Loop from Tokyo
Japan, South to North
13 days · 3300 km · Japan
Route Tokyo → Hakone → Ise → Kumano → Nara → Kyoto → Kanazawa → Takayama → Matsumoto → Zao → Lake Towada → Nikko → Tokyo Distance 3300 km Duration 13 days, ~65 hours in the saddle
12 overnight stops, a rest day at Kyoto Best Months Late April to May, or October to early November
The alpine skylines are shut from November to spring World Heritage Fujisan
Sacred Sites of the Kii Mountain Range
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go & Gokayama
Hiraizumi
Shrines and Temples of Nikko Parks & Protected Areas Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park
Yoshino-Kumano National Park
Chubu-Sangaku, the Japan Alps
Bandai-Asahi National Park
Towada-Hachimantai National Park
Nikko National Park Signature Roads Hakone Turnpike and the Izu Skyline
The Venus Line at Kirigamine
The Bandai-Azuma Skyline
The Zao Echo Line to the Okama crater
The Hachimantai Aspite Line
The 48 hairpins of Irohazaka


Route Map


Open in Google Maps The Plan

Thirteen days round the length of Honshu, out of Tokyo and back. South first, down past Fuji to the shrines of Ise and the waterfalls of Kumano, through the old capitals of Nara and Kyoto. Then north, up the spine of the Japan Alps and over the volcanic skylines of Tohoku to the lakes of Aomori, and the long run home. Seven world heritage sites, and a different Japan every morning.


Day Route Distance Highlights Night stay
01 Tokyo → Hakone Turnpike → Izu Skyline → Kawaguchiko 180 km
5 h		 Mount Fuji rising over the Hakone ridgeline Kawaguchiko
02 Fuji → the coast → Ise 300 km
6 h		 The cypress precincts of the Ise Grand Shrine Ise
03 Ise → Kii peninsula → Nachi 230 km
6 h		 The 133-metre drop of Nachi Falls beside the Seiganto-ji pagoda Katsuura
04 Kumano → Yoshino → Nara 230 km
6 h		 The Great Buddha in the timber hall of Todai-ji Nara
05 Nara → Kyoto, rest and culture 50 km
1.5 h		 The tunnels of vermilion torii at Fushimi Inari Kyoto
06 Kyoto → Amanohashidate → Kanazawa 270 km
6 h		 The pine sandbar of Amanohashidate across the bay Kanazawa
07 Kanazawa → Shirakawa-go → Takayama 170 km
5 h		 The steep thatched gassho roofs of Shirakawa-go Takayama
08 Takayama → Abo pass → Matsumoto → Venus Line 200 km
6 h		 The alpine grassland of the Venus Line at Kirigamine Matsumoto
09 Matsumoto → Bandai-Azuma Skyline → Urabandai 330 km
7 h		 The volcanic moonscape of Jododaira on the skyline Urabandai
10 Bandai → Zao Echo Line → Ginzan Onsen 200 km
6 h		 The blue-green Okama crater lake above Zao Ginzan Onsen
11 Ginzan → Hiraizumi → Hachimantai → Lake Towada 300 km
7 h		 The golden Konjiki-do hall at Chuson-ji in Hiraizumi Lake Towada
12 Towada → Oirase → Tohoku expressway → Nikko 500 km
7 h		 The mossy cascades of Oirase gorge at dawn, then the run south Nikko
13 Nikko → Irohazaka → Tokyo 140 km
3 h		 The 48 hairpins of Irohazaka below the shrines of Nikko Tokyo
Notes

An Indian licence is fine to ride on, but only with the old 1949 Geneva-convention International Driving Permit, the booklet kind – Japan does not accept the newer 1968 Vienna version at all. Ride on the left, keep to the low speed limits, and rent an ETC card with the bike for the tolled expressways and skylines.

Two of the famous alpine roads are closed to motorcycles: the Norikura Skyline, the highest paved road in Japan, is buses and bicycles only, and the Kamikochi valley bars private vehicles too. Both are worth a bus ride, but the ride goes round them – the Venus Line, Bandai-Azuma and Zao carry the alpine day instead.

Time it for the cherry blossom in late April and May or the autumn colour through October, and book ahead – Takayama, Kyoto, Ginzan and Towada fill up in both seasons. Rural fuel stations shut by early evening, so top up before the late-afternoon mountain legs. No ferries: it is all one road, all the way round.

© 2001-26 Zishaan Hayath