I first came to Japan exactly forty years ago. I came alone, full of trepidation but fairly confident it would be a safe place to start a journey in Asia. The main goal was to visit China, which had recently opened up to individual travellers in 1982.
After working during the summer, I made the leap across the the ocean, backpack ready. Later I ended up moving to China and lived there for a number of years. During that time, and as recent as 2018 I also visited Japan and it became my goal to return along with my bicycle. So here I am.
I wasn’t quite certain how I was going to get my boxed bicycle to the place I was staying, which was near the airport and it took quite awhile before I was finally able to get out of the airport, thankfully on the free shuttle bus, with a helpful driver. In the meantime, while getting money from the ATM, I was approached by a TV crew who were asking visitors their reasons for visiting Japan.
They asked me all kinds of questions, most of which I was unable to answer satisfactorily. “Do you do a lot of biking in Canada? You are a serious biker?” Not really, I said.
It was too complicated to explain I just wanted to have my bike with me to ride around and explore. They said I looked very cute in my overalls and biking hat. “My cousin gave this to me,” I said, “and she is a serious biker.”
Crossing the Pacific
No matter months or hours
Relief at landfall
