Tuesday was a public holiday, so I thought of taking the Monday off to make it a 4-day mini vacation. I wanted to go for a short cycling trip somewhere, but my husband had to work on Monday, so I just decided to visit Oshima (in Tokyo), and bought the ship ticket online within one day! It would be my 1st solo cycling & camping trip!
I picked Oshima in Tokyo/Izu area, because it only takes several hours by large passenger ship (1&1/2 hour by high-speed jet ferry) from Tokyo to get there. It’s an island, so the roads are simple, quiet, surrounded by sea and have the only active volcano in Tokyo and the only desert in Japan!!
I had never been there before, because there is only one hotel on the island, which is so expensive and always fully-booked (before COVID-19), I thought it was not doable. However, this time I took the large passenger ship (booked the cheapest special 2nd class room), brought my own bike & tent, so it would cost me almost nothing except the ship tickets.
In the following site, you will find all the information about Oshima that you need to know, as well as the links to all Other Izu & Ogasawara Islands!
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/destinations/izu-and-ogasawara-islands/oshima-island/index.html
The following site is the Tokai Kisen, which is the only company that runs both big passenger ships and high-speed jet vessels to all these Tokyo/Izu islands! You can buy the tickets online with discount!
https://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/en/
http://tokyoislands.jp/home/access-the-tokyo-islands
For big passenger ships, it is said on the homepage that “Three sides adding up to 120cm or less, total weight 20kg or less Carry-on is free of charge”. So, if you put your bike inside the bicycle bag to carry-on, it should be free of charge.
Just in case, I visited the Tokyo Port a few days before to check it out, and asked about it. It is just 10min walk from Hamamatsucho Train Station. There is a very distinguished Ship decoration and illumination at night, so you can see it from far away. It was already late-Nov., so there was Christmas decoration & illumination everywhere.
The lady at the Tokaikaisen office said that as long as you can carry all the stuffs by yourself to board the ship, it is free of charge, so they do not really measure the weight or size of your luggages like getting on a plane. In fact, you can see in below photo that my carry-on probably had exceeded 20kg and 120cm, but nobody asked about it. There are many people carrying their bikes and suitcases. I guess because road-bike is popular now, and Oshima is totally possible for a day-trip, if you just take the jet vessel!
Also, the lady at the Tokaikaisen office pointed out that most of the Izu islands have 2 ports. They decide which port to arrive/depart just the day before, depending on the weather/wind direction etc. Sometimes they may delay/cancel the ship if the wind/wave is too strong. Therefore, you must check Tokaikaisen Homepage or their office board one day earlier, to confirm which port to arrive/depart, if the ship is on schedule/delay/cancel or not…
One thing you must pay attention is, even if you buy the tickets online, you still need to go to the ticket counter to show your printout and get the “real” tickets. The printout online does not show the compartment no. or seat no., only the “real” ticket does. Since the passenger ship leaves at about 10pm, the ticket office only opens at 8pm, and you can only get the “real” ticket on that day. By 9:40pm or so, people should start to board the ship with their carry-ons. The bikes (in bicycle bags) should be left on the dock, the worker will put belts around them to avoid anybody touching them until the arrival, so you don’t really need to lock the bikes. Just before arrival, everybody would be waiting at the dock to pick up their own bikes, so there is no chance to steal somebody else’s bikes, because the owners should be watching.
The bike, tent & sleeping bags etc. all so heavy, it was so difficult to walk, even just a short distance to the ship. After loading the bike, I was so ready to head to my compartment to sleep. I bought special 2nd class ticket, which is Japanese-style room, so I can lie down to sleep, and I have sleeping bag & air mat with me, it was perfect. I was surprised to see the ship has 6 floors and so many rooms, almost looked like hotel. And when I found my compartment, all the space are assigned with no. (about 10 people can stay in one compartment, so you can’t just lie anywhere, but luckily I got the corner space with window where I can put my bags and electric outlet next to me. I guess because I went to the ticket counter early, right at 8pm, so I got good spots!
There are restaurant, shower room (100yen per 3min), vending machines for cup noodles, snacks, drinks & beer, you can rent blanket for 100yen, or even add money to upgrade your ticket, storeroom to put big carry-ons (such as suitcases and fishing equipments), everything looked great, better than I thought.
Moreover, when the ship leaves at night, you can see the amazingly beautiful night view of Tokyo bay. The ship even passes under the bridge. You can see not only the tall business buildings, but also the factory cranes. I honestly think it was the most beautiful Tokyo night view that I had ever seen, and it was free!
There were so many people staying up at the dock taking photos, drinking, eating snacks & chatting… It almost looked like a festival on the ship, but since I was alone, I just headed back to my compartment to sleep. This passenger ship from Tokyo to the islands is so popular, because it is cheaper than jet vessel, and enjoy the night view, sleep in the ship and save one night of accommodation, arrive at Oshima Okada Port at 6am, perfect timing!
At 6am, I see the sunrise from the dock, which was beautiful as well. When the ship arrived, there were so many people all assembling their bikes at the shore, it was quite a view. I had so much stuffs needed to load on to the bike, so I took longer than other people. I did not have the right tool, fortunately I could borrow it from young guys next to me. They look like college kids, about 20, and their bikes are so light, maybe they stayed at guesthouse or just day-trip? I asked them where they were going, they laughed and said they would first go to Onsen! I was so jealous. Myself, on the other hand, only had 3 days 2 nights, and wanted to go around Oshima and climb Mt. Mihara, so I had to immediately start climbing Mt. Mihara with my heavy bike, and had to reach the camp site between 2-4pm, because even though I had already called to make reservation, they only allow check-in from 2-4pm, not earlier not later, they would cancel my reservation if I don’t show up on time, so I was actually in such a tight schedule, no time to get lost or feel lonely, haha!!
At 6-7am, the streets were still empty, nobody walking, very few cars. Fortunately, the signs were clear enough. I found the entrance of “Gojinka Skyline” quite soon. Then, I found myself kept on climbing, the route I chose, Gojinka Skyline, is the shortest route to reach the entrance of Mt. Mihara Peak, but it is also the most hilly and winding route. I found myself along climbing. I could see the route going up to the peak, wondering if I had to climb all that. Later, I looked down and found that I had already climbed up there. It was surreal. I passed by an empty, clean and well-equipped park. I thought I could actually wild-camp there if I want. Nobody was watching the park. It also has good toilet and nice view overseeing the town. When I continued to climb up, I met a guy twice on the way. He said, I’ll see you again later, because he headed to the peak of Mt. Mihara just like me, but he was much faster, later I never saw him again.
When I finally reached the entrance of Mt. Mihara peak, I found many expensive road bikes already parked there. They must have walked up to see the view, so I walked up too, but I couldn’t find the entrance of the trail, and I saw nobody. I wonder where they have all gone. I did find a very nice rest area. It has no door or window, so may be cold at night, but the tables are big, looked like I could put my sleeping bag & bag there to wild-camp. Mt. Mihara would like right in front of me!
When I walked back to my bike, a crow was standing on my yellow bag on top of my bike! I had too much to carry, they couldn’t all fit into my backpack, so I just tie the big yellow back to the rear rack of my bike, but looked like crow thought it was trash1! It had flipped through some of my stuffs, and a few things were lying on the ground! Fortunately, the crow didn’t find my foods! I thought, luckily nobody saw it. How embarrassing that a crow thought my stuffs were trash!
From there, I passed by entrance of see the volcano, but I just skipped it, because it looked like more uphill, and I was already tired of uphill. I also passed by “Oshima Onsen Hotel”, but I skipped it as well. I thought that I had nothing to do with Onsen or hotel. But actually later I found out — the entrance of the trail heading up to the peak is actually behind the Hotel!! That’s why I couldn’t find it, because I skipped the Hotel!!
I followed the “Ajisai Rainbow Line” to go down the mountain. It was the most pleasant route, because there were Tsubaki trees all along it, and it kept going down. Now is the reason, so Tsubaki is blooming everywhere, so nice! I also passed by a farm with horses. Lovely. There were nobody around at all, but I did not mind, I enjoyed the view so much. It was such as sunny warm day.
After getting off “Ajisai Rainbow Line”, I had to pedal some uphill again, heading to the “Umi o Furusato” camp site. I was so hungry, didn’t see any shops or restaurants on the way. I did bring some dry foods, because I was told that there are around the camp site, I needed to bring my own foods. As expected, there was a very long winding small road from the main road to the camp site, but it was so steeply downhill all the way, and so extremely long, I was really worried, next day I would have to climb this steep long road back to the main road?? Anyway, I had no choice, but to go forward. In fact, at one point, I was confused with the road, tried to call the camp site, but I was so far out that there was no signal for phone, I could only trust the google map (gps). Fortunately, I actually arrived before 2pm! When I parked my bike, I was the only bike there. There were only a few other cars. Honestly, such a steep long route, who would come by bike! (Apparently, I was the only guest by bike!) The people at the check-in counter was actually very nice, already helped me out before 2pm (their official hours). I could relax at their lobby and used their wifi (no signal at the whole camp site). I also found out that this camp site has free regular pickup/dropoff service to the closest bus stop (Oshima Park), I just need to reserve the pickup/dropoff the day before. In fact, their van is so big that my bike could fit into the truck without taking off the wheels! Sweet! I didn’t need to climb that steep long road (about 4km long!!), yeah!!
Actually, I relaxed too much. When I tried to build the tent, it was already 3-4pm, going to be sunset soon. Then, I discovered an interesting bridge, which leads to to some trails and the woods, and the beach is just a few min. from the camp site. I decided to visit the beach before dark! (Even though that means I had to build my tent after dark!) The beach was rocky but so beautiful and peaceful. Although it was getting dark, the waves hitting the shore, the very long shoreline was still visible. A few people were still fishing on the rocks. I always thought fishing is a boring sport, but not fishing at this beautiful rocky shore. I was so interested at watching the waves hitting the rocks with such a big impact. It was unusual to me to be able to see such strong waves so closely. Also, there were 2 camping tables next to the beach. I decided that I should eat breakfast there next to the beach next morning.
Finally, I walked back to my camp site. It was numbered and my site was inside the woods, so difficult to find. Also, my site was at the far end, so no street light, it was really dark. I just tried to build the tent with my headlamp as quick as possible. As soon as I’m inside my tent, I felt safe & content. It was only 5-6pm, already all dark outside. I wasn’t afraid though, I know the main building is open with lights, and there were just a few camping people around, no danger. I was jealous of the people staying in rental electric camp or in the lodge (inside the main building though), but there was nothing I could do. After all, I only paid 200yen per night for the site.
I was happy, because I could take shower for free in the main building, and there were cooking place, good enough to me. I just need to boil some water for my quick dinner and hot tea. The shower room was empty, just me. The cooking place was pleasure. In fact, I met a mother and son, and chatted for really long time at the cooking place. It felt so nice. At night, I slept comfortably in my tent and sleeping bag. It was so quiet around, I could only hear sea waves and trees constantly, occasionally animal noise. I didn’t even need ear plugs. It was just so perfect.
Next morning, I woke up at 6am, and immediately hurried to eat breakfast, because I had reserved the 8:30am dropoff with my bike. Also, I was excited for my around-the-island ride that day! However, I heard that day was going to rain badly from the afternoon, but I couldn’t back out. I came for this! I just packed my rain suit and plastic bag etc. to protect my bag.
I went to see the beach again, cooked at the camping table next to the beach, so I was so afraid of crows may come for my foods… In the end, I actually ate in the lobby.
Since I was being dropped off right in front of Oshima Park, I decided to take a look inside first, considering it is free entry! and I may not have time to visit it again. The park was so big, full of plants and empty in the morning. It looked like a nice place to even wander around for a whole day, but I didn’t have a whole day, so I skipped directly to the Oshima Zoo. Oh! Even the Zoo was big, I was too lazy to check the map where each animal was located, just randomly looked around, but I already found some imteresting animals. I even took videos of them. They are so cute. Then, it started to rain, do i hurried to leave, but I stopped by the information center to get free stamps and patch, there I noticed like 20-30 different patterns of patch! There were so many animals inside the Zoo that I haven’t seen yet!! Also, I didn’t have time to visit the Gardne at all. I only saw from roadside. It seemed big, and many plants inside. It must be beautiful inside. What a pity!! I do recommend to spend at least half a day in this Zoo and the Garden, as they are free entry and has a lot to offer!
https://www.soumu.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/11osima/park/www/htdocs/zoo/zoo.html
https://www.soumu.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/11osima/park/www/htdocs/gardens/encamellia.html
Also, in Oshima I had seen some interesting wild animals twice — one time at the campsite close to the beach in early morning, another time at roadside of Mt. Mihara. Both times it escaped really fast, I couldn’t snap a photo, but they were so cute, I wonder what they were. They are the size of a bigger cat, but with much longer body & tail, round head and small ears, brown fur. Also, they were so smart! The one I saw at roadside of Mt. Mihara checked right and left (like a human) before quickily crossing the road before cars came…
After searching in the internet, I believe they were Japanese weasel (commonly called “itatsi”). Let’s check it out!
Next, I asked a worker of the Park, who pointed me to the Izu Oshima Island Loop route. Although it is only 45.7km long, a bit more than a full marathon, do not underestimate this route, it has much more ups & downs than you can possibly imagine. The toughest part is at the SE side of the island, 7% incline for 4.5km long! So, I was told to go around clockwise, this toughest part would be my downhill.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/japan/tokyo/izu-oshima-island-loop
My island loop from Oshima Park started with uphill! Im fact, it was so steep that I soon found myself pushing the bike, I was pushing & riding & pushing & riding again continuously. I knew it would be uphill, but i was told that going clockwise the beginning part (NE part of island) is tough, but the rest would be easier. Well, it’s still morning, so I just enjoyed the amazing view pushing my bike between the ancient trees and deep woods.
There was a cycling event in the Island (Izu Oshima Gojinka Ride 2021) on that day, so I saw more people—-guide people standing at road side, cyclists riding in packs, fast & light (opposite direction from me). I wonder how they would think of me—- a weird solo bike traveller, pushing her bike slowly, having this dumb heavy backpack on the rear rack, so unstable. I lost my balance & fell a few times on the steep uphill, because of this backpack, without tent & sleeping bag, it was still heavy. Some kind cyclists & guide even stopped & asked if I needed help.
I found an article about the same event 3 years ago in 2018. It could give you some idea how this event is like. Unfortunately we disn’t have sunny nice weather like 2018. It was rainning all day, cloudy & cold that day…
https://tabunka.tokyo-tsunagari.or.jp/english/2021/04/lit-article35.html
I passed by 2 entrances which can lead me to the “black desert” of Mt. Mihara. Originally, I wanted to visit this interesting desert as well, but one entrance requires some walk, another entrance requires steep climb with the bike, and the weather was getting worse, I worried that I might not finish the island loop in time (I was expecting a pickup at 4:30pm!), so I skipped the desert, only took photo at the entrance.
https://offbeatjapan.org/oshima-izu-black-desert/
The rain soon became so heavy, I guess all the cyclists were wet. I took out my Goretex rain jacket & rain pants & waterproof gloves. I stayed warm & dry. There was a reason why my backpack was heavy!
Eventually, my long tough uphill finally ended. It turns to be very very long steep downhill. I felt sorry seeing all these cyclists (opposite direction from me) climbing so hard. Also, downhill was so cold!
Later, I saw a cyclist sitting at roadside playing with his phone. Then, a pickup van & a guide arrived. I see! This person was retiring from the event, so it was almost end of the line. By that time, I had only gone 1/4 of the loop, I started after 9am, it was about 11am, but most of the cyclists already almost finished (or already finished) their loops. I had no idea how early they started, 6am?
After the retired person, the road became quiet, as if I was the only person in town. I expected to pass by the fishing port at the South, and hoped to find some local stores to buy lunch, but I saw nothing! There was nobody even at the police station. All the shops seemed to closed. Why? It’s only noon! Finally, I met a construction worker, he said there was really nothing around, until Motomachi (the seaport at the West side). They were working there (breaking stones), that’s why they were there. Oh… how disappointing!
I decided to take a break, eating my biscuits, cheese & nuts at roadside. Also, I tried to improve all packing. I moved all the stuffs from the heavy backpack to the 2 forkbags. Wow, it’s amazing how much the 2 forks can carry. Now, I only had an empty backpack tied on my rear rack. It no longer moved around or lost balance, yeah!! However, I think it took me at least half an hour to repack. I was running out of time!!
I hurried to head towards the next destination (Stratigraphic cross-section (a.k.a Baumkuchen). It was indeed so beautiful and eye-opening! The Baumkuchen was tall & large & obvious, along the winding road for quite long. You can see Baumkuchen at one side and the coastline/sea at the other side. It was the BEST PART of Oshima, I think.
After that, I continued to peddle. The up & down hills were not so tough like the East side anymore, but there was still nothing around… Occasionally I could see the red soil or red stones, reminding me how close I was to the active volcano. Also, the rocky coastline & strong waves went on and on. It was never boring to see. Eventually I saw the sign of Motomachi. Yeah!! It still took a while until I reached the center of it, but the scenery started to look familiar. I had passed by Motomachi on 1st day too, before climbing up the Mt. Mihara.
I aimed at the only supermarket on gps, and I found it! It even had beautiful tropical wall painting all over it, but it was smaller than I thought, not really a supermarket, more like a local grocery store. Also, it was so rainy & cloudy that day, di not tropical! Nevertheless, I was happy!!
I locked up my bike as quick as possible and rushed inside. I felt like i hadn’t quite eaten for 2 days already. There were so many lunchboxes and side dishes that I wanted to buy, but I have to pick what I could carry and eat until next day. That’s when my empty backpack came in handy! It was specially-assigned to carry my valuable foods, and tied to my rear rack carefully not to crush them.
I was hungry, but I needed to catch my 4:30pm pickup. It had already passed 2pm, and I still had 1/3? to go… I called my campsite before to confirm the pickup (I was the only one who required pickup that day!), but they told me to call again when I got closer. I was still too far away.
I also wanted to pass the “Sunset Palm Line” at the NW part of Oshima. It was supposed to be beautiful during sunset, and there was a cheap outdoor Onsen there called “Hama-no-yu”. It would be like heaven to sit in the outdoor Onsen enjoying the sunset… I was sure that I wouldn’t see beautiful sunset on such a rainy cloudy day, and no time for Onsen, but I still decided to take a longer route to pass the “Sunset Palm Line”. Indeed, the coastline and park there was so nice. Also, I found the Destination of the cycling event. Many people already finished, carried their “finisher” goods and eating/shopping around the port. There were a few shops next to the port, but nothing really special. It’s a small island.
I headed to the port at the North (Okada port). It was also where I arrived from. I was supposed to call my campsite when I got there. But I was confused at a cross-section. There were 4-5 roads towards different directions. Even with gps, I was not sure. Also, there was nobody to ask, there was only a nobody police station nearby. Finally, I got in the police station, saw a phone & big sign sitting at the center of the desk, as if there was always nobody there, just a phone. I picked up the phone to call, no long later somebody answered and gave me directions on the road, but I think his “right” means my “left”… Anyway, he gave me clear instruction to “climb the uphill”, so I just pushed my bike up the only uphill I could see—-extremely uphill & narrow road next to police station. I doubted that a car could pass. Did he teach me a shortcut? But my gps looked right. Also, I saw a very old lady on the uphill, I asked her anyway. To my surprise, she gave me very clear answer. She even named my destination (Oshima Park)! She said,”Yeah, just follow the uphill, you’ll see the main road. Turn left & keep going, it will take you to Oshima Park!”
So, I kept going… suddenly the road became very easy, mostly downhill & straight road, some tunnels but very few cars. It was only mid afternoon, already felt dark and cold… I kept going, then I saw the familiar scenery —- where i was dropped off that morning!! Yeah!!
Finally I arrived about 4pm, just made it to the 4:30pm pickup. I was so happy to load the bike to the van, and have somebody drive me back. (If I were to cycle back to the campsite, I guess it would take another hour…)
Once I was back to the main building of campsite, I felt relaxed. I still had to prepare for next morning’s leaving, but so happy I could warm myself & dry my wet clothes with their heaters! There were also electric outlets to charge all my dying devices, sofa, table, free wifi & shower. After a long day of riding in the cold rain, this was like HEAVEN!!
I decided that I had rode enough (already climbed Mt. Mihara and completed the island loop), I would just take the bus to Okada Port for the passenger ship. Campsite van would drop me off at bus station. The bus to Port only costs 380yen, plus 200yen for bike inside bicycle bag.
I also decided to mail all the camping goods, wet tents & shoes etc. home by Courier. Only carry-on the bike was already heavy enough. A fishing guy told me that he mails his fishing stuffs home all the time. The Courier comes pickup at campsite building every morning. It usually only costs him ¥2000 for a standard carton box. My bag was smaller than his carton box. Campsite lent me duct tape & plastic bags, how nice!
(In the end, I received my bag next morning after I returned, in less than 24 hours!!! And it only costed 1500yen!!! I was so impressed!!!)
After taking care of my soily bike & damped wet clothes, I finally got to enjoy my foods from supermarket! In fact, I was so hungry that I forgot to take photos, but of all the foods that I had bought from the supermarket, the Bekko Sushi tasted the best! (You can check out below reference site to see what it is.) I only learnt later that bekko sushi is actually a traditional dish on Oshima, luckily I tried!!
http://tokyoislands.jp/bekko-local-unique-lustrous-amber-color-dish
That night, it rained so heavily that I could no longer hear waves, trees or animals, just loud noise of rain surrounding me. In fact, the rain was so overwhelming that I had to wear earplugs to sleep, and tried to stay away from the walls of the tent. Still, there was nothing to be afraid of, the worse case was just the whole tent fell on me, I would be all wet, but I wouldn’t die… I comforted myself.
Next morning when I opened my eyes just before 6am, I heard nothing. No noise of rain. I checked outside, the rain completely stopped!! I immediately started packing up my sleeping bag, all air mat, my soaringly wet & soily tent… By 7am, I already had moved all stuffs into the main building. Where it’s indoor with heater, I could relaxingly organize and pack the stuffs for Courier, eat my breakfast. By 8am, I was already all packed. At that time, my fishing friend & his family also arrived with tons of stuffs. They were also sending their things home by Courier in carton boxes. Then, they would take a jet vessel, earlier & faster than my big passenger ship.
We chatted while waiting for the office to open, and somebody to drive us to the bus stop. The last day was simply waiting… waiting for bus, wanting for ship… The weather was still no good. There were a few small shops or restaurants in front of Okada Port, and the main building was so new & spacious & empty. 1st floor was ticket office, 2nd floor was gift shops, demonstration & rest area, 3rd floor was food court & rest area. It was not crowded at all, lot of space to take a seat or place the bicycle bag. In fact, I saw many people with bicycle bags, and many people busy disassembling their bikes under the roof in front of the old main building, which was due to be torn down. I could imagine how crowded it must have been in this old one-floor main building.
My special 2nd class room in the return passenger ship was fully-booked. There I met a single woman with suitcase, who went to other further islands for scuba diving often. I also met 3 women with huge backpacks and sharing snacks, who went hiking together in another further island. I was so impressed to see that many people are much more active than me!
🌸Day 1🌸
🌸Day 2🌸
It was just a 3 day 2 night trip, but I feel like I had a great adventure & learnt so much! I become much more confident that I can assemble/disassemble my bike alone, and build/unbuild my tent alone (even under the worse weather). I’m not afraid of travelling alone anymore, at least inside Japan, I think I’ll be okay.
I’m looking forward to have another solo cycling trip, hopefully soon!!
