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7/30/2019 BMWMOA ARTICLE
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November 50
Riding Among the
Cherry Blossoms
By Larry Corell
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To celebrate ridinga motorcycle on my sixth continent, I was looking for a unique
experience. It had to satisfy three criteria: 1) I t had to have some
good riding (a real motorcycle experience); 2) it had to have a
cultural element to it; and 3) Penny, my beautiful wife of 46
years, had to be included. Requirement number three meant
no rugged off-road, no flea bag motels where I usually stay and
a van to carry the luggage.Luckily I heard about Phil Freeman and MotoQuests tour of
the southern three islands of Japan. Phil is the founder of
MotoQuest and uniquely qualified to lead a tour of Japan.
Not only does he speak fluent Japanese, he is also pas-
sionate about the country and the people. He also has a
special relationship with a group of Japanese that only
ride BMW Airheads. This group is known as the Flat Twin
Club (FTC).
The FTC has shown Phil the best roads and the quaint-
est inns. They even rode with us on some of the twistiestroads. I was impressed because those old bikes can go! Mr.
Hirata, a FTC member and karaoke singer supreme, is
Phils lead guide. He owns the following BMWs: R69S,
R90S, R100/7, R100RS, R100R Mystic, R100R Classic and
R1150GS. He is a very interesting person that I would
describe as being a mans man. Akiko, a little pixie of a
woman, had several jobs. She drove the support van, was
the group photographer and kept us all in good spirits
with her bubbly personality.
We were a diverse group, 17 of us, from all over the world
South Africa, U.K., Australia, Canada, U.S. and California
(ha, ha, just kidding). Usually I travel alone because there
is more interaction with the locals, but when there is a lan-
guage barrier I look to a tour. Because of their varied back-
grounds, the tour members usually add a lot to the
experience. This group was no exception, very interesting
people. Over the course of a few days it came out that of
the 17 people, 12 had been married for more than 40 years.
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Photos by MotoQuest
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If you are thinking this must have been
the geriatric trip with a bunch of old farts,
you would be badly mistaken. The best
riders in the group were in their 70s. They
werent good for 70-year-olds, they were
just plain good! We were lucky because
everyone was a competent rider. It made
for a cohesive group.
We did not go through any major cities
like Tokyo, but we did go through someurban areas. It was amazing that with
stoplights and 90-degree turns, we did
not lose a single rider. Phil had taught us
his version of the buddy system. I think
even he was surprised at how well it
worked. One of our group riders had
done a lot of riding in the Australian Out-
back. He gave us his version of the buddy
system and how important it is when you
are in the bush and have limited fuel.
Getting lost is just not an option.
The mountain roads were as challeng-
ing as you wanted them to be. If you haveever ridden in western North Carolina,
you have some idea of what they were
like. The roads were well maintained and
twisties in the truest sense. Most of the
group rode on 400cc bikes, which were
the perfect size. The Flat Twin riders did
well on those roads.
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After a day of exhilarating riding wewould arrive at a quaint inn or small hotel
The first order of business was to take of
our boots and step into some slipper
provided by the inn a Japanese custom
My size 12s looked pretty silly in those tiny
slippers. We went to our room where we
exchanged the riding gear for a long
kimono.
From there we went to the communa
bathcommunal but gender separate.
had not been this concerned about my
package since junior high school. Fortu
nately I have gained some confidence
since then. It also helped that the wate
was warm. After bathing and then soak
ing, it was back to the room to dress fo
dinner. Dressing for dinner consisted o
putting a shorter, dressier kimono ove
the first one kind of like putting on a
sport coat. I wore my jeans under the
kimono because keeping it closed was
more difficult than I thought.
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Dinner is where the cultural experience was fully expressed. The pre-
sentation of the food was a thing of beauty not at just one or two
meals but all of them. I love Japanese food, but Penny does not share my
passion. Nevertheless, she has an
open mind and does not want to
miss anything. I was very proud
of her. We both ate Fugu, the
blowfish that will kill you if not
properly prepared. The Japanese
have an expression that says you
are crazy to eat Fugu, you are
crazy not to eat Fugu. We also ate
some raw horse. That was a chal-lenge. It did not taste like chicken!
We drew the line at the large
snails and clams that were still moving when placed on the hibachi. We
have open minds and are willing to try something unusual (okay, the
sake helped), but not everyone in our group was as adventurous. But I
never heard anyone complain about being hungry.
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One of the highlights of the trip was the cherry blossom trees. Phil had planned it so
we would be there when the blossoms were in full bloom. We have cherry blossoms in
Washington D.C., a gift from Japan, but they have them in the whole country. Everyone
participates in the festival called Hanami. Last year, because of the tsunami, it was very
subdued. This year everyone was in a good mood. On one of the trips most special days
we purchased some lunch from a deli and joined the locals on a riverbank under a full
canopy of blossoms. It was spontaneous, impromptu and something Penny and I will
remember forever.
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On the last day we boarded the bullet
train to visit the War Memorial in Hiro-
shima. I dont know the exact speed of the
train, but they dont call it bullet for noth-
ing. It was also super smooth. I wish I were
eloquent enough to describe the feeling
you get when you first walk up to the
Memorial. It is profound and very sad at
the same time. You feel like you are stand-
ing in one of the most important placeson the face of the earth. Trying to compre-
hend what happened that day is not
something I could dwell on. I have been
fortunate to have traveled the world, but I
have never experienced a feeling like that.
If you ever get the chance to visit this
magnificent country, do not miss
Hiroshima.
There are some things that surprised
me about Japan. First, the use of the Inter-
net was not nearly as prevalent as in the
U.S. maybe because we were mostly in
rural areas. Second, they do not use creditcards. Use of credit cards is an everyday
occurrence in my family, usually multiple
times a day! Not using them is something
I could get used to.
In my travels on six continents, down
some really bad roads and in some rough
places, I have been frightened only twice
by the people around me. I view the world
as a pretty safe place if you have the right
attitude. Without a moments hesitation I
would say Japan is the safest place I have
ever been. We never had to worry about
leaving our gear on our bikes. One could
probably leave it there for days. The Japa-
nese have a very simple concept: dont
take items that dont belong to you. The
honor system is alive and well.
Having had time to reflect on the trip, I
know it was my most memorable. It was
intense, complex and multi-layered. The
layers keep unfolding as Penny and I have
time to think about what we experienced.
We learned a great deal about another
country, its people and their culture. One
thing that was not different about thistrip: I came home, as I always do, with a
better understanding, appreciation and
love of my own country. There is no place
like home.
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