I am visiting an old friend and his family in Japan. Peter teaches English and lives in Gifu with his Japanese wife Miho, who is also a teacher, and their two daughters. I brought my bike with me from Canada with the idea of doing some touring in the region, however, I quickly found the prospect of venturing out onto the highway without firm plans of where I’m going, how I’ll get there (beyond just pedalling) and where I’ll spend each night, very daunting. Not the least barrier is that English is not widely spoken and generally not shown on building signage – which is to be expected. But the Kanji script of the Japanese language means I can’t even recognize common, useful words, like restaurant or hotel.
Taking advice from Miho, I decided on a three-day trip to the town of Hikone on Lake Biwa – Japan’s largest lake. Hikone is only 80 km from Gifu and involves a fairly simple route. As long as I pay attention to highway markers I won’t get lost. But if I do, there’s always the GPS on my i-Phone.