Welcome to the Land of the Rising Sun! 

After having for most of the group, a long flight down to Tokyo, it is time today for the handover of the motorcycles, our welcome briefing and of course a real Japanese welcome dinner. 
A big part of the group came already in yesterday to get rid of the jetlag and of course to explore the vibrant capital Tokyo

We are very much looking forward to ride this tour with you all and enjoy our daily blogs!

Ted and Angela

It is real, it comes true, and as you can see it is all set in stone - today is the day that we start our Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan 2024.

After we had smoothly left Tokyo, we hit a little sunday traffic at the coast but in the second half of the day we enjoyed a flowing ride on the Izu peninsula.

Apparently, the time of the cherry blossoms has only just begun. At Mount Omuru we got a first "taste" of it.

Everyone excited for the first riding day !

After a very nice dinner last night , everybody was pretty much ready for a good night of sleep. All the impressions along the road, together with jetlag and food , takes it's toll !

So after again a great breakfast  this morning we took off again in two groups heading in northern direction towards the area of Mount Fuji. But before that we rode through numerous winding roads, switchbacks, narrow forrest roads with a  big smile!  A very nice coffestop and a great lunchstop contributed to this day also !

Unfortunately the low mist was coming in from time to time fighting with the sun for their spot on earth So partly a bit chilly, other parts with nice temperatures but low visibility. But still a very nice riding day with enough time to enjoy the onsen ( japanese hot tub ) before dinnertime ! 

Here you see the proof for the Japanese way of life - there is a practical solution to any challenge, always sought to be perfect

As much a pitty as it was yesterday, when we neither were able to take a picture of Mt. Fuji let alone ride it up due to inclement weather conditions - today, as a contrast, it couldn't have been more a more perfect scenery.

In order to reach our today's destination Hamamatsu, we were meandering through the backroads of the  Shitzuoka region. Along our way we were passing by many of the green tea fields. The rows of tea plants looked like nicely manicured hedges.

Window shopping along our route

What a great riding day we had today ! After the rainy day yesterday it was very nice to have a pleasant and dry day. Riding out of Kumano on the Ryukin road was a blast: beautiful mountain roada, everywhere cherry blossom, waterfalls, wild rivers, you name it !

After leaving the hotel we had after about 100 km a coffeestop with a nice shop with all local made food and craft. Then on our  way to the  famous mount Koya we faced a bit mountain mist but  that didn't bring the good spirit down. We arrived in the famous and beautiful village  of Koyasan where about 100 stunning temples and pagodes are situated. Great place to visit.  After we had our lunch there we took off for the last stretch towards the huge metropole of Kyoto where we areived safe just before dark. Tomorrow a well deserved rest day !!

A great restday we had today! With a very pleasant temperature for sightseeing, we left the hotel around 09.30 with a part of the group to down town Kyoto. This former capitol of Japan is definitely the cultural capitol of Japan.

There are 1600 Bhuddist temples and over 400 Shinto shrines here in Kyoto. Of course, we only picked out a few of them. Along the Philosopher's Path then, we did as the locals did, who had dedicated the day to Hanami, which translates into admiring the cherry blossom. You simply can't get enough of the splendor of the blossoms.

After having enjoyed a matcha green tea ice cream, we made our way to our next highlight, the largest bhudda in Kyoto. Next to it, we strolled through the temple complex of the Kodaiji Temple and the bamboo forest, which is also located there.

Of course, there is never a visit to Kyoto without encountering countless "fake" geishas. They are tourists disguised as such. However, in Kyoto, nobody minds if visitors to the city dress up like this and walk around the city all day. Nora and Fabian from our group took advantage of this opportunity. Beautiful - we all agreed on that.

At the end of the day everyone enjoyed all their choices of attractions in town and concluded the day with their choice of dinner
Fantastic day! And what a vibrant and lovely  city is this! 

The highlight of today was without any doubt the visit to the incredible castle of Himeji: a very well preserved casrle which survived ages of wars since the 14th century! 
in the morning we had a very pleasant ride over tiny forest roads and tight switchbacka. Very nice rising temperatures too! 

After the lunch both groups arrived at the same time at our hotel where we quiclkly changed clothes and headed for the castle premises. Since it was a saturday and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, there were many visitors. But very good circumstances for some nice pictures. After a relaxed walk back to the hotel and of course some ice creams, we concluded the day with a tasteful biffet dinner.

Starting with a pleasant temperature we found our way out of Himeiji to do a long stretch of highway. Sometimes we have to do this in order to ger somewhere. But nevertheless the nature around us has so much to offer, that even riding the highway is very pleasant. The coffeestopwas at a small local market where some of us found very nice souvenirs to bring home, others found a good strawberry cake with coffee!

After the lumch we stayiedmore on the countryside roads and rode up to the Rainbow line road up to the chairlift which brought us up to annamazing viewpoint over five lakes and the Japanese sea

Then out for the last part to our monestary hotel in Eiheiji in the mountain forests which was an incredible experience

After a very 'zen' experience in our amaing monestary hotel on Eiheiji ( great dinner, breakfast and rooms !), we were ready to visit the temple complex of Eiheiji , hiddennin the mountains and only 5 min walking from our hotel. No tourists yet so we had it all for ourselves. Fantatsic buildings with a very calming atmosphere!

then back on the bikes and up tonour next destination northbound to the unesco world heritage site of Shorakawago. This village was for a long time secluded feom the rest of the world and developed it's own architwcture. Great tonwalk atound and also because of the very tender beef theynserved in the restaurant. Great riding day along the river witn some excellemt views!!

Since we are approaching the Japanese alps, this means also that in spring the temperatures can drop down significantly! And today was such a day! Starting from our hotel in Takayama , it was about 4 degrees celsius and some rain. So we decided to do the optional route in order to fully enjoy the beautiful mountain hotel with it s great onsen and even een mini onsen in our rooms ! After a nice lunch in Hirayu, we checked in early and had a relaxed  afternoon and a very nice dinner in the evening

The Japanese weather gods were obviously making up for the bad weather yesterday. Because today was a absolutely gorgeous day ! Clear blue skies all the way long! Riding through gorgeous mountain roads, wandered a bit through annice old village, of course taking a (matcha) ice cream and a nice lunch. 
Other part of our group went on the rope road up to the snow or just stayed in the relaxed  hotel area 

Wow! What a day! Literally hundreds of twisties we rode today. Under nice temperatures and a dry road we went eastbound towards Nikko. In the morning when leaving Kusatsu we rode alomgnthe hot wells in the middle of town. Not too long because the smell of rotten eggs is.not exactly on the menu in the morning ! Immediately we began to climb and hit our first twisties. But the best were after out lunch at Lake Haruna where we also visited a nice red temple

What a great riding today in this fascinating countey. Only one riding day left and then back to Tokyo

.....and suddenly it is there: the last riding day...!

After two weeks of beautiful sceneries, numerous twisties, lovely Japanese people, lots of Tofu, fish, family mart, great food experiences, but above all: a lot of fun with this great group of riders! 
We concluded this tour with a last morning of great curves and switchbacks , and after lunch a visit at the Motegi racetrack where we also visited the Honda collection hall with it s great collection of motorcycles, race cars, jets and everything what Honda manufactured througjout the years

then the last stretch of highway through the crazy traffic of Tokyo and then we were back at the hotel in Odaiba. 
We like to thank the whole group for your company these two weeks and wish everybody a safe trip home or a pleasant extended stay in Tokyo. All the best and of course we hope to see you again on another Edelweiss tour somewhere , sometime on the globe !!

Your tourguides Ted and Angela and out excellent support team Adrian an Mayo