Stuff
No discussion of traveling in Japan is complete without mentioning toilets. Even a train station can have an expensive Toto toilet, and there’s always a bidet. Very civilized.
Sometimes even an ordinary experience like stopping for coffee to get out of the rain can have a certain amount of simple elegance.
Then there’s the whole Bike thing…..
The bike comes to Japan in this case, which is the maximum size for a standard checked piece of luggage.
Then, of course, it turns into this….
And sometimes it looks like this on a small commuter train…in the required bag. Speaking of the bag: to go on a train the bike must be in a bag. But most bike bags are big, bulky, and heavy. So, I made my own. I needed a material that was strong, lightweight, and that compressed into a small package, so I bought some parachute material and fabricated my own bag. It may not be pretty, but that wasn’t one of the criteria.
And then, in my last cycling hotel, it goes back into the case, and then I have a celebratory sake.
What can I possibly say about Japanese food. It’s wonderful, even if I have no idea what half the stuff in front of me is.
robert j. mang cycling/travel 