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Honen-Ike Dam, completed in 1930, is Japan's oldest piling-stones dam. It was appointed "Important Cultural Property" in 2006.

I cycled from Awa-Ikeda Station. The bike featured today is a narrow path bicycle "Lepre" made by Bianchi. It is a lightweight aluminum frame bicycle.

I passed through the Manda tunnel from R192, down to Kagawa, up along Kunita River, and finally arrived at the site of the dam. Although it is a small-sized dam with a 30-meter high embankment, I could still watch it up close from under the dam which is open to anyone. The pond of the dam was filled with water. 65.6Km

Even today, many people still visit "The eighty-eight holy places of the Shikoku pilgrimage" in Shikoku Island. This is a pilgrimage of Buddhist temples spreading out from the Edo era.

Japanese religion has few religious precepts and except for some people, this Shikoku pilgrimage resembles sightseeing.
In the 17th century, a guidebook that's called "Shikoku Pilgrim Travel Guide" was published.

I met two French brothers who were doing the Shikoku pilgrimage by bicycle.
They had an English guidebook titled "Shikoku Japan 88 temples Route Guide".

I thought that the French knew bicycles well. However, they didn't know a lot about bicycles and they didn't have enough tools for repair. I helped repair their flat tire.

I think that they took much support from Japanese.

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I started cycling from the riverbed Toyama Airport to Yatsuo which is famous for its 'kazenobon'. 'Kazenobon' is a Bon festival dance that I want to go see at least once, but it has become very famous now, and many tourists from all over the country visit there. The original good points of the festival may have already been lost by now due to increased commercialization. Yatsuo, a town at the mouth of the valley of Idagawa, is a center for farm products and over time, it has accumulated wealth. I think that the 'kazenobon' was created from the culture of the bourgeoisie in that town.

Map enthusiasts cannot overlook the Sankyo in Tonami. Japanese villages tend to stand close together, but houses on forest grounds are scattered here. Because I couldn't get a good view unless I went to a high place, I cycled to the skiing area. Looking out from the observatory at 450m, there are no words to describe the scenery.

Kanazawa is near when I go down the slope.

89.84Km

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I brought my bicycle in a bag on the train to Maruoka station and started cycling again from there.

There is an old castle, according to the sign at the station. This castle has the oldest existing Japanese castle tower. I crossed the Kuzuriyu River on an old iron bridge. The upper river is a heavy snowfall area, there are many dams for hydraulic power generation.

The Ichijodani prospered in the 15th century, and the site of castle was left without change. It is a quiet farm village now, but in the Middle Ages it seems to have been the Echizen nation's capital with a population of 10,000 people.

88.15Km

The weather forecast said the weather would be nice all day long.
Because there was a lull in the rainy season, I went to the Shonan area with great haste.
Across Shonan Ohashi, I followed the cycling route along the shore from Chigasaki.
During the holiday, it seems to be crowded. But because I was there in the morning, during a weekday, I could cycle over 20km/h.

Kugenuma shore is the birthplace of surfing in Japan.
The beach cruiser from here attaches a board carrier with no exceptions.
83.95Km

1200 years ago, Kawasaki-shi and parts of Yokohama-shi were called Tachibana county of Musashi country.
Because a venerable Shinto shrine stayed is near my home, I pedaled some leisurely time there.

Nogawa-Shinmeisya Shinto shrine is located next to the Daisan Keihin Expressway, but it is surrounded by huge trees. Excavation of the ruins is still being done on the grounds. The Tachibana Shinto shrine is regarded as the origin of the county name. The Shinto straw festoon here is of an unusual stick form.

There is a modern pair of stone guardian dogs. These were made 130 years ago.

Under the eaves of the shrine front, there are simple but elaborate wooden decorations.

At the beginning of the Meiji era, ten years since the Meiji Restoration, one British woman traveled to Tohoku and Hokkaido in Japan.

Her name was Isabella L. Bird (1831-1904).
She published a document of her trip called "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" in London.

This book is not an academic investigation, but a valuable and detailed recording of the Japanese country life in those days.

Ordinary occurrences would have been omitted in a Japanese account.

With eyes full of curiosity, she diligently recorded the roads, food, clothing, shelters, hygiene practices, services rendered to travelers, and even fleas.

As a matter of course, the things mentioned in her book have changed tremendously over the last 130 years.
A reader can tell the differences between then and now - some parts changed and some didn't.

I want to trace her route, which she traveled with a horse and a rickshaw, by bicycle.