Day 22 — Hakodate to Aomori - Tom and Marilee Retire to the Road

September 24, 2025

Day 22 — Hakodate to Aomori

Today was the day to bid farewell to Hokkaido and hello to Honshu. We really enjoyed Hokkaido as our introduction to bike touring in Japan. We had a number of really memorable rides, had great (mostly free or super cheap) camping, and of course, onsens.

So off we were on our fourth ferry of the trip from Hakodate to Aomori. Along the way we have been encountering other bike tourers, and we met several at the terminal. A park ranger from California, a Canadian lad from Toronto (originally from Victoria) working in Tokyo, and two Norwegian boys that came rocking up a few minutes before sailing.

Here we are again, bikes lashed in for the crossing

The little cohort of western cyclists spent time (other than the Californian who was just getting reservations taken care of) swapping stories and getting information. The Norwegians were planning a trip like ours — the length of Japan, and had also started in Wakkanai. They hadn’t camped as much as they’d like as they were worried about bears, especially given there was a recent fatality from bear attack in Hokkaido and the last one in Norway was apparently in 1854 or something. They even had bear spray with them. Given most of the campgrounds had Japanese with massive setups grilling fish for hours on end, it hadn’t occurred to us to be worried about bears.

Farewell Hokkaido! Over my right shoulder is where Commander Perry landed and opened trade with the Japanese in the 1850’s

Random Japanese randomness — a replica Viking longship in a storage yard near the port

Getting into Aomori was pretty straightforward. Downtown was only 4 km from the ferry terminal across a snazzy suspension bridge, and it was easy to navigate to our hotel. The downtown shopping area had covered sidewalks, which suggests precipitation is not unusual. And indeed tomorrow’s forecast for the ride towards Lake Towada is of course rainy.

We checked into our business hotel — a more compact setup than the MyStays in Hakodate. The staff here were much more accommodating about storing the bikes, though it did lead to some low grade comedy as staff led us in two different directions for two different storage spots involving a trek down an alley to find one of them, and we were very confused as to what was going on.

Aomori — the downtown shopping street has covered sidewalks. I’m guessing precipitation is a way of life here

Steak and sake, if you’re out on a bender with the boss

Once again, the predinner ramble around was interesting. The arcaded shopping street had a nice ambiance, and lively thriving stores and restaurants. The rail station and bus yard was at one end of the street, along with a very large mall, so there were lots of pedestrians coming and going. It was a much more focused downtown than Hakodate, which seemed to have a number of dispersed shopping/business areas and no real core. We also stumbled across a very large temple complex just off the high street, which provided a nice counterpoint to the busy street a few metres away.

As for dinner, most of the restaurants seemed to be higher end izakayas, which weren’t really our speed. We did pass one little place with locals lined up outside so decided to join the line. The specialty was cheap and cheerful scallop and seafood set meals.

Table turnover is the key to success. The line moved quickly

When it came to ordering, we did our usual point at random things and hope for the best. I ended up with poached scallops served on the half shell…

….And Marilee got a grilled fish head. I won dinner tonight!

Today's ride: 11 km (7 miles)
Total: 1,045 km (649 miles)

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