Japan Shikoku 2023 Part II

Part II: Ashizuri Cape to Tokushima, through the middle

 Cape Ashizuri 33km (400m ascent). Half day ride from Tosa-Shimizu.

We made a tour around Ashizuri Cape with almost no traffic. There were very few domestic tourists and we stopped at view points, made a couple of short walks and spent a fair amount of time at the beautiful Kongofukuji Temple (#38) grounds.  We got back to town (Tosa Shimizu) before noon and had a unique lunch of Periyaki.

Afterwards, we bought some groceries, had a look around a ¥100 store then headed home to enjoy our fine rental house , the "Oichi Hotel". Laundry and bike cleaning were the main afternoon activities. Dinner included piles of veggies.

Tosa-Shimizu to Sukomo 62km (500m ascent) with some rain.

Rain was forecast for mid to late morning, which meant that we would have to ride through it. We followed the #321 along the south coast with light traffic and a good pathway. We rode north on the dead quiet #352, but light rain developed and we made several stops under cover of overhangs and large trees, when the rain picked up. We rejoined the #321 for lunch at a Michinoeki (road station) where the restaurant was closed so we walked across the street to a Yakiniku restaurant. Although beef is relatively expensive in Japan, they sure know how to marinate and cook it. 

We then found relief from the slightly busy #321 road, with a small river road. We worked our way into Sukomo and stayed at the Avan (business) hotel. The hotel was inexpensive but it offered a number of little extras and we had a good view from our room. There was a tongkatsu (pork cutlet) restaurant right out in front and it made going out for dinner easy.

Sukomo to Ainan, 50km (550m ascent). Sunny and very little traffic. 

We rode the #7 out of Sukomo. Once we left town, traffic dried up. It was a beautiful ride along the coast but we paid for it with plenty of climbing. On the Ainan side, we meandered along the water through small fishing ports, then climbed again for coastal views. 

When we reached Ainan, we went over to the Kanjizaiji Temple (#40) and the A Max supermarket before checking into our hotel (Aoikuni Hotel, booked directly). We had a good chat with a Danish fellow who was walking the Shikoku 88 temple circuit. A Danish TV presenter had made a program about the circuit and it seemed that he may have over-sold the walking part (there is a ton of road walking). We ate dinner at Daiju Restaurant, ordering steak and hamburger as meals.

Ainan to Tsushima, 61km (700m ascent). Cloudy with some light afternoon rain. 

We started the day with breakfast at the Aoikuni Hotel, the Western breakfast was the clear winner. We knew that we would have to ride the #56 (a fairly busy highway), so we had a route that took smaller roads whenever we could. We also made a detour to ride the sleepy Yusa peninsula.

Lunch at "Asumo" was a delight, especially when we all realized that we were staying at Sunada House (owned by the same organization). It started to rain while we were eating, so we cut short our route; staying inland instead of following the coast. The Zenzoji Temple was a brilliant consolation prize. The staff at Asumo told us that our key was in the mailbox, so we checked in early, bought some groceries and then our hosts brought us more food. Frogs serenaded us and it rained overnight.

Rain abbreviated Tsushima to Kihoku, 40km (300m ascent).

Neither of us slept well; thin futons and mosquitoes were to blame. Although the staff had been super sweet, the accommodation (Sunada House) ranked at the bottom on our trip. We waited impatiently for the overnight rain to stop. We started out at 10:45am in light drizzle and opted for the inland route to Uwajima, rather than the longer coastal road. We reached the Matsuo tunnel (1.7 km long) and rode the sidewalk. Thereafter, we were able to keep off #56 for most of the way into Uwajima. It wasn't the best of routes, but it was OK, but a shame that we missed that bit of coastline.

We had ramen soup at the busy Raguman restaurant in Uwajima and then made our way to the deserted Ryuko-in Temple (not part of the Shikoku 88). The ride out of Uwajima (heading NE) on #57 was unremarkable, and just busy enough to keep us on the pathway. We detoured to Temple #41 (Ryuko-ji) before proceeding to Kihuko and our rental house. 

The Guest House Nishimura Cycle was amazing (modern traditional). We entered with a code and our host popped over quickly to help us understand some of the finer points of the house. The nearby Fuji supermarket had an excellent offering, and we self-catered a great garlic chicken dinner and salad. We had to ask our host how to get the hot water flowing and he was over lickety split.

Kihoku to Yusuhara, 55km (500m ascent).

It was an uphill day, riding into the mountains. We stopped at two Michinoeki’s (road side stations) with giant demons. We had an early lunch at the second one. During the the day, we rode mostly on scenic side roads, but at the top of the pass, we rode the main road #320. We rode through the 1.7km tunnel at the  top of the Hirome River with light traffic, but enough to raise anxiety levels. 

Yusuhara is a pleasant town with a number of attractions such as a sculpture park, public library (Kengo Kuma designed) and a covered bridge. We stayed in an awesome hotel (Kumo no Ue Annex) and they provided us with onsen passes for Kumo no eno Onsen. Rather than waiting for the free evening shuttle, we rode up to it. It was very nice, but a little busy on a Sunday. There was a small restaurant at the onsen, so we  had ginger ramen for dinner.

Yusuhara to Kogawa, Big day of 73km (1150m ascent) including two passes.

After a 7:00 am breakfast, we headed NE on #440, off and on small roads. There was some “commuter” traffic, but we left it behind when we went onto #304. It was a long grind up to 800m, partly hike-a-bike on the steep stuff. We stopped a number of times on the long descent to rest our hands from so much braking. We encountered a couple of slow moving vehicles, on the whole climb and descent.

We reached the #439 and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic. The grade gradually steepened and we were happy to reach a tunnel at 750m that reversed the grade to a downhill on the other side. It seemed like an endless downhill and we only picked up traffic when we started to hit towns. A supermarket stop for lunch and a walk in Nakatsu Gorge followed. We kept descending, picking up more traffic, so we shifted over to the pathway. The road split at Otsaki, taking with it some of the traffic, but we stuck with the pathway as we started another climb. It got warm and energy levels dropped as we reached a long straight tunnel. It turned out to be 3km long and Sheila chose to walk most of it. It was a descent to our guesthouse.

The Soryana Guesthouse was splendid. We had a large tatami double sized room overlooking the river. The common/dining area was gorgeous. The owners were a Japanese-Portuguese couple (David & Yoshiko). He drove us to a local Izakaya restaurant a few kilometres down river and later collected us as well, much appreciated by us.

Kogawa to Yoshino River (Happy Guest House) 68km (700m ascent).

We had a splendid Western breakfast at the Soryama Guesthouse and then rode #439 a long ways up. It was quiet enough to ride the tunnel at the pass without issue. A long descent to Tosa ensued. We picked a couple of things at a larger supermarket and had delicious fried chicken lunch. The fellow running the restaurant had his hands full; a real one man show.

We then followed a series of small roads along rivers including the upper Yoshino and made a further supermarket stop for supplies for our upcoming two night stay. The last 4kms were on the narrow #32 with transport trucks and no shoulder. Sometimes we walked and rode facing the oncoming traffic, and towards the end rode on the left side. We reached the Happy Rafting clubhouse and soon after left our bikes behind as a woman drove us up narrow steep roads to her father-in-laws place. We had our own house for two nights. We had fun communicating with her via Google translate and she drove us way up the hill, past our accommodation to see the flowers and views. It was very sweet of her. We had delicious, authentic Indian food for dinner that night (pre-ordered from Happy Rafting when I booked the guesthouse).

Rafting the Yoshino River with Happy Rafting.

We were collected by owner/founder of Happy Rafting, Mark, who lives further up the road from where we were staying. It was early season and we were the only clients of the day (some days they run 200 people). We had two guides on the raft and two support kayaks!! We got suited in wet suits and ran 9 km of the Yoshino (not at high water level). It was scenic and fun. After a full, provided lunch, Mark offered to drive us back to the guesthouse with our bikes. We couldn’t turn that offer down.

We wandered the area on foot and scouted the first part of the next day’s ride, the high road.

Happy Raft Guesthouse to Ikeda, 55km (800m ascent). 

We stayed high on what was once the main road. Grandfather at the guesthouse was concerned that we may not be able to get past the construction and the road didn’t exist on Open Street Maps (foundation map for many mapping apps). But, we got through, with a lot of up and downs. The old road reached the #45 just before a tunnel and we were dismayed by the amount of traffic. The tunnel leading to the Iya Valley was no picnic (dark, wet and without sidewalk).

Once we reached the Iya River, we rode #32 down the Iya River. It was a quiet, mostly a single lane road and we encountered our first Western touring cyclists of the trip at the Statue of a Peeing Boy. The scenery and turquoise waters were overwhelming. We took lunch at an Udon (Restaurant Iyabashi) restaurant and then continued to Ikeda to pick up food supplies at the large Daily Mart supermarket. The ride into Ikeda wasn't all that great as we rode on the pathway up a hill into Ikeda, that didn't hold much interest for us. We doubled back 4 km to our rental house for the night and met our kind host. He had picked fruit in the BC Okanagan one summer. He roasts coffee and gave us a bag that we enjoyed  The house, Wataridori booked on AirBnB, was quite spacious (owned by a woman, now working in Osaka). Shanghai noodles supplemented with stir fry veggies were delicious for dinner.

Ikeda to Udatsu/Mima City 50km (150m ascent) on a warm day.

We rode mostly on the north shore of lower Yoshino, largely avoiding the main roads, often on pathways along the river itself. We stopped at a couple of temples and developed an appetite for lunch. We had a fun lunch at the Fujiyoshi Restaurant (we ordered set meals) and a staff member brought out cans of cold coffee when we were leaving as a gift, so sweet. 

We reached our destination around 1:30 and our host didn’t hesitate let us in the rental house early. We organized groceries for dinner at the fair sized Kyoei supermarket (5 minute walk) and some town strolls kept us occupied later in the day.  We spotted a couple of Western cyclists outside the supermarket and we had a chat with them. They were British on rented bikes and he was a ski instructor who had worked the winter in Hokkaido. He said the snow conditions between December and February were simply amazing.

Mima City to Tokushima Ferry, 50km.

We were rolling by 7:30am to catch a 13:20 ferry to Wakayama. The first two thirds of the ride were close to the Yoshino River, mostly on river pathways. The last third of the ride was through agriculture and urbanization, but it was quite direct, making navigation easier.

We had enough time to visit the Idoji Temple (#17) along the way and we topped it off with a visit to the Aeon Mall to pick up some high quality food at the huge supermarket for lunch.

The charge for roll-on bikes would have doubled our fare, so we put the bikes into rinko bags and carried them onto the ferry from Tokoshima to Wakayama (no extra charge). The ferry was not busy.