Lucky Isle

This is the post I both looked forward to and dreaded writing. As of July 27, my five years as an ALT on JET came to close. I looked forward to finishing up my job because, let’s face it, five years is a long time to be an ALT. But on the other hand, finishing up JET meant that it was time for me to set out from Japan.

I’m writing this two months after I left, and you know what? I really miss it. I really, really miss living in Japan. There were certainly plenty of downs that came with the ups, but it was a time in my life that I’ll look forward to fondly for the rest of my time.

About a month or so before I stepped foot out of the country for the first time in about three and a half years (I visited the US for Christmas in 2008), I tried my hand at taking JLPT N1. I didn’t want to. I had passed 2-kyu (now N2) about three prior but didn’t really see myself passing N1. I only took it because Beth was taking it and wanted moral support.

Well, as fate would have it, a few weeks ago I received notification that both Beth and I passed JLPT N1. That kind of blows my mind. When I first got to Japan I viewed 1-kyu (now N1) as an insurmountable task–something that I’d never achieve. But I guess I was able to after all. Cool, eh?

I think passing N1 is quite a fitting way to finish up my time in Japan.

So what now? Well, Beth and I have decided to put off returning to the US for now, as for the time being we’re on a planned year-long bicycle journey in Eurasia. As I write this post, Beth and I are in a hotel room in the city of Yinjiang, Guizhou, China. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know where that is (south-central China), as I didn’t know of this existence of this city until a few days ago either.

I know that updates on this journal have been quite sparse, but if there are any of you out there who still wish to follow along, but this time on a completely different journey than my time in Japan, the story is being continued over at crazyguyonabike.com/westfromjapan. Feel free to stop by, and thanks for your time here.

Adieu.

Thanks to Mark and Yumi, the 2nd episode of Cycling Japan’s Abandoned Rail (Tempoku Line) now has Japanese subs.

This past weekend I completed two projects I’ve been working on–I went to Tokyo and passed my final CCNP exam (yay!), and I finished up the third Cycling Japan’s Abandoned Rail.

This episode covers the Shinmei Line and goes a bit heavier on rail and a bit lighter on biking than previous episodes. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, if you’re new to CJAR, I’d recommend you start off by watching Episode 1: The Haboro Line and Episode 2: The Tempoku Line before heading on to part three.

It took longer than expected, but I’ve finally finished up Cycling Japan’s Abandoned Rail: Episode 2 (The Tempoku Line).

If you’re new to CJAR, start off by watching Episode 1: The Haboro Line to get your footing first. Once you’re done with that, head on over to Episode 2:

Since posting Cycling Japan’s Abandoned Rail: Episode 1 last month I decided to put editing Episode 2 on the back burner for the final stretch of studying for me to take the ROUTE exam for my CCNP.

I ended up taking the exam the Saturday before last. It was a stressful day in Tokyo, but luckily I passed with room to spare. I’ve since started studying for SWITCH, the second of the three exams you have to take to get the certification (ROUTE, SWITCH, and TSHOOT).

Anyway, that’s why CJAR: Episode 2 (Tempoku Line) is taking more time than I would have liked, however I’m hoping to have it finished within the next week or so. In the meantime, here’s CJAR: Episode 1 yet again, but this time with Japanese subs!

Many thanks to my friend, Mark, and his girlfriend, Yumi, for translating the Japanese subs. I was thinking about doing them myself, but I was afraid my Japanese would come out way too mechanical. I’m extremely grateful for their assistance.

I plan on adding the subs to the CC track on the YouTube video that’s already up, but for now here’s the Vimeo hardsubbed version.

A few months ago I posted video of the Fukushima Kotsu Iizaka Line. That video, while a cinematic masterpiece in its own right, was actually just a way for me to test out my equipment and get comfortable back in my video creation chair. I had a bigger project in mind the whole time.

This past summer Beth and I spent a month in Hokkaido on a bicycle tour, but it was no ordinary month-long bicycle tour of Hokkaido! We (I) decided to take it a step further and use the trip as an excuse to explore a few of the many abandoned rail lines up there. I first became intrigued with those lines when I did a shorter 10-day bicycle tour up there last year, and it had been lingering in my head since then.

Actually, here’s a photo I took in Hokkaido last year of the train that started all this. I took that photo in the city of Yūbari, a city that used to have an economy based on the local coal mines, of which the train played an integral role. Unfortunately for them, the mines shut down, the economy collapsed, and the city is now somewhat well-known because it’s one of the few attendees at the City Governments That Went Bankrupt party.

Far more detailed info about Yūbari and the decline of rural Japan can be found at the excellent Spike Japan blog, if that’s your sort of thing.

Anyway, Beth and I spent a month following the broken railway remains of Hokkaido’s more prosperous times, and I’m in the process of making the trip into a four-part video series. With all that said, here’s episode 1 of 北海道廃線巡り: Cycling Japan’s Abandoned Rail (羽幌線・The Haboro Line).

Available in 1080p:

I have a confession to make: since coming to Japan I’ve developed a bit of an interest in trains. I’ve bought a few books about them, ridden quite a lot of them, taken photos of them, and over a two-month period I took video of the entire length of the Fukushima Kōtsū Iizaka Line.

The Iizaka Line is a relatively short 9.2 km train line that connects Fukushima station to the onsen resort town of Iizaka in the north. Due to the dense amount of stations and the large amount of crossings along the length of the line, the train doesn’t really go very fast for most of its run.

Actually, back when I used to go to a school in Iizaka I’d ride my bike instead of taking the train. Most of the length of the line runs parallel to Prefectural Route 3, so on the way home I’d sometimes wait for a train to depart from Iizaka to Fukushima then race it for the whole length of the line. Unless I happened to get really unfavorable red lights, I’d win the race more often than not.

The line became a little bit more known in the days following March’s earthquake for being one of the very first train lines in the area to resume service when it reopened two days after the quake. It’s not the most glamorous of trains, but it gets the job done. Here’s the entire line, from Fukushima Station to Iizaka Onsen Station. The actual train runs for 23 minutes, but I cut out time stopped at stations and got it down to 14 and a half minutes.

My original plan for Golden Week this year was to take my bike on a bus up north to Aormori, ride a loop Lake Towada then head back to Fukushima. That would have been 550 km over five days.

Unfortunately, while out cycling on Wednesday my right knee got a sudden sharp pain that flares up whenever I start to do any sort of serious cycling. No worries though, I decided to modify my plan and shorten my trip down to about 120 km, but instead of cycling I’ll be walking.

The new plan has me going from the station about 30 km southwest of the lake, walking to the lake and doing an almost loop, then heading to a different city’s train station about 40 km to the southeast of the lake.

I’ll see how this goes.

I guess that’s what I get for deciding and ordering stuff only a week prior… both stores I ordered stuff from sent me emails saying that they had to wait on stock before they can send out my items. This means that instead of going to Kyushu, I guess I’ll just make a couple day trips around the Fukushima area.

Awwww.

Spring break starts next week, and I’ve been wanting to do something or travel somewhere within the country for it.

A day or two ago the thought popped in my head to hop on a ferry down to Kyushu with my bike and do an almost loop of the island. This would pretty much be in the same vein as my cycling around Fukushima/Niigata last summer.

Here’s a map so you can follow along at home!

I won’t have enough time to do a proper loop, so I’ve decided to do a truncated loop. The miniscule amount of planning I’ve done (and really all I plan to do until I get there) has me taking a bus to Tokyo then a two-night ferry ride from Tokyo into Shibushi, which is on the south side of the island in Kagoshima prefecture. From there I’m going to try to ride in a general counterclockwise direction while bypassing the majority of the island’s peninsulas.

Once I get to Beppu, famous for its “hell” hot springs and thriving sex trade (not necessarily related), I’m gonig to cut west across the island and bypass the whole heavily populated Fukuoka/Kitakyushu metropolis, effectively shunning the whole northern part of Kyushu.

I’ll probably end up reaching the Ariake Sea on the west then heading south, following the valleys until I reach Kagoshima prefecture again. From there I’ll go southeast, bypassing the western peninsula of Kagoshima prefecture (and Kagoshima city for that matter) and finish up back at Shibushi to catch my ferry back to Tokyo.

———

So those are my plans for spring break. In all honesty, though, it’s all still very much in the air if I actually go or not. I’ve yet to make reservations, and I don’t even know the status of vacancies on the ferries.

Furthermore, today I ordered a bicycle bag for me to put my bag in on the bus/ferry. I also ordered a sleeping bag, which I desperately needed on my trip around Fukushima. While Kyushu is significantly warmer than Tohoku, it’s still a bit early in the year and I can see it getting colder than I’d like at night.

So I’m hoping that those items get delivered fast, as I don’t really want to make ferry/bus reservations before I have gear that I need. I’ll see how it goes.