Farewell, My Wonderful Japan Bash

So long, and farewell.

The last post was over three years ago. The last post that I actually put some thought into was even further back in time, in 2016. It's quite obvious that this blog is no longer something I think about. And though I will keep the domain name registered for shits and giggles, I have a feeling the site is about to implode.

You see, I hosted all the photos on a website called Flickr. In the past, it was around $10 a year for a pro account. Then they sold the company. The new owners raised the price. While I redesigned www.ramenadventures.com into a new, non-Flicker-using portal for all things ramen, Japan Bash remains tied to this service.

I canceled it in February 2021. There is a large possibility that the 21,000 photos stored on their servers will disappear. 

I started Gaijin Bash (the original name) in 2006 when I moved from San Francisco, California, USA to Japan. I guess you could e-stalk me by starting at that first post.

So thank you for the views. In total 243,000 people viewed this site from the first post in 2006. I made around $500 in adsense revenue, though I think that is also including money from Ramen Adventures, which is kind of depressing considering that the site has many millions of views. Looking back, I think I did the blog thing incorrectly. I had friends who claimed their blogs were making real money. Blogs about things much less SEO friendly than ramen.

The most popular post was my Teaching in Japan writeup. I hope this post was genuinely useful to people. It was meant to be.

Keep in touch. I'm on every social media platform I can think of @ramenadventures. Look me up. YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook, Twitch, Discord, Clubhouse. Sorry, no Mixi.

I'm Brian, and this was Japan Bash.

November, 2016

Nvmbr



Bikes! Bastards closed the road up Mt. Fuji because of snow and death, so this shot will have to do (I was planning on an epic shot halfway up the mountain).



Snow for the first time in November in Tokyo in something like 54 years. What to do on a cold day like this?



Eat Japanese shaved ice of course.



And rent bikes. My childhood buddy was in town, so he rented this 400cc Ducati and we drove up to Mt. Fuji. I took a quick spin on it. Love those 400cc bikes on twisty roads. We've talked about all getting 400cc project bikes out here, going all Mad Max on them, but I don't really have an extra place to keep another bike.

And if you think I'm moving somewhere bigger, guess again. Rejected from all the places I applied for. Either my whiteness of freelance status is to blame. Racist capitalist jerks.



My favorite restaurant teamed up with Shake Shack.



And the, a few days later, at that same restaurant . . .



This was the Gelinaz Shuffle, an event where 40 top chefs from around the world get mixed up and sent to other restaurants. Above is none other than Virgilio Martínez Véliz, the chef from Central in Lima. I had just been to his restaurant two months prior. Super random. My only criticism from the spot in Peru was that the chef didn't come by to meet the guests, and now I'm sitting in front of the guy.



The food was fun, and I was the only one there who isn't a full time foodie Instagrammer.



One of the dishes had poor man's caviar; Peruvian grains colored with squid ink.



Then, an hour later, my friend invited me to have some real caviar. Wish you could get these at the local 7-11.



Full-scale replica of a kaiten suicide submarine from WWII.



Now that I have my own sticker, I can stop dreaming.



But Daruma has other things in mind.

New Years resolution: less food shots, lest I become one of those aforementioned full time food Instagrammers.

Okinawa Ramen Riding

沖縄- Okinawa



I had work on a Saturday down in Okinawa. Of course, I took a few days off to get down there early for some R&R. R&R, isn't that what the military guys say? Seriously, there is a big, scary military presence down in Okinawa. But was I down there for the burgers and Filipino girly bars that line the roads outside the ominous barbed wire fences surrounding our service men? No way, I'm here to eat noodles and ride bikes.



This was my first time to Okinawa, and now I've been to all 47 prefectures of Japan. I think, for the traveler, Okinawa has a lot to offer if you have the time. Apart from the main island and Naha, accounts of amazing seaside villages and tranquility abound. But, I didn't have the time. A quick, two day blast on a rented Kawasaku Z800 would have to do.



But first, airport sushi! The sushi at Terminal 1 is much better than this one at Terminal 2.



A rental from Rental 819, the country-wide bike rental company we know and love. I was thinking of a cruiser, maybe a Honda Shadow 400, but this sporty beast was the same price. How was the ride? Maybe if you are more of a Japanese-sized guy, you'd enjoy it more. That seat felt small, and it was rock hard to boot. But the power to weight was awesome, and the torque was there at any speed. I wonder how it compares to a KTM Duke 690?

Anyways, if you are interested in getting a Z800, make sure you test ride it for a day first. I couldn't do more than 80km before my ass was sore.



Ramen! I hit up 1 ramen shop and 2 sokisoba (Okinawan style noodles) shops this trip. The reviews will be up later at www.ramenadventures.com.



My pension for the night. $40 and I woke up to this view. Not bad, except the Motobu area was completely dead. I managed to find the only friendly looking place to drink on the other side of that bridge.



Okinawan Awomori (泡盛) is prevalent.



The, one full day of riding and sightseeing.



I'd say skip the Okinawa aquarium. Yeah, it is super famous, but apart from the whale sharks, it was kind of small. Actually, I had just recently visited the Atlanta aquarium, which supplanted the Okinawan one as the biggest tank in the world. I think. The Atlanta one had jellyfish and a dolphin show that was more of an off-broadway production.

The above photo is from Okinawa, and below is from Atlanta. I think the same company built the massive acrylic windows.



Almost everything with a sign seems touristy. I veered off the main road to check out a waterfall, but they wanted 500 yen to see it. Further north, a cliff with a view was charging 870 yen for a look. I don't even know what this Okinawa Fruits Land is, but it was another 1000 yen.



Motobu is known as THE place to go for sokisoba, the Okinawan cousin to ramen.



山原そば.



Great soup and noodles. The meat was a little tough, but you can't beat the above bowl for 600 yen.



Another famous spot. きしもと食堂.



Their toppings were amazing, but the noodles were on the soft side. Everyone's a critic!



What a place. The north side had plenty of positively empty roads. I only passed one driver in about an hour, who just so happened to be the drunkest drunk driver I had ever seen in my life. This was at noon on a Friday. I contemplated being a snitch and telling a cop, but there were also no buildings for an hour.



I guess November is the off season. Though it was almost 30 degrees out, I had this resort beach all to myself for the sunset.



And I didn't even get kicked out for my tattoos! Also, what is that guy's ink of? A tribal butterfly crab?



See you again, next time my work sends me down.

Golden Week Touring in Ki-Hanto and Shikoku

One of Japan's 3 major holiday weeks is called Golden Week. It is a collection of national holidays; Constitution Day, Greenery Day, and Showa Day. It's called Golden Week because everyone spends their cash and businesses make hella money. I think.



This is the time in Japan when weather is fantastic. Sometime in April and May, you actually get nice days, cool evenings, and no rain. Smack between the shitty cold winter and the months of humid rain. Yay, Japan. This strange phenomenon lasts about 2 weeks.



This means that it is the best time for motorcycle touring. You know who else has this idea, to travel around the country? Everyone. Therein lies the problem. Mad traffic.



I had work in Shikoku, 3 days of it, right in the middle of the holidays. While Japan's 4th island is almost 700km from Tokyo, it is easily reached in a few days of coastal roads and ferries. Sounds like a plan!



Follow the coast, hop some ferries, and camp in open fields.



This is a fantastic route. The Touring Mapple (a kind of Japanese bike-specific map book) highlights almost all the roads along this route in a dark purple. Dark purple means they are legit. For those keeping track, take the highway 200km to Hamamatsu, then follow the coast the rest of the way.



You'll arrive in the Ise area. Ise, as expected, is known for Ise-ebi. Japanese spiny lobster. Good stuff, and only about $100 for the above pack of 3 halves.



The bosozoku rider of this bike informed me that it was the emperor's birthday. Happy Showa day!



Dubbed "The Pearl Road," there are countless little oyster restaurants along the way.



300 yen gets you a doggie lunch. Raw chicken and veggies.



Lucky pup!



For the humans in your group, a plate of oysters will have to do.



The master was off in back with the smoker. Hook it up!



Smooth coastal roads and local gourmet. Amazing.



This was my first time riding down here. While Izu, near Tokyo, has some amazing roads, this peninsula might have it beat. You lose the views of Fuji, but you also lose the Tokyo crowds.



Another local food stand, this one serving sunfish. It wasn't that great. And it turns out, it isn't even a local dish. This town has an aquarium with sunfish. So it makes sense that they would put sunfish on everything, and serve it up as a roadside snack. Right?



They were also serving whale. Yes, this is near the famous town of Taiji. You know, the town where they slaughter the dolphins?



Ride, eat, repeat.



Speaking of ramen, the above was garbage.



While this one was one of the best I've had in Japan. I'll have reviews over at Ramen Adventures soon.

http://www.ramenadventures.com/



I broke away from the pack, took a ferry to Tokushima, and blasted it out to Ehime.




Just in time for the sunset.



Hey, it's Mr. T! I wrote an essay about him and my time working at his fishcake factory in my book. I was worried he wouldn't be happy, as I basically said he was a good friend but a horrible boss, and I lied to get a day off to go eat ramen.

He laughed as he read the entire piece.



Somewhere on the north side of the island, overlooking the Seto Inland Sea.



Yeah, Kagawa is super famous for udon. The history of the noodle dates back many hundreds of years. With this little patch of Japan having the best wheat production, it just makes sense that they would be obsessed with these noodles.

For me, though, I am never blown away. Udon is udon. Thick noodles in a nice Japanese dashi. Anytime I read a review about amazing udon, it is always more about the great side dishes, often tempura, that accompany the bowl.

Unless you make the trek to Moriya. That was the 1 time I was blown away by udon.



What other food is famous in Takamatsu?



These massive lines are for 骨付鶏 - chicken drumsticks. Yes, that is a 2 hour wait, in the rain, for chicken.

Next time.



Back on the road after my quick stint of work. Shikoku is, no argument, full of natural beauty.



I don't even remember where we camped. I had the destination set on the GPS navi, and ended up somewhere in the middle of the island. Not a bad spot. And just 250 yen to use the onsen across the river.





KTM's new touring shield is sweeeeet!



Kansai Riders is the expat-centric motorcycle club from Japan's west side. We (the dudes from Japan Riders) randomly ran into them somewhere on route 195. These guys never seem to make it over to the Kanto side, so it was interesting to see some of them after many, many years.

For those interested in gaijin motorcycle forums in Japan, the main ones (and their interests) are:

• Gaijin Riders (Heavily moderated forum. Very "safe". Riders tend to ride very long distances and are very meticulous about planning their rides. Recent focus on off-roading.)
• Japan Riders (Foul-mouthed, haikyo-hunting, ramen-slurping jerks. A bunch of assholes, more-or-less, but the kind of assholes who would drop anything to help you out. These are the guys who were by my side at the hospital after my crash a few years back.)
• Kansai Riders (Seem like nice guys, though I never see them on the big rides out on the Kanto side.)

Fantastic!



The plan was to return the way we came. Ferry from Shikoku to Wakayama, find a camp, then ferry to Hamamatsu the next morning. But . . . Murphy's Law. All the ferries were booked, with a massive line. It was unknown if we would even make it the next day.



So we decided, at 8pm, to slab it back to Tokyo. I hate these kinds of rides. The toll alone is about 10,000 yen. Although the price for the ferry-style trip is about the same, you end up riding about half the distance, and end up chilling on boats. Who doesn't love that!



The other problem?



The traffic.



But the next day was slated to be even heavier, so we sucked it up and rode. Coffee and naps on benches are about all I have to report.