Guides · 案内
Sort out the details of a trip to Japan before you go.
These guides sort out the practical side of a trip to Japan.
19 guides
guide · 5 min read
Can you do the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage by bike?
Yes. The temples' association lets pilgrims choose how they travel and in what order, and riders follow the roads round about 1,400 km of island. Arrive at each temple as a pilgrim: bow at the gate, worship before the stamp and leave the camera away while people pray.
guide · 10 min read
Can you go in an onsen in Japan with a tattoo?
Some of Japan's baths take tattoos, some want them under a cover sticker, and most publish no rule at all. Here is the routine at the taps and in the tub, the baths that say yes, and the ones that say no.
guide · 7 min read
Can you take a bike on the Shinkansen?
Every Shinkansen takes a bike packed as rinko, wheels off and fully bagged, up to 250 cm and 30 kg. West of Tokyo you should book the seat with the space behind it, and north of Tokyo there is nothing to book.
guide · 8 min read
Do you still need cash in Japan?
Cards and a tap-to-pay travel card cover most of a trip to Japan, and plenty of village baths, soba counters, temple gates and bike-hire desks still want yen. This guide sets out what to carry and how tax-free shopping changes on 1 November 2026.
Practical guide · 10 min read
How do backcountry gates and rescue costs work at Japan's ski resorts?
Japanese resorts let riders out only through designated gates once a climbing plan is filed, and every resort here that publishes a rescue rule bills the rider. Zao bans riding off its courses altogether.
guide · 6 min read
How do you cycle Japan end to end, from Cape Soya to Cape Sata?
Japan's National Cycle Routes stop well short of joining the northern and southern capes, so riders link them with ordinary roads. Ride Hokkaido covers the island, this guide picks you up at Aomori, and the season decides the direction.
guide · 6 min read
How do you send skis, boards and bikes ahead in Japan?
Hand a covered ski or board bag to Yamato two days before you ride and it waits at the resort desk. A bike goes only boxed, within 200 cm and 30 kg, and Sagawa's web booking stays down after its September 2026 breach.
guide · 11 min read
How do you stay safe on a cycling trip in Japan?
Heat sends far more people to hospital than anything with teeth, so the heatstroke alert is the first thing to read on a summer morning. After that come hornets and bears on forest roads, dark tunnels, typhoons from August, and what to do when the ground shakes near the sea.
guide · 7 min read
How long does it take to cycle the Shimanami Kaido?
Most riders cross from Onomichi to Imabari in one full day. Split it with a night on Ikuchijima or Omishima if you want the islands, or take a sports e-bike and ride it in a morning, as long as it goes back before the terminal closes.
Practical guide · 8 min read
How much does a ski trip to Japan cost?
One adult sharing a room spends about ¥90,000 on a budget week in Yuzawa and from about ¥178,000 for a mid-range week in Hakuba, before flights and rental. A ryokan-hotel week in Myoko runs to about ¥286,000.
Practical guide · 7 min read
Is the Ikon Pass or the Epic Pass better for skiing in Japan?
Ikon gives seven days at each of ten Japanese mountains for 2026/27, eight of them on Honshu. Epic gives five back-to-back days across Hakuba's ten resorts, plus Rusutsu in Hokkaido.
Practical guide · 8 min read
Should you ski Hakuba or Niseko?
Hakuba suits riders who want big alpine vertical and ten resorts on one ticket, a train ride from Tokyo. Niseko suits riders who want four linked resorts, lift-served gates under one set of rules and lights on every evening.
guide · 7 min read
What are Japan's cycling rules and fines in 2026?
Since 1 April 2026 the police can hand any rider aged 16 or over a blue ticket with a fixed fine. Holding a phone costs ¥12,000 and a red light ¥6,000, and the rules apply on a rental bike the same as on your own.
Practical guide · 6 min read
What does JaPow mean?
JaPow is skier slang for Japan's powder snow, a blend of Japan and pow. The snow comes from cold northwesterly winds that cross the Sea of Japan and unload on the mountains facing it, with January the snowiest month at every JMA station we keep near a ski area.
guide · 6 min read
What is a rinko bag, and which one do you need for Japan's trains?
A rinko bag is the soft cover that turns a bike into luggage for Japan's trains. JR wants every part inside it and the whole bag within 250 cm and 30 kg, and a shop like Y's Road in Ueno will match one to your frame.
Practical guide · 9 min read
When is the best time to ski in Japan?
Mid-January to the end of February brings the most snow on Honshu and in Tohoku. Book around New Year and the 2027 holiday weekends, or wait for March and April, when the days run long and spring prices kick in.
guide · 4 min read
Where can you ride gravel in Japan?
Japan's gravel lives on forest roads built for forestry, and in national forests the Forestry Agency asks you to clear entry with the local forest office first. Published gravel rides are few, so start from a station that rents gravel bikes and ask locally.
Practical guide · 8 min read
Where can you ski on a day trip from Tokyo?
In winter the Shinkansen stops inside GALA Yuzawa's base building. Kagura has the biggest terrain within reach of Echigo-Yuzawa, and Mt.T in Minakami has the steepest, an hour from Tokyo plus a bus.
guide · 8 min read
Which Japanese phrases help on a ski or cycling trip in Japan?
Two words carry most of a trip, and about forty more get you a lift pass, a new inner tube, a seat for a bagged bike and help when something goes wrong. Each line comes with its kana and a romaji reading you can say out loud.