Day 95 — Motubo to Yagaji beach - Tom and Marilee Retire to the Road

December 6, 2025

Day 95 — Motubo to Yagaji beach

We had just a great sleep at the Mosura no Tamago Guesthouse. It had been a couple of days of interrupted sleeps and super early mornings over the past few days, so we were grateful to get a full nights sleep in.

The morning was warm and sunny, birds a-chirpin’, palms swaying in the warm breeze (well, it was maybe 21 degrees, but a much warmer morning than we’ve had in a long while), and it just felt tropical and relaxing.

After our allotted breakfast (yogurt and toast, no buffet, this was a guesthouse after all), we bade goodbye to the ebullient owner of the guesthouse, who took a bunch of photos of us and our bikes for the guesthouse social media, then we pootled off slowly along the sunny, quiet lanes of Sesoko Island, towards the beach at the western end.

And Sesoko beach did not disappoint! It was a postcard perfect white sand beach, bracketed by limestone outcrops at either end. All of a sudden we were in Thailand and no longer in Japan. After some leisurely wading and ambling, we wished we had booked another night at the guesthouse, but alas, it was booked up, it being a Saturday.

There’s a big sign saying “no swimming”… should I go for a swim?

How serious do you think those signs are…?

Given we had nowhere to stay on Sesoko, we had to stick to our plans of riding northeast, and exploring camping options on Kouri or Yagaji islands. The ride was a mix of quiet back country lanes and traffic clogged major roads. A real yin/yang situation. Superchill, then supernot.

From the state of my bike shoes, this is the place for me

Yagaji Island is connected to the main island by bridge. Kouri Island is north of Yagaji, and is also connected by bridge. The Kouri Island bridge is a tourist attraction in its own right, as it is remarkably long and striking looking for that reason. We crossed from Motobu to Yagaji, then onwards to the Kouri Island bridge. Another guest at our guesthouse had mentioned that you can sometimes see sea turtles from the bridge and to keep an eye out.

We did keep an eye out ans we crossed the bridge, and there were sea turtles! The water was clear and shallow, and occasionally these dark blobs on the bottom would surface and reveal themselves to be turtles. We spent a bit of time watching them surface and dive, then headed for the beach at the north end of the bridge, where Marilee could finally have the swim that was denied her on Sesoko.

Given the stately pace of our meanderings, and our general energy level, we decided to forego more exploration of Kouri and head for Yagaji Beach at the south end of the island, where there was a campground.

The campground itself was in a spectacular location, on a narrow peninsula, with a small beach looking out at small limestone islets. It was on the pricey side, especially given the down at heel facilities (shabby for Japan, pretty average for Canada), clearly priced that way due to the prettiness of the site.

We set up, and fairly soon had neighbours — a couple arriving in a Toyota Hiace van, who spent most of their time photographing the van from different angles. It must have been a new purchase, as they (mostly the man) were clearly enamoured of it. And with good reason —it was a sweet looking ride, with a completely tricked out wood panelled interior. I was a bit jealous — my photos of the bikes clearly weren’t worthy.

I won’t give you the tent until you take my picture

Anyway, we snacked and watched the late day light spread over the bay, then had our cup noodle, then went to bed with vague plans of heading north the next day.

Today's ride: 42 km (26 miles)
Total: 4,699 km (2,918 miles)

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