shoes or cycling shoes and leave them there. There is usually an area with cubby holes to park your shoes for your stay; there is absolutely no reason to bring your cycling shoes into your room. If you plan to change into street shoes to go explore the area or head to a konbini, you should bring them to the front door and change into them there and leave them there when you return.

Onsen.
Onsen are hot spring baths and Japan being a country with a lot of volcanic activity they can be found everywhere. There are onsen towns, destinations where Japanese people go specifically to take the baths. Hotels and ryokans can have onsen facilities too as hot spring water is often piped into the buildings. What we typically think of as hot springs in the US are not the same as onsen, as the former are usually not developed and are almost always outdoors in remote areas. Onsen are usually quite developed as the volcanic water is tapped and piped into facilities throughout an onsen town. Onsen can be indoor or outdoor but are usually indoor. Whereas a hot springs is considered an unusual luxury in the US, onsen are quite common and a big part of Japanese culture. This isn’t too surprising as baths were public faciliies for most of Japan’s history. Onsen have separate bathing areas for men and women. This is because you are expected to be naked in the onsen. Do not wear swim clothes in the onsen! If you’re uncomfortable being in public naked, onsen are not for you (which is a problem if your ryokan doesn’t have en suite showers.) There are typically set hours when you can use the onsen. They are closed for cleaning every day.

There is a whole ritual for using the onsen that I won’t explain in detail. But after disrobing and storing your clothing, room key, etc. you enter a bathing area adjacent to the hot water. You are expected to clean yourself well before you enter the pools. Going directly in the hot pools without bathing is deeply frowned upon (and yet I have seen Japanese do it!). Typically you clean yourself on a stool in an open stall; there might be a standing shower also. There is a bucket you fill with water to rinse yourself after soaping up. But I just use the hose from the tap to rinse. This is not an area where you horse around (also frowned upon). A more detailed explanation can be found at this link. After cleaning up you can enter the pool(s). If there is one pool it will be somewhere around 104-108F; multiple pools will have different temperatures. In my experience the pools are all tiled nicely, shallow, and some have steps you can sit on. Keep in mind the water is hot spring water so it will have almost always have a distinct mineral smell. The pools are not deep—they aren’t for swimming or even full immersion: when sitting on the bottom your head is above water. The idea isn’t to immerse yourself fully—keep your head above water. You spend as much time as you want in the pool(s) and then usually you get out, rinse off, and towel off before you leave the bathing area to get dressed. Your onsen ‘kit’ will include a small towel, about dishrag size or smaller. This you can use to wash yourself and “dry” yourself before leaving the pool area for the dressing room. When you get in the pool you place this small towel on top of your head for “storage” (or so I am told).

Using the onsen after a day’s ride is a great way to warm up if it’s been chilly or raining and they really help you recover from the ride in addition to helping you relax. A beer afterwards probably helps too! (You should not drink alcohol before entering the onsen.)

One thing you should know about onsen: tattoos are often forbidden. If you’re heavily inked this is potentially a problem and you should ask the guides or staff at the onsen. This is perhaps more an issue at a public onsen than at a private onsen at your accommodation. Tattoos are frowned upon at onsen because of the association of ornate tattoos with membership in a yakuza, Japanese crime syndicates.

If you’re at an onsen town (as opposed to an onsen that is part of your accommodation), you’ll have to walk to the onsen and pay a small fee to use the onsen unless the fee is already part of the tour. You’ll probably walk there in your yukata along with the towel and small towel from your room.

Heating and cooling.
Japan can be very cold in the winter and very hot and humid in summer, which incidentally make spring and autumn the more comfortable times to do a cycling tour. Japan doesn’t have a native source of oil or gas for energy and relies completely on imported oil. The other major source of electricity is nuclear power. Consequently Japan tends to be parsimonious in consuming electricity, so for heating and cooling you’ll find minisplit units, i.e. ductless heat pumps, which are very efficient. There will either be a remote control or a wall mounted control that you’ll have to set for heating, cooling, or just fan as well as the temperature you prefer and sometimes a timer. Of course it’s all in Japanese, so in order to know what you’re doing you’ll either have to read Japanese or use Google Translate to decode the text on the control. Here is a link with a detailed explanation.

Kerosene is also used for room heating in Japan. This is mainly at private homes. But if you stay at a private home such as in Shirakawa-go, you may encounter them. They put out a lot of heat but they also have that kerosene odor. Worse they can emit a huge amount of CO2 into your room.

Electrical outlets.
Outlets in Japan take the same two-prong plugs as in the US (although they are 100 volt, not 120 and 50 cycle, not 60). If you are bringing devices that have a three-prong plug, you’ll want bring an adaptor. Depending on the age of the accommodation you may or may not have sufficient outlets in your room. Older ryokans may have just one wall outlet in the room so you may want to bring along an extension cord with multiple outlets just in case.

WiFi.
I have yet to stay at a hotel or ryokan in Japan that did not have WiFi. Cell coverage in Japan is quite good, comparable to France’s (i.e. there are no dead zones) so you can also use your phone even in remote areas. In older hotels you will probably find an Ethernet connection (!) at the desk in your room. USB outlets? You’ll find them in newer hotels but probably not anywhere else so bring a hub if you’ve got lots of devices to charge.

Laundry.
Laundry is always a chore when you’re cycle touring. If you’re doing a short trip—a few days—it might be possible to carry a fresh set of cycling clothes for each day. For a longer tour, say over a week, your limited luggage is going to dictate how much clothes you dare to bring. Keep in mind that you’ll often need to bring additional cycling clothes for rainy weather or if you expect to encounter chilly conditions. Experienced cycle tourists generally plan to wash their clothes in the bathroom sink/shower/tub when they arrive at the destination hotel/inn and hope that it dries out by the next day. A rotation of three sets of bottoms and jerseys will usually do. You’ll always have a clean set in case you can’t do your laundry one day due to lack of a private bathroom, late arrival, early dinner, or just being too tired. There are a bunch of tips for handling laundry while on tour that I won’t go into here. But briefly having a clothes hanging cord such as Rick Steve’s, carrying laundry detergent such as Woolite, and knowing how to get as much water out of your clothes so it will dry quickly are the main ones. Clothes hangers? There may be enough to hang your washed cycling clothes on but don’t count on it–hang it in the bathroom on on the little rack in your room if your lodging has an onsen.

Japan has one convenience that beats touring in Europe: washing machines and dryers are common in hotels. In our experience practically every hotel (but not ryokan) has a coin laundry room that guests are welcome to use. Many have machines that will automatically dispense detergent. This is a real boon when you’re touring because instead of having a burdensome chore to do when you arrive at the hotel when you’re tired and/or hungry or have already had that post-ride biru (beer) or two, you can just dump your clothes in the washing machine for about 200 Yen (about $1.25) and retrieve it later. It’s worth every yen for the convenience! We’ve seen top loaders and front loaders in hotels but even the top loaders seem to have a high speed spin to remove as much water as possible. This makes drying even faster. You can then hang your clothes in your room or throw it in the dryer for another 100 Yen or so to make sure it’s dry by morning. You won’t need to do too much deciphering of the Japanese text because the operation of the machines is so simple. Use Google Translate if you’re not sure if detergent will be dispensed automatically. (If you see a detergent for sale in the laundry room, that’s a clue!) For travel we bring a few detergent pods we can throw into a washing machine if we need to.

Convenience machines.
Japan is the land of vending machines. There are vending machines for drinks everywhere on the street including in the middle of nowhere in the rural areas. This is also true in hotels. There is usually a vending machine area in hotels not just for juice and soft drinks but also electrolyte beverages (‘Pocari Sweat’!), hot coffee, cold coffee drinks, and green tea. Often hotels have filtered water dispensers, ice machines, hot coffee or espresso machines, and ice cream chests, and even a popular probiotic, Yakult. At hotels with onsens you may see machines dispensing beer outside the onsen. There is one other common convenience machine: a microwave oven. If you head to a nearby konbini (convenience store), you can get plenty of food items that you can heat up in the hotel microwave including soup, noodles, fried food, food bowls, etc. (Most konbini can microwave your food for you also.)

Bicycle Parking. If you’re on an organized tour, the guides will have it sorted out where you park your bike. This is the time to let the guides know—if you haven’t already—that you’re having a problem with your bike such as wonky shifting, noise, worn brakes, etc. Theft in Japan is much rarer than in the US especially bicycle theft. In general it’s usually safe to leave your bike unattended if you’re visiting a site such as a shrine, going into a store, or stopping to get a meal. That said at night I’ve noticed that our group’s bikes are cabled together if they are left in front of the hotel or ryokan in a larger city.

Joe McClinton, a former Spoker who is fluent in Italian and who has led bike tours in Italy, told me before I went to Italy to cycle for the first time in 2000, “So-called Italian food here is very different from what you’ll be eating in Italy.” At the time I didn’t understand what he said but it turned out he was right—what we get here is really Italian-American food, i.e. something derived from southern Italy that has been modified because immigrants couldn’t get the same ingredients here then modified again in restaurants for the American palate. The same goes for Japanese food: what we get here is just a subset of what you’ll get there and it’s different anyway. The number of food items and dishes we’ve eaten there that I’ve never ever encountered in the Bay Area is very high. Yes, you can get sushi and sashimi here and nowadays you can even get fresh ramen, which has recently become popular. But the variety of fish from which they are derived is much more diverse. Speaking of which, if you don’t like seafood you may have a difficult time eating in Japan. Seafood whether it be the myriad types of fish, crustaceans, or mollusks is found everywhere and various kinds of seaweed are eaten all the time. In fact dashi, the broth used throughout Japanese cooking is made from bonito tuna and seaweed. Common kinds of seafood eaten regularly in Japan include sea snails, octopus, and eel, which we rarely see here even in Japanese restaurants.

This isn’t to say that meat is uncommon—it’s not. Wagyu and Kobe beef are famous and everybody loves fried chicken, karaage. KFC has had great success in Japan because fried chicken is so loved. At Christmas time—yes, the Japanese celebrate Christmas even though they’re not Christians—people line up to order their bucket of KFC and Christmas cake, which often runs out if you don’t reserve in advance. But the proportion of food that is ocean derived is very high compared to the US.

If you’re vegan or vegetarian, be prepared to have a more difficult time in Japan. Buddhist cuisine, which is vegan (mostly), can be found at the temples but there are very few restaurants in that niche and they’re usually in the big cities. Animal derived food products are ubiquitous from dashi, which is made from bonito tuna, to sauces made from fermented fish., and ramen soup broth made from pork bones. Although tofu is readily available, you may not find that in some restaurants. And much of the time it’s opaque exactly what ingredients were used in a dish. Another complication is that where Japanese Buddhists draw the line is different from vegans: many Buddhists consume dairy since they believe that no killing is involved in obtaining milk and animals produce milk to feed their young. If you strictly vegan, then you will need to look for places that serve shojin ryori, or Buddhist cuisine, which is mainly at temples.

If you’re avoiding gluten, Japan is a really tough place. Although the prevalent grain products are rice and buckwheat, there are many common foods that contain gluten such as soy sauce and miso. Food package information is in Japanese and deciphering it for gluten is sometimes completely opaque.

When it comes to eating out in restaurants, you’ll often find that restaurants offer just one ‘type’ of food—ramen restaurants serve just ramen (but sometimes soba or udon too); sushi restaurants serve just sushi. When you’re out in the countryside you may have no idea what a place is serving unless they have pictures or it’s obvious when you look at the kitchen or what other patrons are eating. If they have a menu, you can use Google Translate to decipher the text.

On Cycling Japan tours most of the dinners are included, usually at the hotel or ryokan. But sometimes we are taken out to a restaurant and even on free nights we would occasionally go with the guides to a recommended venue. Their choice in eating establishments is always excellent, places that we would never find by ourselves. In traditonal restaurants it’s not uncommon to be seated at a low table rather than a standard height table and the flooring is often tatami so you’ll have to remove your shoes when you enter the restaurant. You will need to be flexible too in order to sit seiza or crosslegged on a cushion. Sometimes you can get a low chair or stool to sit if you’re not flexible enough to sit on the floor but depending on the number of westerners—and it’s always westerners who request the chairs!—there may not be one available.

Some places you may be seated at a low table but there is a hollow space underneath for you to put your legs and sit in a normal position. Then you only need to be flexible enough to get your legs under the table and later out from under. At hotels this isn’t an issue because they always have standard height tables and chairs for everyone.

Traditional breakfasts in Japan are quite different than here. Expect to get fish of some kind, white rice, and miso soup. In many hotels you’ll see a mixture of traditional and western foods although they may not be exactly what you eat at home. For example there is a traditional egg omelot (tamagoyaki) but it’s made with sugar and dashi in a square pan and folded into a roll; there are no fillings. You may see what look to be hard boiled eggs in a bowl; they’re not—they’re uncooked. Breaking a raw egg and putting it on a bowl of rice is common. (Eggs in Japan undergo inspection and cleaning to reduce the chance of salmonella contamination.)

A traditional breakfast food is natto, fermented soy beans that have a very gooey texture served on rice; it’s definitely an acquired taste! Don’t expect toast, bacon or sausages, or pancakes. Cereal is rare except for cooked rice. Yogurt is sometimes available but don’t count on it. Hotels generally serve some western breakfast foods e.g. scrambled eggs and may have bread or rolls. A change we’ve noticed over the years is that coffee is more available; at ryokans it’s usually green tea for a hot drink. In hotels it’s not uncommon to have a green salad available at breakfast. It’s rare to have salad at dinner. For me that’s great because I love salad at any time of the day! I’ve been surprised at the paucity of vegetables served at any meal. Vegetables are served but they are in small quantities. One change in Japan is that coffee has become increasingly popular and available although this is rarer at ryokans than at hotels.

If you have difficulty stomaching a Japanese breakfast—fish or natto first thing in the morning can be a bit much—you can plan either to buy something ahead of time at a konbini or else pack something from home to eat instead. Of course you don’t do that at the table where you’re being served as that would be rude. Roger brings instant oatmeal that he makes in the room with the electric teapot or hot water.

There are always some vegetables but the quantity is quite small compared to what I’m used to eating. Like the American diet in Japan people prefer carbs (rice or noodles) and protein (seafood or meat) with vegetables mainly being window dressing. This can be quite different from a traditional rural meal, which is vegetable rich. But modern life has come to Japan too.

Whole grain products are rare, or at least I’ve never seen them. All rice except at perhaps some western oriented restaurants in Tokyo is white. Although bread was originally brought to Japan from the West, it’s found everywhere in Japan. But finding whole wheat bread is difficult.

Desserts and sweets are ubiquitous but apparently the Japanese palate is different as they are almost always less sweet than they are here. But I think that’s a good thing because the higher level of sweetness overwhelms the flavors of the dessert, which are often delicate. Although you may not be served ice cream at a restaurant or ryokan, it’s found everywhere in Japan especially soft-serve ice cream and a variety of Magnum-type ice cream bars at convenience stores and markets.

Speaking of convenience stores, called konbini in Japan, it’s on a completely different level. First, they’re everywhere and lots of them. If you’ve been to Hawaii you’ve noticed that there are ABC stores on practically every other block. That’s what it’s like in towns in Japan. There is fierce competition between stores. You’ll see 7-11, Family Mart, Lawson, Circle K, Yamazaki, and Ministop. Second, these small stores are stocked with items we could only dream of here; they have a little of everything from household cleaning products, clothing(!), toiletries, stationary as well as a huge variety of foods. They’re like mini-Targets. Konbini like convenience stores here stock a variety of beverages and snacks. But in Japan they always sell hot food—croquettes, fried chicken, skewered meat—as well as an enormous variety of packaged sandwiches, salads, pastries, onigiri(rice balls), sushi, and a shit ton of Japanese prepared foods you never see over here. They also have a variety of plates or bowls of food that just need to be warmed up for a meal such as noodles, rice bowls, soups, gyoza. You can put together a full meal there! If you’re wanting a quick meal and don’t want to go into a restaurant, these stores are the solution. Occasionally you’ll find fresh fruit but fruit is mostly precut in sealed plastic cups. At checkout you’ll always get asked (a) do you need a bag (10 Yen additional cost)? and/or (b) do you want that heated (if you’ve bought something microwavable)? They usually throw in hashi (chopsticks) or a spoon if they see you’re buying something that needs one or the other. Some konbini cashiers do not handle your cash and instead your total payment due is displayed on a screen and you feed your cash payment into the machine. Then it dispenses any difference you’re owed. You’re always given a paper receipt on checking out.

Until the ill-fated 2020 Olympics in Japan the only places you could get Japanese cash was either the post office or…7-11! Japan is still primarily a cash-based culture and credit card use is much lower than here. Consequently many businesses do not accept credit or debit cards and you must pay in cash. This is especially true outside of big cities. Since 7-11 like most konbini was open at most hours, it is the most convenient place to go to get money. With the Olympics Japan expected an influx of foreign visitors who would need cash and the government liberalized the use of ATMs allowing currency exchange. Now other konbini chains have ATM machines and you’ll be able to get cash more easily. In order to use your card you’ll need to have set up your debit card with a PIN if you haven’t already (and notified your bank that you’re going to Japan.) If you’re at a restaurant or konbini, be sure you have sufficient cash. By the way, there is no tipping in restaurants. If you leave change on your table, you’re likely to find the staff chasing after you to give it back.

Although public toilets in Japan are more common than here, konbini are also places that offer public toilets.

Foreign food. As you know Japan has an incredibly deep and sophisticated food culture and it has benefited from contact with other cultures. Noodles almost certainly came from China originally just as was the case in Europe. Some foods from elsewhere somehow strike a chord in Japan and they become adopted and often transformed. A oft-cited and to us strange example is spaghetti napolitano. This so-called Italian dish is actually from contact with the US post-WW2. This dish is noodles with a ‘tomato’ sauce made from ketchup. Like the British, Japanese seem to prefer their bread without any crust, so you’ll get sandwiches with the crust completely removed. Speaking of bread, the most common form is milk bread, which resembles Wonder Bread but is tastier. Another interesting transformation is Mont Blanc. Originally from Italy/France this is a delicious chestnut puree served with whipped cream, sometimes made into a meringue. But somehow in Japan this dish now called monburan has been transformed into a cake with chestnut puree or cream. (It’s also very delicious!) Another foreign food that has been completely absorbed into Japanese cuisine is curry. Kare Raisu–curry rice, i.e. white rice with beef, deep fried pork cutlet, chicken, or just vegetables and Japanese curry sauce is ubiquitous. Although the sauce is definitely curry derived, being similar to Madras curry, it’s not what you would get at any Indian/Pakistani restaurant here.

Times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are similar to the US. On Cycling Japan tours lunches are not included in the tour package but we almost inevitably eat together at a specific spot that the guides have picked out. There are probably several reasons for this and I’ll go into detail in a subsequent post. Lunch usually runs between 500 to 2000 Yen.

Dinners at hotels and ryokans. These are almost always kaiseki dinners (at large hotel/resorts you may have a gigantic buffet). Kaiseki is the Japanese equivalent of formal dining and involves multiple courses anywhere from about 7 or 8 up to about15. Most of the dishes are small, usually a bite or two. Depending on the number most of them will be set at the table when you arrive. Larger kaiseki involves subsequent dishes being brought to the table. Often there is a Sterno cooker or two at your setting where you will heat or cook some of your food yourself. Typically there is sashimi, tempura, a savory egg custard with seafood, Japanese pickled vegetables, soup usually miso, various seafood dishes, various vegetable or seaweed dishes. Rice is often served last unless you ask for it during the meal. Kaiseki meals have amazing variety and no two seem to be the same. Since each dish is on the small side, if there is something you really like, well, that’s all you’re getting for the meal. (There aren’t any seconds except for rice.)

Presentation is paramount in kaiseki so be sure to look at your food before you gobble it down. Although much of the food you’ll be able to figure out, there may be dishes whose ingredient(s) is unfamiliar. The food is inevitably very fresh; seasonality is important in Japanese cuisine so don’t expect to get corn in December. These meals are not dash and dine affairs; expect to linger over dinner.

Alcohol is always available at dinner time usually beer or sake; in Kyushu you may have shochu as well. Shochu is a fortified sake. Sake is like wine in that it’s very local so the sake you may get in one region is completely different than what you’d get elsewhere. This doesn’t seem to be the case with beer, which is always one of the big brands e.g. Kirin, Asahi. Craft beers can be found in the big cities but seem to be absent in the countryside. By the way, drunk driving is taken seriously in Japan. If your BAC is 0.05% or higher, you’re impaired enough to be arrested. That applies to cycling too so alcohol at lunch time is forbidden on tours.