• Shikoku Day 0
• Tokushima city
• 8.45 km of cycling

Yesterday was a long 19-hour travel day flying from Christchurch to Tokyo Narita, then catching a bus to Haneda Airport and getting a shuttle bus to the airport hotel. The hotel shuttle driver Suzuki san was very keen to hear all about my plans after loading my awkward and heavy bike luggage. He explained he’d done a few laps of Japan by motorbike as well as sailed a yacht around the country from the port city of Otaru – which happens to be Dunedin’s sister city. He’d even been to Antarctica on a Japanese whaling ship! Not able to adventure himself at the moment, he’d taken the shuttle driving job as a way to hear about other people’s adventures. Even while packaged up the bike is proving a good conversation starter, if certainly not the easiest luggage to manoeuvre through narrow elevators and tight hotel rooms.

Today began at 4am with an early flight from Haneda to Tokushima – not so bad while still on NZ time. Japan Airlines special baggage counter staff were very attentive and the bike bag now has a million stickers on it. To my relief it weighed 19.6kg, after a successful effort to rebalance the bags from Air NZ weight limits.

It’s so exciting to be back in Japan for the first time in about 7 years. Narita Airport all felt very familiar; I grinned away looking out the plane and bus windows, and enjoyed the taste of old favorites like onigiri and milk tea. Of course things are a bit different though. Tokyo’s taxis have changed from the iconic old green and yellow ones with doors that swung open to sleek black ones in the shape of London cabs, QR codes on phones make airport processes smoother, hotel check in and out is on a machine, and when buying snacks with cash the coins no longer go onto a little tray – a machine does it all.

My friend Madoka and her family picked me up at Tokushima Airport, and with a bit of luggage shuffling, we got the bike in the boot of their people mover and drove back to their house. Built two years ago, it is super cool. I’d forgotten how much I love Japanese design and the way they build houses. I wish I had a Japanese house back home! Madoka’s son Sogo had even drawn a cute welcome sign ❤

Their garden was the perfect place to build my bike, after enjoying some time playing with the kids. The sun was really hot but everything came together okay and I was elated when the bike seemed rideable after forty minutes. Sogo also had a red bike so we excitedly enjoyed some laps of the garden together.

Later we took it to a local bike shop where a nice young guy checked it out and installed a bell for me. He kindly tightened everything up to the right torque, and although I’d love to pretend everything was perfect, something was wrong with the front tyre direction, which was probably me when I changed the tyres over a month ago! He sorted that out and told us about his trip on a bike around Shikoku when he was 11 years old as a primary school student. Hopefully, if a primary school student can do it, so can I… It was a relief to have my bike reassembled and working well.

Sushi train was on the menu for lunch and Sogo  displayed some amazing junior chef fish slicing skills while wearing a super cute uniform. We had a fun meal together with all the faves: ebi, salmon, egg, tuna, and buri alongside a lovely salad.

I’d had a headache all day but while the family popped out to a pharmacy I had some chill out time. It was relaxing until I decided to check the bike computer was working. I discovered to my horror it needed Japanese maps installed via the Garmin computer software and the phone app cannot do it. I don’t know why I didn’t double check that before leaving New Zealand but I guess I had a lot to do and there’s no time to berate myself now!

Then I hustled off to the orientation for pilgrims at the Tokushima Tourist Information Centre about 5km away. Lance the staff member was very kind and explained a lot in detail, teaching us what to do at each temple and how to write our name slips or osamefuda. Luckily my bike was fine ditched outside with no lock because I had left in such a hurry and forgotten it!

I was really starting to fade by the time I got home to Madoka’s. Sogo and I did a little maths and I had a quick lie down for 10 minutes and sent some messages, then headed next door to her parents’ okonomiyaki restaurant for dinner. I sat between two lovely and funny regulars at the counter who were keen to chat about New Zealand, my plans, and how I’d learnt Japanese. I had a delicious Hiroshima style okonomiyaki and was stuffed by the time I’d finished. My counter friends wished me a fun trip and insisted I accept some Mr Donuts donuts, which I loved as a teenager in Japan. They still tasted great and helped in my endeavours to eat as much as possible!

Above the okonomiyaki shop was a kind of flat where I stayed, perfectly set up with everything I needed – a washing machine, kitchenette, bathroom, and a couple of rooms with a table and futon. I’m so grateful to Madoka and her family for hosting me, even though we hadn’t seen each other for about 15 years! We met a long time ago when I worked at an English language school which had student assistants who helped us in the office, and got to know each other through working together. She’s now an English teacher too and it was fun to talk a bit about teaching.

After dinner I felt overwhelmed trying to deal with my luggage but did a quick load of washing, and now finally everything is ready. It doesn’t feel so heavy and at last there’s plenty of room. It’s hard to believe it’s all really happening but I hope I can enjoy the first day tomorrow. The nerves are jangling!

PS – After I wrote this Madoka helped me use her dad’s computer and we eventually got the maps downloaded to my bike computer! Phew!!!