Tohoku, Japan: Out of this World

[@benjaminsnathan8501]

So much to see in Japan from your videos. Tq for sharing.

[@waddo]

You're very welcome. ;)

[@corcaa]

Love your videos! Always. :)

[@waddo]

Then you are a very discerning viewer! ;) We go on our winter tour in about three weeks, so now I am enjoy lots of free time with no editing or trip planning.

[@Cycle-Tourer]

Excellent SAD documentary about the extinct and abandoned Japan. So sad! A rich culture gone with the wind. There is saying in my language (Hebrew): A nation that denies its past, has no future. As always your edit work is a masterclass. Outcome of hard work, Highest skills and great talent. Remark: There are probably some problems with the camera. Sometimes it's out of focus. I watched at 1440P. It's not about resolution. THANKS A LOT

[@waddo]

Yes I had problems with the action cameras: newish one (mostly on handlebars) cannot handle low light like all action camera :( very old one somehow had stabilisation turned off :( Real camera, Panasonic performed nicely as usual. The final result: it took maybe 100 hours more to edit fighting with junk video. Final final result, I have a watchable video of our summer holiday. As we have no TV and feeble human memories, this is the most important.

[@clementihammock7572]

Time flies, watching this channel for almost coming 10 years. Putting on head face shield net, reckon lots of irritating bugs?

[@waddo]

Time flies and then we are dead :( Better have the adventures while I still can. Just planning our winter trip and the average daily distance is only about 40km. That's les than half of a few years ago. Not sure, but I think they are horse flies. They attack you and drive you crazy if you don't have a head net.

[@davidjohnston1374]

Hi Keith & Yuki, another awesome epic video, I noticed that this tour you took your time and remembered when you both had to abandon the tour due to Covid. I think that the modest Kms you did this time round was a very good idea, not to ride for a deadline. Keith are you still shooting your videos using Micro 4 thirds cameras? Great deep colours especially the greenery. I'm thinking of going either Lumix or OM Systems next but not sure which, so many comparisons on YT about which system is best, it's become confusing. Great music on your Vids mate, as I've said before, nobody I know can capture the essence of Japan in their videos than you, a true talent, i wouldn't know where to start. A friend's wife from Queensland is currently doing a Pilgrimage Walk in Shikoku and is still having to endure stifling heat. She will walk the full 1200kms. I think it's called the Shikoku 88 temple Pilgrimage about 6 weeks at 30kms per day average. They'd be carrying me out in an ambulance I reckon hahahaha. Take care both of you...can't wait to see what you have lined up next!!

[@waddo]

Hi David. Yes all the tours in future will be shorter daily distances, for obvious reasons and also something that cannot be change is the long climbs in a country that is all mountains. The main camera in this is the Panasonic gx85 which is old now and I bought it second hand long ago. I have an extra wide angled lens with the kit lens though I didn’t take it this trip. The video is excellent considering it is old technology and I will keep using it until it dies. I also had two action cameras: the Osmo action 3 which I bought second hand this year and the original very old Osmo action. The 3 was on the handlebars and is very good in good light. In low light it is virtually useless. When we walked up the gravel road in the rain to that amazing mountain shrine where we camped, I recorded about 10 minutes of video. I could only use about 20 seconds and that was when the bike was not moving! Total garbage in low light. The old action camera I used as a pocket camera. Generally it is ok in good light only. Unfortunately, the stabilisation was somehow turned off! and I didn’t notice until I got home. There’s only so much you can do to stabilise footage when editing. Some of the reasons this video took 100s of hours to edit :( Your friend’s wife is crazy! And yes the heat right now in Tokyo is crazy and not unlike a summer temperatures from 10 years ago. We have seen pilgrims in Shikoku many times on our trips. The reasons we have no interest in it and did the Shodoshima 88 instead: it takes too long! and many times the poor pilgrims are walking beside busy polluted roads and through countless very long and very busy tunnels. Shodoshima 88 was one of our all time favourite holidays. Our next holiday is, as usual, Kyushu for milder winter weather. We’ve been there many times; so this time, as I did with the new summer Tohoku, I am searching hard for many new places to visit, as well as old favourites like Aso caldera. It’s looking amazing so far.

[@davidjohnston1374]

@@waddo Would Okinawa be an interesting place to cycle around? Or Tattori where the sand dunes are? I have some friends who live in Karuizawa but on the Gunma side, we were there during 2022 to visit them. It's a beautiful area, can easily see why it's popular with Tokyo tourists. He does a lot of hiking up there during the shoulder seasons.

[@waddo]

@@davidjohnston1374 If you look at a map of Okinawa you will see the west side is a city with all the hotels, beaches shops etc. The east side is a notional park with hardly any roads and no food shop. That's why we went to Amami Oshima twice and will never visit Okinawa. Many years ago we did a tour passing through Tottori. It's a very nice area, but we went in summer and even then it was super hot so now with the global warming I would only think of it for spring or autumn. Too bad our spring holiday is always very short so we don't go too far away--also to save money!

[@awildcyclistappears]

Super happy to see you two back on bikes! Sending love from Poland :)

[@waddo]

Thanks and hope you enjoyed it.

[@giantmoose777]

Some of the your shots in this one are spectacular. Great work! Thanks for sharing. What a great adventure.

[@waddo]

Glad you enjoyed it/ As the title screen suggests, I had problems with both old action cameras (pocket and handlebar) so many great shots could not be used. For example walking up to the amazing mountain top shrine in the rain where we camped. That should have been a 5 minutes sequence in stead of 30 seconds! And way, it is what it is and some places really were out of this world.

[@frednerk2127]

Thanks Waddo and Yuki. Great cinematography. I haven't cycled Tohoku yet. I think it will be on my to do list next year. Safe travel guys!

[@waddo]

Glad you enjoyed it. You can't go wrong with Tohoku.

[@urushi-en1ss]

Amazing exploration！

[@waddo]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@urushi-en1ss]

@@waddo I was born and raised in a town near Lake Towada, but the scenery you show me is full of roads and mountains that even people living in Aomori have never seen before.

[@waddo]

@@urushi-en1ss That's amazing. At the same time, planning these trips is one of my hobbies, so I spend countless hours searching for special places to visit. As this is maybe our 5th visit, it gets harder and harder to find new places. So I try harder and harder!

[@Hvn907]

The beams of sunlight at foot bath camp were amazing. And the shrine caretaker letting you see the locked area was so cool. The unplanned encounters make traveling in Japan so incredible. 👍🏼😎👍🏼

[@waddo]

I agree; but still, I micro-plan! The footpath camp is private and only for people he knows. However, he told us he is hoping to sell to because he is too old now. Not sure there will be a buyer unless it is not for financial reasons because the place can never make much money. Also, we decided twice is enough for us because riding up is so hard especially I am old myself!

[@paulevans5455]

Excellent work, brings back my memories of cycling Tohoku as part of a larger tour in 2016.

[@waddo]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@theGENIUSofART-understood]

wow a new video!!!!!!! keep going guys! i'll be there soon!

[@waddo]

Yes, they don't come often. I subscribed to your channel so I will follow you progress. Hope you can make it to Japan. To tell the truth, Yuki has a similar dream to yours (with renting rather than buying). She also teaches Yoga. But as we are both self employed in Tokyo, I feel it would be a stupid gamble as our life here is completely fine.

[@theGENIUSofART-understood]

@@waddo we can talk for sure. maybe she can stay as a guest instructor or something one day. (a ways to go yet but if you have any one cool who can guide me a bit that would be cool). yeah if you are comfy there why move

[@waddo]

@@theGENIUSofART-understood Don't know anyone at all who could help you. But I have watched two or three KZbin videos of people who did something along those lines. It always seemed they had PLENTY of money. But maybe do a KZbin search and contact them if it seems on similar lines as your idea.

[@cicloturismo_mexico]

YEEEEAH, the wait is over!

[@waddo]

You can say that again. I've been editing 5 days a wee, 6 to 8 hours a day since we came back. I'll now ignore it for a month or two and watch with fresh eyes.

[@cicloturismo_mexico]

Is there any reason becaouse you haven't explore hokkaido more?

[@waddo]

One trip was enough. It looks more like Canada than Japan. Very few shrines and temples etc. Giant farmers' fields 4 times as big as a normal field with giant tractors. Distances between places are also too long. We may go back to the southern part where there are two great caldera lakes; but that would be just at the start and then ferry to Tohoku and continue from there. We are getting a bit tired of Tohoku, but with global warming it's the most comfortable place to go.

[@kuri8015]

Great video! You often ride in Tohoku, and I can see why from your videos. Have you ever explored north Yamaguchi and Shimane. I rode from Shimonoseki to Tsuruga this summer a long the coast. It was a beautiful ride.

[@waddo]

Never went to Yamaguchi but one summer many years we were around Shimane. I'm sure there are many great places all over Japan; but these days we will only go to the least hot places in summer and the least cold in winter. So that means Tohoku and Kyushu. The Seto inland sea also has comfortable weather and we may return as it's one of our favourites. To be honest, it's getting harder and harder to find new and interesting places in northern Tohoku. But this year I was quite happy with the route. I think it's also a matter of my age as well as temperature. I am trying to make the tours more like holidays.

[@kuri8015]

@@waddo Fair enough!

[@andrewm6192]

Going to have to split up the video into 3 parts for total enjoyment!!! Its the abandoned placs that get me.

[@waddo]

Good idea. In the KZbin universe 90 minutes is too much.

[@misawajason]

I haven't been to Misawa Eki since they remodeled it, but it seems fancy.

[@waddo]

It's amazing, but I don't know how they could afford to build a place like that for so few passengers.

[@misawajason]

@@waddo I agree. I lived in Misawa for 12 years beginning in 2003. Never experienced any crowds at all when using the station. I moved to Guam in 2020, but moved back to Hachinohe late last year and soon after saw the renovated Misawa station. Looks fancy, but at what cost? The old station had character, and a nice ramen shop that was displaced due to the "upgrade".

[@waddo]

@@misawajason I agree, some of the small old stations are very cute. At the same time we felt like VIPs getting our bikes ready in such stylish surroundings!

[@misawajason]

@@waddo Haha, I can imagine. Not many cyclist begin/end a tour in Misawa. I would like to ask, where exactly is the wooden trail around the @16:33 mark. It seems vaguely familiar to me, but I've been scratching my head for the past day as to where exactly it is. I'm getting old and losing my mind I guess. I'm sure it'll be so obvious that I'll kick myself for asking.

[@waddo]

@@misawajason It's the Tashirotai Marshland

[@curiousnomadic]

10:12 music put me off

[@waddo]

The music perfectly describes the feeling of riding 1km into the sky. It's not supposed to make the viewer happy.

[@curiousnomadic]

@@waddo Make your viewers unhappy then.

[@theGENIUSofART-understood]

how many total km do you think you ahve done?

[@waddo]

On this trip? I am not sure, but much less than usual as I plan now for leisure rather than adventure. Also, each day on the video states the total, so you can Dailey add them up!

[@theGENIUSofART-understood]

@@waddo i wonder in the history of the channel!

[@waddo]

@@theGENIUSofART-understood Scary to think. Thousands upon thousands! Sounds amazing. But every journey begins with a single step or rotation of the pedals.