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Some camping in Japan (2021)

Here are a few camping pictures of me cycling on the Japan Seaside. I hope I can post the images. The first stop was in Shimane Prefecture, then Fukui, up to Tottori, then camping on the beach in Ishikawa in Wajima.

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This picture is at Iwami Seaside Park in Shimane. Free camping. I think this was on April 4th, 2021. It was freezing at night too.

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This small campground is in Hirata (Hirata, Shimane). I stayed here for about a week. Did a lot of sightseeing—free camping and raw, nothing here actually. The toilet was at the mini-golf course next door. No water either, but free. Got my free firewood from a construction company up the street. I was freezing at night. I did bbq every night. Cosmos was not far away. Hot dog, cabbage, carrots and noodles almost every night.

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Same campground. That's my free firewood. I would stay up till midnight in front of the fire. There is a lake there, so the weather was freezing.

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Not sure which campground this was at. Maybe Shimane. If so, I stayed for two days. The campsite was 1200 yen a night. They even charged a 100 yen bicycle fee—a clean site with flush toilets. Mostly just bummed around the area. Guess I didn't take any pictures.

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OK, this campsite is in Tottori. This site was free. I think I got here on Golden Week. Yanagijaya Campground - Tottori City, Tottori Sadly, I just found out the other week it will go under private management at the end of August 2022. It was not going to be free. The site brings in a lot of cyclists and motorcycle people. It pissed me off because I left my firewood unattended the motorcycle people took it. This site is only minutes away from the dunes in Tottori. Sand Dunes (Tottori Sakyu) I went to the dunes and the museum several times. Due to Covid, not many tourists came, but generally, this placed it packed with busloads of tourists. I stayed at this campground for weeks and bummed around in Tottori. I also had to get my bike repaired. Met a lot of great people here.

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I was roughing it lol. It rained that night too.

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Same campground. The weather was still freezing in May here. Also, snow was still in the mountains. I went trout fishing to a guide and mountain searching for baby bamboo shoots we bbq. Also, some leaves that we breaded and deep-fried.

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I forgot the name of this campsite. It was in the hills. It took me one hour to push my bike up the hill to the camp. There were just two other tents there. The campsite was free. I think this was outside of Tottori going up to Fukui. Nothing here, so I just stayed overnight. Now I'm on my way to Kanazawa, Ishikawa. I was to meet one member of Tokyo Cycling Club there, but I guess in Covid 19, it wasn't to pan out. After this, a long journey to Ishikawa. I stayed a the Michi-no-Eki's.

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This campsite was along the beach in Ishikawa. Not much here, so I headed for Wajima, Ishikawa after two nights. There I would cycle the Noto Peninsula. A two-day journey. I don't know where my pictures are of going through the Peninsula. If I find them, I'll post them.

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I made it to Wajima. The campground and beach were closed due to Covid 19. I camped anyway. I stayed for two days and would start to Yoyama, Nagano, Niigata, and continue up to Aomori, then Hokkaido. Sadly my journey had to end during May due to Covid 19 travel restrictions put out by the government.
So from Wajima to Anamizu, I slept at the train station overnight. I caught a local train, then hopped on the Shinkansen to Yamaguchi.

I hope to make a journey this year on the Pacific Coast. I tried last July, and to almost Yanai, bad weather told me to head back to Yamaguchi. In August, I made it to Okinawa. Pretty hot and not too great for cycling and camping. If I cycle Okinawa again, it will be in the fall or spring.

Cycling here in Japan going solo, I didn't fear anything other than the big semi-trucks passing me and a few tunnels.

I'm eager once again to hop on the bike. One thing I did learn is to travel as light as possible. I need something, just buy it and discard it if necessary. I did pack for a 6-month tour, so I was loaded down. I was.
About author
musicisgood
Not really much to say.
Like cycling and mountain climbing and camping.
Playing the guitar 🎸 is a hobby of mine.

Comments

Great pictures and an interesting route! How many kilometres did you cover? :)
 
I really don't know how many kilometers it was. I had one of them kilometer readers, but I screwed it up. I left on April 4th and got back to Yamaguchi on May 20th . I took an antigen covid test before open the front door of the house. Was negative so the wife let me in. LOL
Got my resident card renewed last week for 7 years so I'll see what happens now. Did get a garden lot, but I think potatoes and sweet corn should grow just fine. If I'm still traveling by time of harvest I'll have my friend to help himself to the goodies. Do wish I had a larger lot to grow watermelons though.
 
Wow that's amazing. How do you sleep at Michi-no-Eki? They don't officially allow you to pitch a tent do they?
 
Wow that's amazing. How do you sleep at Michi-no-Eki? They don't officially allow you to pitch a tent do they?
For the Michi-no-Eki on the Sea of Japan side, the sizes varies from where you'll see maybe 100 trucks and cars and RV's . These have showers and snack/small restaurants. Some Michi-no-Eki's have parking only for cars and RV's and some vacant land where you can pitch your tent after all the stores close. I found it easier just to sleep in my sleeping at the sheltered picnic areas. I got to say in April and May going north on the Sea of Japan side, its cold at night. No joke. I met really a lot of nice people. Two people gave me maps. Google maps for some reason just wasn't panning out for me too well. I was invited to an Onsen in Tottori by an elderly couple I met camping. They couldn't believe I've never been to an Onsen before. Really, I'm most thankful for a safe journey I had. I had never really been out of Yamaguchi cycling so this adventure was mostly winging it. I got more pictures , just need to find them . I took them on the phone, but I don't know if they actually show up on the computer.
For anyone that has the time, cycling and camping can be a joyful adventure, even winging it.
 

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