Konnichiwa Nippon

After what felt like a never-ending game of waiting for the ferry to leave Busan port, we finally made it to Japan. For reasons unknown to us, they make you check in for the ferry up to four hours before departure time. This, combined with a two-hour delay, gave us more than enough time to explore every nook and cranny of the vessel. Like most ferries, it was fairly old and rundown, but had its charm. The ship was Japanese, so we got our first taste of Japan in as well which was a plus..

We quickly learned though that the ship only accepted cash in yen which we had none of (Note to self: do not trust the random travel blogs you read). We were a bit worried about our dinner options for the night, but we scraped together all our leftover Korean won and went over to the duty-free shop to ask them to exchange it for yen, ready to lose most of it to a horrendous exchange rate. Surprisingly, after explaining that the money would be spent on the ship, we were given a fair rate and just enough money to get two instant ramen soups, a drink and a coolish (if you know, you know). Somehow, it felt like the perfect meal for the setting.

Our first stop in Japan is the Itoshima Coast for some relaxation by the beach. Upon arrival, we were disappointed to see that the beach at our hotel wasn’t really swimmable, so we had to make use of their other facilities: an array of beachside grill pits for an oceanside cookout.

Since we would not be loafing by the beach at our hotel, we geared up for the alternative program: a full-day bike tour. It took us through rice fields, where farmers were doing the harvest on their K-car-sized harvesters, past beautiful traditional Japanese houses, and through a number of surfer towns with cute cafés by the coast. The tour even included a surprise Ichiran museum stop! For those who have been to Japan, this famous ramen chain will be no stranger to you. We also learned from our mistakes and stocked up on hydration at the start, with the best option one could find: a pre-frozen bottle of Aquarius! Gotta love FamilyMart for that kind of assortment! Lucky for Jess, we also ended up finding a perfect sandy beach along our route for a quick cool-off in the ocean.

In our eyes, exploring a country by bike is really one of the best ways to experience it. You move at a speed where the scenery is changing quickly, but you are still in the middle of the action. You can stop whenever something catches your eye, take a random side road, or suddenly find yourself in a completely different neighbourhood without really planning to. Most importantly, you get off the beaten path and see places and people you would not find otherwise.

There is also something about having to physically make your way through a place. On a train, you can cover huge distances in a short time, but you are mostly just passing through. On a bike, every kilometre is part of the journey and you have to make your own way from one place to the next. That makes even the less interesting stretches part of the experience, and the places you eventually arrive at feel a bit more rewarding. Somehow, after cycling for a few hours, even a completely random little café feels like a much more rewarding discovery than another spot you found on Google Maps.

We rewarded ourselves with dinner in nearby suburbia at another one of our favourite chains: スシロー (Sushiro). An automated conveyor-belt sushi restaurant where ordering on the tablet comes a little too easy… How many plates is too many plates?

Country

Japan

Region

Itoshima

Date

16 September 2026

Camera

Sony a6700

GPS

33.614657,130.234352