It started out so well...

Finally back in Shikoku for the first time since our bike trip here in 2013. We were up and ready to go around 6:30, with a quick stop at the Family Mart for some water, yogurt, and juice, then across the street to Central Park (Chuou Koen) to clean up our bikes, oil them up, eat some breakfast, and head out.

Takamatsu Central Park

Leaving Takamatsu took a bit of time, not because we got lost (this time), but there were a lot of traffic lights, and a number of intersections with no way to cross other than taking a pedestrian underpass

The stairs have ramps for the bikes, but you. need to walk them down and up.

But finally we were out in some cross between suburban and rural, the traffic was still fairly constant, but the traffic lights lessened, and the scenery improved

Mountains, rice fields, and ponds. Ah, Japan!

Shikoku still has a lot of remnants from WWII hidden in their cities and towns, unlike many other parts of Japan that has modernized rather rapidly. In the south, where we took our first trip, there were old air raid bunkers dotting rice and yuzu fields. Here in the north, we spotted a few old cigarette stands. These popped up during the US occupation and rebuilding of Japan to cater to servicemen. People would build these into the front wall of their homes, and sell cigarettes to soldiers. I had never seen one in person until today, and we passed several.

Remove it? Nah, we'll just put porcelain dogs in it.

Shikoku is the smallest of the four big islands of Japan, and has only a fraction of the population (about 3%). Most of this 3%, however, lives on the northern shores of the Seto Inland Sea where a mountain range separates the northern part of the island from the rest of the land mass, which is about 50km (30 miles) wide. At its narrowest is in the city of Shikokuchuo, or Central Shikoku (not very original, but descriptive). The distance between the sea and the mountain range slims down to just a few kilometers. Any traffic that needs to pass between the western and eastern sides of the island must pass through this narrow strip of flat land. We found this out the hard way.

Now, we usually try and find side roads with little traffic, or roads with good bike lanes (or at least a decent shoulder to avoid traffic). That was simply not an option here. There is exactly one road that passes through this area, and it is the dreaded Highway 11. Two lanes, narrow, no shoulder (literally, none), 60 km/hr, and a "sidewalk" that will frequently end on one or both sides at random intervals. The last 15 miles of our trip today was on this road. Semis, construction vehicles, and 80% of Shikoku appeared to be traveling on 11 today. There wasn't really enough room for them, but they were there. We spent over an hour just crossing the busy highway to get to a side that had some space for use to ride, until it didn't and we had to switch again. It was not any fun at all. It was easily the worst cycling we have ever experienced in Japan. Tense, crowded, dirty, loud. Just plain unenjoyable. We had read about people complaining this route was a problem, but took it with a grain of salt, as people love to complain on the Internet. Nope, this one was 100% justified. We will never cycle here again.

Now, that is not to say the area is bad. The city of Kawanoe, where we were staying, was pleasant enough in a 1970's Gary, IN industrial sort of way. We were still a few hours early for check-in at our hotel, so we headed to the train station to try and find a locker to leave our stuff in so we could wander around.

A nice 1 platform station

Well, it was so small, there were four seats in the waiting area, and nothing else, so we plopped down on some seats and attempted to relax. The aroma of fresh pastries wafting from the bakery next door caught our attention, and the sight of the shopkeeper putting out fresh pans was irresistible. So we wiped the drool off our chins and bought some fresh pastries and buns and had a small, very satisfying picnic on the few plastic seats in a tiny train station.

Willie Winkie Bakery? Where do they get these names?

Finally, it was close enough to check-in time, we headed to our hotel. Most of the way was through one of those covered shopping streets we love so much. This one was a big different. First, most of the stores were closed. On a Saturday afternoon. Second, cars could drive down these roads. That was a bit of a shock. It's hard to say if it's just an economically depressed area and the shops are permanently closed (they didn't look like it), or there was just some ancient tradition of closing whenever foreigners visit your town (I was out definitely the only white guy for about 50 miles, likely more), or what, but it just looked and felt weird to us, and we've visited a lot of Japan.

3pm Saturday and its a ghost town

Our hotel, thankfully, was a fairly standard business hotel with no surprises. We got checked in, cleaned up, and decided to talk a walk to Kawanoe Castle, the only spot of greenery in the entire city.

This is not hyperbole. It's the only park in the city proper. The castle was reconstructed recently, and is now a local museum that holds the traditional swords, armor, etc that you see in most Japanese museums, along with pictures of many of the other castles of Japan. Built on the highest point of the coast,

on the upper floor, it is said you could see Imabari (50km) and the Shimanami Kaidou (a string of suspension bridges connecting Shikoku with small islands and, eventually, the mainland).

Not sure if the haze was from the humidity or all the factories.

It was a nice visit, and a good way to wind down after such a stressful day. We spent the rest of the evening planning on how to avoid Highway 11.

A dragon holding a pear? Bridge decoration for the Dokigawa in Maragume

Some Engrish I understand, but where does the 'r' even come from?

The Anpanman train.There are numerous character trains in Japan. Our first time seeing one.

Speaking of character trains, there is a new one coming out at the end of June.

We will, most regrettably, be home before this very pink Shinkansen makes its debut here in Japan. Which is good, because Sumi had already made up her mind to ride it, regardless of where it was going.