Foggini Family Bike Adventure in Japan (4 days / 3 nights)




Overview

This is a bike adventure is planned with your family in mind. From your previous contact, I feel that you are above average in your ability and enthusiasm. Still, I have prepared a trip with Flexible distances and optional extensions allow both you and Luca an opportunity to challenge yourselves, while still having time to take in the beauty of rural Japan.


Your family will have an opportunity to see and learn about traditional country life in Japan through participation - to have fun while getting a first-hand taste of the history and culture that are all but lost in modern metropolitan cities of Japan. Our trips are designed with educational aspects as well, using games and scavenger hunts to get Luca involved with the locals.

Days will include riding and walking over a variety of terrain - from rolling hills, highland plateaus, river valleys, and mountain roads (usually downhill), and an average day's ride can be anywhere from 4 to 6 hours, depending on your family's needs. There will be a support van available for anyone who needs it. This means that Luca can catch a ride while you and/or your wife enjopy the final uphill.

When not riding, resting, or eating, there are plenty of other activities to keep occupied with - from going on a wild-edibles hunt, helping to plant rice by hand (or catch frogs in many cases). Below is a list of just some of the possible highlights and activities that may be available in mid June, and fit within our recommended itinerary.

While this is a family trip, and we make every effort to let gravity do most of the work, it is still a mountainous area. Occasionally, there will be some hills to ride or walk up. We know that anyone (even children) with an average level of fitness, and that is willing to push themselves just a bit can make it. The support van is always on hand, but we like to encourage a little challenge.

Description & Highlights

These are just a few of the highlights of our family trips. Some of them are depenmdnt on weather, and some rely heavily on the kindness and schedule of our fellow villagers who lead busy lives of their own. It will be impossible to include all of them on a four-day trip, but if there is something from this list that your family is particularly excited about, please let us know in advance, and we will do our best to provide it.

  • Make Soba and/or sushi with a local expert.
  • Work up a sweat helping a farmer in the field.
  • Joining ojichan and obachan (elderly folks) for tea and a chat (we will translate).
  • Walk forest trails,, learning about plants and their traditional uses.
  • Creating haiku poems or painting traditional etegami painted postcards.
  • Watercolor, sketch, photography, or nature-craft outings.
  • Helping to survey and map local wildlife and vegetation.
  • Dirt-road, down-hill mountain bike riding - a safe and thrilling ride with thrilling views.
  • Fish for trout and iwana in one of the many shallow rivers flowing through the area.
  • Gather bamboo and other materials from the forest needed to make traditional Japanese kanjiki snowshoes.
  • Making traditional Japanese washi paper and rice straw handicrafts.
  • A visit to a local grade school for games and international exchange.
  • Helping to clear brush and rebuild mountain trails once used by locals who made their living in the nearby forests.
  • Build a shelter, fire, and cook a meal using only a knife and what can be found in the surrounding forest
  • Soak in a small hot-spring village in Japan's Snow Country - choose from 13 hot springs, or visit them all.
  • A night in a 200+ year old farm house turned family inn, with a traditional dinner prepared by a local chef who recently returned home from his work in a five-star Tokyo restaurant.
  • Picking wild edibles with the locals - a tradition in this area that, less then one-hundred years ago - meant life or death for the inhabitants of this small village.
  • Seeing the famous "Snow Monkeys" of Japan - the northern most living primates that do not wear clothing!
  • A visit to the last geta maker in Nagano (wooden sandal craftsman). Hear his story, watch him at work and have any of your questions answered.
  • Hot Spring baths every night - ranging from those only visited by the locals, to baths famous around Japan - but so remote that they receive very few visiors.
  • Get muddy as you plant rice the old fashioned way - by hand. You will also get a comprehensive explanation about the ins and outs of rice farming in Japan.
  • Catch frogs in the rice fieldsx.
  • Take a guided tour of the supermarket and 100 Yen Shop where our facilitator and professional chef points out interesting foods and explains how they are used and their history.
  • Sit under a tree by the rive and read a book or take a nap while we wear Luca out elsewhere.

Tentative Itinerary

Below is a tentative itinerary that is subject to change depending on the needs and interests of the family, as well as One Life opportunities that may arise, and our neighbors' schedules.

Day 1

Distance: Between 20 - 40 km, mostly downhill for the first half, with an optional 20km mostly uphill for the second half.

Activities: We will meet at Shibu-onsen Hot Spring (Shibu Onsen on Google Maps), a short train ride from Nagano city. and home to the famous snow monkeys. While there will be no snow in June, the monkeys will still be out. If you arrive early enough the day before your tour, you can take a 30 minute walk to see them on your own, or you can wait until the next morning, and we can give you a lift in the van.

Once you have had your fill of monkey cuteness, we will give a quick safety talk and introduction to the bikes and gear up for a cool downhill cruise toward Iyama city. Depending on time, we will stop for a picnic lunch on the sumo ring of an out-of the way temple, or have lunch at the traditional paper craftwoman's shop.

Given your families fitness level and biking experience, we will offer several options to choose between riding and relaxing.

The first option to get in the support van is after the picnic when we reach the bottom of the hill. If you ore anyone in your family chooses to continue riding, it is a short uphill ride to the traditional washi paper craftswoman. Here we will have a chance to make our own paper and learn about the process.

At this point, I expect Luca will be ready to ride in the van, but mom or dad may want to continue on by bike to our final destination - a ceturies old farmhouse turned inn. The inn is situated in the middle of Nozawa Hot-spring village, where you will have a chance to visit one or all of nine local baths.

Dinner is prepared by the inn ownder's son, a professional chef who made a name for him in Tokyo, before returning to his home town to help with the family business. The inn-keepers make it a point to grow as much of the food themselves, and use local ingrediants whenever possible. Even the vegetables and boiled eggs are cooked in the local hot-spring.

Day 2

Distance: About 30 km on downhill and level terrain.

Activities: After a morning bath and traditional Japanese breakfast, you will have a chance to explore the town - maybe enjoy a foot bath while you cook eggs in the volcanic hot-spring for a mid-morning snack.

There are two options for this day's ride. One is to take a gondola or van to the top of the ski-hill, from where we will cruise down through a forestry road with plenty of solitude and great views. The other option is to ride down to a slightly more inhabited area - but still plenty "country-side". This route will take you on a scenic road following a portion of the longest river in Japan. This route is flatter and uses a little more physical effort than a completely downhill cruise, but we will have plenty of time to discuss the options the night before, and I will give my suggestion once I have met and gotten to know your family.

Depending on time, and your choice in the morning, we can either spend some time playing/planting in the rice fields, fishing in the river, or just walking around the hamlets and visiting the locals near our home. If your family, or any member of your family is interested in more biking, there are several routes we can take. I will discuss the options in person on that day, but you can see the maps and altitude charts below.

You will spend the night at a local inn with an in-door hot spring bath. The inn is walking distance from several izakaya or ramen shops, and they also have their own restaurany, so if you just want to relax after the day, there is no need to leave. Depending on his schedule, the local sushi chef and his wife love to show our young guests how to make sush, sharpen a knife, and the proper way to eat it.

Day 3

Distance: Between 10 - 40 km on hilly terrain or downhill on a mountain road.

Activities:By this time, the trip is getting much more customised. I will have had a chance to tell you what is available, and you will have had a chance to express to me what you might be interested in. There are three optional routes for the day, each with their own special treasures. Any of these are also available with an early morning wake-up call, in case mom or dad are looking for a little more activity before breakfast.

Option 1: Ride or catch a lift to the top of the nearby mountain. From here you can see the Japan Sea to the North, and our farming village to the South. The ride up is on a steep paved road, and the ride down is mostly a dirt-road with lots of bumps and jumps, and great views.

Option 2: A short loop (2-3 hrs)through some of the hamlets surrounding the river. This option is scenic and not as strenuous as the others. We will pass through some small hamlets situated along the river, with an aditional short climb into a paved forest road. If we are lucky, we will have an opportunity to visit the last wooden geta maker in Nagano Prefecture at his workshop.

Option 3: A longer, more challenging loop (3-5 hrs). On this loop we will ride deeper into the mountain hamlets, with more uphill, but also more downhill. The uphill riding can be easily walked while pushing a bike, but if we use this as the morning "dad ride", it can be completed in as little as two hours. Along the way there are many great photo opportunities, and a high likelyhood of getting invited in for tea.

Depending on everyone's interests, and the local folks schedules, some other activities that can be worked into this day are:

  • Visiting the local grade school to see what school life is like in rural Japan
  • Painting your own postcards at the national painted postcard miuseum
  • Visiting the last wooden geta craftsman in Nagano prefecture
  • Relaxing in an outdoor bath with a beer and/or ice cream
  • Tea time with the old woman who live in one of the last traditional thatch-roof houses in the village

Day 4

Distance:About 10-30 km hilly with support van.

Again, today will be arranged depending on your family's interests, but the initial plan is to take it easy in the morning (again with the option for an quick sunrise ride). From the inn we will ride to a local soba noodle shop where an 85 year old local will take us through the soba making process. Although you are not pros, your noodles will taste great just because you know the sweat and tears than went into them!

From here, if there is still time for more riding, we will either take the van, or ride up a relativly steep slope to a platue where we will find one of the the 100 cleanest waters in Japan. Depending on the weather, we can take a dip, or just enjoy a refreshing face-wash and drink.

There are several bus times to return to Tokyo, but we recomend the 4:30 bus. You will arrive in Tokyo at 7:30, which may seem late, but the next earliest bus is 2:10, so it leaves less time to explore our area.

If It Makes Sense For You To Spend Another Night

If your schedule allows, or it makes more sense, you can spend another night here. In this case we would drive you deep into the mountains to an area that has been isolated for hundreds of years, and is said to be settled by the loosing samurai from the Heikei wars before the 12th century. They moved there and lived in a harsh environment as farmers.

This night will be spent at a 300 year old inn with a wonderful inn keeper. There is a unique bath which is colored red due to its iron content, or the option for a bath in a river where the hot water naturally bubbles to the surface.

Even taking time to visit the local museum that depicts life in the snow country in such a remote area, we can have you back down in time to catch the earliest bus to Tokyo, at 10:30 am.

Activities: Ride through fields and rice-paddies. Taste water from one of the official "100 cleanest springs in Japan". Visit a museum that shows how people used to live in this area before snow-plows and gore-tex. Take a guided tour of the supermarket and 100 ($1) yen shop, where you can pick up great gifts for everyone you know at home and they will never know how little you paid!!!

Whatever you do, you will probably not want to leave, but there is always a last bus. We will make sure that you get on safely, and have all your connections in order to arrive at your next location in time to relax.

Day 5

Are you still here??


No problem! We can certainly find something for you to do. If you are interested in trip longer than four days, just let us know. If you are interested in doing more riding, let us know. If you are interested in more relax time, let us know. Whatever you are interested in, just let us know.

Pricing &Whats Included

Price per person:

Adults: ...........................130,000 JPY
Children: ......................... 90,000 JPY

Includes:

Bikes, gear, snacks, accommodation, 3 breakfasts, 3 dinners, most lunches, entrance fees, guides, support van, maps, photos. (See below for details.)

Does not include transportation to and from start and end points. Find travel options and costs here.


  • Bikes:

    Our cross touring and mountain bikes are selected to make your trip the most comfortable and enjoyable possible. Our frames are sturdy, stable, and light-weight, fitted with ultra-comfortable seats, handle bars and grips. Pannier saddle bags allow you to easily carry warm clothing, water, snacks, and any souvenirs you pick-up along the way.

  • Meals:

    Dinners, breakfasts, and most lunches are included. Perhaps the most important part of any trip to Japan is the food. While the well-known sushi and sukiyaki are available, we seek out local, traditional meals that have developed in the region over the centuries defining and being defined by the local culture and history. Wherever possible we choose fresh, local, organic ingredients grown by farmers we know - you will even get to meet some of them. Lunches will either be at local restaurants or luxurious picnics with macrobiotic, traditional vegetarian and zen foods overlooking beautiful mountain valleys.

  • Accommodation:

    Accommodations range from 200 year-old family run minshuku inns, mountain-top huts, and opportunities to stay in a local's home. Every night offers a hot-spring bath, comfortable traditional cotton yukata robe, and a oh-so-heavenly futon on a traditional straw tatami floor. Our main interest in choosing accommodation is the friendliness and openness of the owners. While they may not all speak English, we will be there when needed to translate and facilitate communication.

  • Entrance Fees:

    Most museums, baths, festivals, and other entrance fees are covered so you are free to go anywhere and do anything your wanderlust takes you.

  • Facilitators &Communicators:

    You have the option of riding with bilingual facilitators that have studied the area and culture and are anxious to share as much as you want to hear, and probably a lot you didn't even know you wanted to hear. (Of course, we will shut-up if you ask nicely). Alternatively, you can strike out on your own with scheduled meeting points. Either way, we will be available every step of the journey, whether you are trying to communicate with your host for the night, the old man at the vegetable stand, or trying to find a certain color of kimono for that perfect souvenir. We can also provide printed translations of important museum exhibits and explanation of various foods and interesting cultural artifacts found along the way.

  • Support Vehicle:

    Not only do we carry your luggage and have elaborate picnic lunches waiting at the perfect lookout point, but we also carry people when needed. If you would rather spend more time at a museum or napping on a mountain top while the rest of the group rides on, our support vehicle will help you catch up. Want to walk instead of ride? The support vehicle will take your bike to the next meeting point. Had enough up-hills for the day? Our support vehicle will carry you to the top leaving you to enjoy the cruise down.

  • Maps:

    Reading a map in Japanese can be a daunting task. We try to make it a little easier by adding some English where it makes sense, as well as important landmarks and points of interest. We even give you a pen to keep notes on the map of the one of a kind encounters and experiences you have along the way.

  • Photographer:

    Photos of you, your fellow adventurers, and the people you meet on your journey, edited and collected into one CD with optional large-size prints of the really good shots.

Getting There &Away





Transportation Options

Transportation to the start point is fastest by Shinkansen bullet train. Transportation from the end point to Tokyo and other destinations is available via JR trains, and a slightly faster bus/bullet train combo. Start time and location may vary slightly to accommodate participants itineraries. We will send a detailed travel plan once we know where you are coming from, and going to after leaving us.


OLJ Programs & Tours



OLJ Tour Basics

We believe in A Better Way

One Life Japan's goal is to promote the recognition and exploration of possibility - the possibility within ourselves and within society to create a better life.

Possibility is born with an awareness and understanding of the whole process of life - its vast expanse with all its subtleties, with its extraordinary beauty, its sorrows, its joys, and its challenges. This understanding is the first step to cultivating the capacity to think freely without culturally learned fears and formulas, to begin to answer for oneself what is real, and what is true.

We make use of the uniqueness, contrasts, and beauty of Japan's culture, nature, and history to introduce a holistic view, promoting an awareness of complexity, ecology, culture, and self.