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  • Day 3 of the Shimanami Kaido: The Beautiful Road to Imabari

    Day 3 of the Shimanami Kaido: The Beautiful Road to Imabari

    Day 3 was the sunniest of our three cycling days. We cruised along to the Hakata-Oshima bridge, bringing us to Oshima: the last island on the journey. Something that makes the Shimanami Kaido special is the incredible cyclist infrastructure. Attractions and rest stops along the way offer dedicated bicycle parking[…]

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  • Day 2 of the Shimanami Kaido: Omishima Island

    Day 2 of the Shimanami Kaido: Omishima Island

    We started off the rainy, second day of our cycling journey with the Tatara Bridge, which brings you from Ikuchi to Omishima Island. If you stop on certain spots along this bridge and clap, the echo ostensibly sounds like a roaring dragon. Clapping sticks are even provided for this purpose.[…]

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  • Day 1 of the Shimanami Kaido: Onomichi to Ikuchi Island

    Day 1 of the Shimanami Kaido: Onomichi to Ikuchi Island

    The Shimamani Kaido is a famous cycling route in Japan. It takes you from Imabari to Onomichi, across six islands in the Seto Inland Sea that are connected with a series of spectacular bridges. We decided to complete the route in three days, giving us plenty of time to explore[…]

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  • Kayaking Around the Seto Inland Sea

    Kayaking Around the Seto Inland Sea

    Our next stop was Onomishi, which attracted us with its famous Shimanami Kaido cycling route. However, we couldn’t visit a major body of water and not paddle it, so we also booked a sea kayaking tour. The excursion began on Mukaishima Island, near the Mukaishima Bridge. From there, we made[…]

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  • The Wild-ish Deer of Nara, Japan

    The Wild-ish Deer of Nara, Japan

    The city of Nara is about 45 minutes outside of Osaka by train. It’s a popular day trip mainly because of Nara Park: an enormous park that is home to thousands of wild yet very friendly deer. We were initially hesitant to spend one of our two Osaka days on[…]

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  • Peak Sakura Season in Osaka

    Peak Sakura Season in Osaka

    Osaka is the third major city we’ve visited on our Japan trip. Like Tokyo, Osaka is known for offering up a lot of colorful, cosmopolitan excitement. We arrived in Osaka in time for peak cherry blossom blooms. Having left Kyoto too early for the sakura peak, I was worried that[…]

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