My cycling route across Japan (Cape Sata to Cape Soya)

I’m currently riding across Japan, south to north, from Cape Sata in Kagoshima to Cape Soya in Hokkaido. I started on April 11th and will finish sometime around June 15th.

A few things shaped the route:

• I wanted it to be scenic first and efficient second
• I tried to avoid the biggest urban corridors when there was a better option
• I biased toward volcanic areas, onsen towns, mountain roads, coastlines, and places that felt really specific to each region
• every day still had to land somewhere with lodging and food, so it couldn’t just be a pure fantasy line on the map

I’m riding a Cervélo Áspero-5 with the full Tailfin setup. It’s definitely not an ultralight rig once it’s loaded up with camera gear, layers, tools, and a laptop, but it still feels fast and surprisingly lively on the road.

The route is about 3,700 km and runs through:

• southern Kyushu through Takachiho, Aso, Kurokawa, and Beppu
• Shikoku through the mountains and the UFO Line
• Honshu through the Kii Peninsula, central mountain roads, the Japanese Alps, and then north along the Sea of Japan side
• Hokkaido up to Wakkanai and Cape Soya

One thing that has become very obvious now that I’m actually riding it: weather matters way more than the perfect route on paper.

I planned this whole thing from California, but the route I’m actually living is already a little different from the route I originally drew. Kyushu in particular has been really rainy, so I’ve had to make hay when the weather cooperates, do some unexpectedly huge days when the window opens, and take strategic rest days when it doesn’t. The overall shape of the route has held up, but the day-to-day execution has been much more fluid than I imagined.

Happy to answer questions about route planning, gear, pacing, or how it’s changing now that I’m actually out here riding it. I also wrote about the specifics of the route in a bit more detail here if anyone is interested.