Aizuwakamatsu to Inawashiro

 With the prospect of being in a real city for the first time in several days, we decided to start a little late and have lunch in Aizuwakamatsu. The plan was to take mostly side roads up to the city and leaving Ashinomaki, the first thing we did was head into the mountains.

Our route is the little road between these buildings

Five minutes later...

After a bit of small mountain roads, we descended into the valley and had a very flat, very easy ride into Aizuwakamatsu. We got a good glimpse at the snow-covered peaks of Mount Iida at various points throughout the day. Apparently there's a shrine at the very top of the peak.

Mount Iida, about 35 miles away

Our bike path

Yet another roadside shrine

These casks are huge, and we have no idea what they are for

Finally in a real city! Our first stop was to check out Tsuruga Castle. It was restored after being essentially decimated by cannons during the Meiji Restoration. When we arrived at the castle grounds there was a rather unique concert going on. As near as we can tell, there is a music store in Aizuwakamatsu where one man teaches people how to make (as in from clay, by hand) and play an ocarina. His students were having a recital on one of the grassy areas outside of the castle. 

Nice backdrop for a concert

We dropped our packs off at a coin locker and bought our tickets to the castle. It was five stories plus a basement, and each level had a different subject, ranging from the clan leaders that ruled the castle throughout its history to the prominent members of the Aizu clan. It was very well done, and of course had some rather amusing translations. The one that got me was Kato Yoshiaki and his helmets.

Bad photo aside, this was the helmet he rocked during the battle of Tsuruga Castle

Not, unfortunately for us, his Mount Fuji-shaped helmet...

We now know the real source for the Nike "swoosh"

There was also a neat display about Nisshinkan, a surprisingly progressive samurai school during the 1800's. It was the first school to have an indoor pool (the logistics of which I don't even want to think about) and also the first school to have lunch provided for the students. Along with various martial arts, the students received a fairly intense education as well. 

Nisshinkan floor plan

Mount Iida from the top of the castle

At the end of the tour, there was an online questionnaire that one could take and, if chosen, received a free Akabeko charm. What is Akabeko, you ask?

Meet Akabeko

Akabeko is a legendary red cow (yes, you read that correctly) that was present at, and in some legends somehow helped with, the construction of the Enzou-ji temple, a rather spectacular series of buildings in Yanaizu dating back to 807. During the Toyotomi Shogunate, the general in command of the region heard of the legend and commissioned a papier-maché toy with a head and neck that move independently from the body. These toys are famous across Japan and are believed to ward off smallpox because of course they are. Anyway, Sumi filled out the questionnaire and won two Akabeko charms, so it looks like we are now protected from smallpox.

Sumi with Akabeko and...Koakabeko?

After the castle, we had two things on the agenda that we had to accomplish. Eat a real meal for the first time in days and replace some of my old, falling apart biking gear. Our first stop was

A sign of true culture

Did you really expect anything else?

Yes, our first trip to the famous Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, or CoCo Curry. After two days of living off of fruit, nuts, and convenience store food, it was really, REALLY good. They have a new summer special going on and Sumi and I were trying to decide if it was worth trying. We gave Google Translate a try to see if we were missing something from the description. We weren't.

The translation makes it sound even more appetizing

It's actually what looks like a brisket slathered in garlic cloves, then add curry. Could be interesting. Also, lest I forget:

There is a bet on how many times we will visit the sacred shrine of curry during our cycling trip, so we are keeping the gamblers updated.

After the much-needed meal, we walked across the street to a bike shop. At this point my helmet had lost all padding and was chafing my forehead and the plastic wind visor was coming off, my gloves had holes in several fingers, and my saddle bag was not attaching to my seat properly, making it rattle and sometimes come unattached. Nothing that I couldn't deal with, but since we're finally in a place that actually HAS a bicycle shop and it's across the street from the restaurant, we figured we'd give it a try

I swear this is what all cycle shops in Japan look like

From the outside it looked like a bicycle factory threw up. There were narrow walkways between the floor-to-ceiling stacks of gear and bikes. Needless to say, EVERYTHING I wanted was in there. I now have a brand new helmet with padded, very nice lycra/mesh gloves (I feel quite swanky wearing them now, not gonna lie), and a new saddle bag. My quality of life has improved greatly.

After a quick stop at 7-11 (which was ALSO across the street from CoCo Ichi) we were ready to hit the road again. As we walked back we saw this gem, Japan never fails to amuse us with their signage.

There has to be a copyright violation somewhere in this

So, with 25 miles left to go and some pretty steep climbs, we were back on the tiny, rural back roads of Fukushima prefecture.

A view from a mountain path overlooking Aizuwakamatsu

Pavement is now optional

Some of these roads were...well barely roads. One in particular was about a mile of gravel. Our little Bike Fridays ride are awful off-road with their 20" wheels. We did a lot of walking. This particular area was important historically for the region where a group of very young (under 18) samurai-in-training fought with the Meiji troops. They were all killed, save one who actually tried to commit seppuku, but was found and saved, which is how we know the details of the battle. 

One of several informational signs along the path

Further down, there was more off-roading, now accompanied by signs warning of aggressive bears. Awesome. As we got close to the Aizu Recreational Park, which I'll get to in a moment, we passed through an area that reeked of bear. Anyone who has ever smelled the musk scent of a large animal knows exactly what I mean. There was nothing we could do but keep going. Luckily, our bikes were making so much noise that there's no way we were surprising a bear, which is usually the most dangerous part of an encounter. As it was, we didn't get eaten, so that was good.

Finally back on paved roads, we stopped at the Aizu Recreational Park. This is supposed to be an open area for families to come picnic and play. It is also about 800m from where we smelled the bear den. This is what we saw when we got there

Translation "Beware of Bears"

At the entrance to the park

So, we ate our snack on the pavement in front of the park.

Finally, after more climbing and a lot of walking, we descended into Inawashiro where our hotel was. We spotted the hotel when we were about three miles away.

Bad photo aside, it looks like a set piece for a Star Wars movie.

It is huge. The Hotel Listel is at the base of a popular ski slope, holds over 1300 guests, and takes up over 700,000 square meters. It has a moat. It has a fairy tale garden out front with statues and, at this time of year, tulips. It is a small city. 

Stock photo showing the mothership in the background and the garden

The garden today. Note the bunny and horse statues.

It also had a parking lot for bicycles. Like, a special section, complete with LED lights and astroturf, called CYCLE STATION. With its very own QR code so you can share in Instagram. I don't understand any of it, but we have a real place to park. Usually the hotel staff struggle to find a place where our bikes don't get in the way or make their very expensive hotel look bad.

Inaichi Cycle Station

Our room is so big it has both beds and futons.

I really can't stress how large these rooms we've been getting are in Japan. Usually it's a room with a bed that takes up about 90% of the floor space and a closet that doubles as a bathroom and shower. This will be the last luxury resort we'll be at for a while, though. Tomorrow we bike into Fukushima itself, a major city where the hotels will be significantly cheaper and smaller.