On the spur of the moment, Emma and I
rented a Yamaha FJR1300AS from Rental819 in Ikebukuro for several days. The
booking process was remarkably easy, and I was really impressed at how we were
forwarded plenty of information in advance about the rental process, road rules
in Japan, and the bike itself (including a PDF of the FJR1300 user manual!).
Picking up the bike was very
straightforward – we chose jackets and helmets, checked
over the bike, paid the rental fee, packed the panniers, and got on our way. I
had initially been concerned that a Japanese rental company might not have
appropriately-sized gear, but the shop had several viable options.
Over the course of seven days we covered
about 1500km. To give an idea of how far you can comfortably travel, our route
was:
Day 1. Tokyo-Hamamatsu (250km)
Day 2. Hamamatsu-Nagoya (115km)
Day 3. Nagoya-Kyoto (130km)
Day 4. Rest
Day 5. Kyoto-Katsuyama-Kyoto (400km)
Day 6. Kyoto-Nara-Nagoya (200km)
Day 7. Nagoya-Tokyo (350km)
We had initially planned to do the trip by
train, but the rental fee, toll fees, and fuel costs added up to be only
marginally more than that of two JR rail passes.
When we booked the bike, I hadn’t been aware that June/July is a ‘rainy
season’ in Japan. We were lucky enough to have pockets
of excellent weather; whenever we got caught in the rain, though, it was
relatively safe to soldier on, given that Japanese roads are extremely
well-engineered, and drivers seem to be reasonably level-headed.
Other visitors to Japan will be oblivious
to the existence of the small towns, farms, and landscapes that we were
privileged enough to ride through. The Shinkansen might be convenient for
intercity travel, but nowhere near as fun as a bike, and can’t get you in to those out-of-the-way places that can make a vacation
unique.
