Kyushu Touring Logistics

Then, after 10 days, I waited for a ferry to Hiroshima,



took a 3 hour nap, face down in my own drool,



and drove back to Tokyo. That's the sun setting on Mt. Fuji. Ever want to see 500 people taking photos out their car window with their cell phone cameras at the same time...

Logistics

Some people like to hear numbers when it comes to travel in Japan, so here is what my 10 day motorcycle trip in Kyushu consisted of:

Gas - 37,510 yen. About 3000km just to get there and back. Someone recently told me that truck drivers in Japan can be convinced to stow your bike in the back and give you a lift. I'm now reading a book called The Japanese Negotiator.

Food - 9600 yen. I only spent about a hundred bucks. I also got treated to ramen 2 nights, breakfast when I was hiking, and a home cooked dinner with my friends in Beppu.

Camp and Ferry Fares - 16,720 yen. Campsites are usually free or 500 yen. This goes for all of Japan. I paid a bit more for the hydrofoil to Yakushima, so I could have cut off another 4000 yen.

Bike Expenses - 37,000 yen. I needed some new parts along the way, so this is a bit high. But you should tune your bike for a trip like this. Most maintenance parts are cheap and DIY, but tires are expensive!

Attractions - 2500 yen. The sheer beauty of God's earth was my attraction most of the time. Though I'm surprised the governments of some of these cities doesn't enact a "Beauty Japan" campaign that taxes people to travel in these parts of the country. It should be 2000 yen less, but I went to that lame Beppu onsen hell thing.

Tolls - 5000 yen. Luckily, highway tolls are just 1000 yen, flat rate, on weekends and holidays. Otherwise, Tokyo to Kagoshima is something like 23,000 yen.

So if I didn't have to buy new bike parts, a 10 day trip would only be about $600.