Japan + KL

Threads across the trip

• Goshuin book. The route runs through Kōyasan, Kumano Hongū Taisha, Nachi, and Itsukushima. Buy a goshuinchō at Kōyasan and collect the calligraphy seal at each temple and shrine — a handwritten record of the whole pilgrimage.
• Dawn photography slots already in the schedule:
  • Okunoin mist, Kōyasan (Nov 26 dusk / Nov 27 morning)
  • Ōyunohara giant torii (Nov 28–29)
  • Hashigui-iwa at sunset (Nov 29) and sunrise (Nov 30)
  • Mitarai's lanes (Dec 1, midday)
  • Kayabuki no Sato at dusk (Nov 22)
  • Itsukushima at dusk (Dec 2) and dawn (Dec 3)
• Ekiben on every long train leg.
• Konbini rhythm on the Kii days: the 7-Eleven or Lawson is often the only store for 30 km — onigiri and hot canned coffee become the ride's routine.
• Mikan stands along Wakayama roads all week.

Cycling reference

Road closures and risks (check Nov 25–27)

• Kōya-Ryūjin Skyline winter regulations normally start Dec 15: night closure for all vehicles, two-wheelers (incl. bicycles) banned all day. Nov 27 is before that.
• Early snow is the real risk. In 2025 a snow regulation started early, on Dec 5, also banning two-wheelers. Check the forecast and the regulation page the day before.
• Route 371 at Ōkuma (Ryujin side): landslides closed it in Feb 2026; reopened as one-lane alternating traffic behind temporary barriers. Expect signals and waits.
• The Skyline has a history of landslide closures after heavy rain (e.g. weeks in 2023).
• Where to check: Wakayama road regulation info (和歌山県 道路規制情報) and Ryujin tourism notices at ryujin-kanko.jp.

Contingencies

• Skyline closed Nov 27, option A (keeps Shimogoten): Route 480 southwest from the Daimon through Hanazono to Shimizu, then Route 424 over to Ryujin — roughly 60 km at lower altitude. Unverified: map it now and carry the GPX.
• Skyline closed Nov 27, option B: Kōyasan → Gojō → Route 168 south through Totsukawa → Hongū (lose Ryujin; Shimogoten's free cancellation ends Nov 23, four days out; gain Totsukawa gorge and Tanize suspension bridge; expect long tunnels).
• Day 3 has no easy bailout: no train, and the Kōyasan–Hongū bus via Ryujin (runs to Nov 30) may not take a bagged bike — check. Watch the forecast for Nov 28 above all.
• Route 425 (Ryujin → Totsukawa) closes for winter from Nov 25 — not an option.
• Running late on Day 4: ride the road to Nachi's upper car park instead of walking Daimon-zaka (−40 min); skip Taiji; if you're behind at Katsuura after 14:30, the 14:50 local or the 15:21 Kuroshio to Kushimoto (bagged) keeps the Hashigui-iwa evening.
• Nov 30 short on time: skip Mikan Hill and take the 15:16 from Yuasa; behind that, every Kuroshio stops at Gobō.
• Nov 23, Route 38 closed for winter: Miyama → Keihoku → Takao → the hotel on R162, ~70 km; check the Kyoto prefecture road page the week before.
• Dec 1 slips: behind at Ōmishima, switch to the Munakata boats (9:40, 10:04). Miss the 12:00 at Imabari: the 14:45 ferry and Tobishima in the dark, or bus/train Imabari → Hiroshima (~3 h) and skip Tobishima.
• Dec 1 rained out: cancel the Osaka night (free cancellation) and the first Hiroshima night, stay a second night in Onomichi, ride on Dec 2, do Miyajima on Dec 3 from the Hiroshima hotel, and go Hiroshima → Tokyo direct (~4 h) on Dec 4.
• Optional extra if a day frees up: Tamaki Shrine out-and-back from Hongū via Totsukawa Onsen (~80 km, ~1,000+ m; steep, narrow switchbacks; most atmospheric shrine in Kumano).

Kit

• Shoes you can walk in — SPD/recessed cleats, or ultralight flats in the bag. The route has ~1,000 stone steps (Okunoin, Hongū 158, Kamikura 538, Daimon-zaka 267) plus tatami at Kongōbu-ji and the shukubō; road cleats on wet stone are dangerous.
• Front + rear lights (tunnels on Route 168/311 and the coast roads, possible dusk finishes).
• Layers for ~0–5 °C mornings on the ridge: gilet, full-finger gloves, arm/knee warmers, packable shell; rain jacket and overshoes (late-November rain is likelier than snow).
• Rinko bag + straps; 2 spare tubes, plugs, pump, chain lube, quick link, spare derailleur hanger (Canyon-specific). No real bike shops between Kudoyama and Onomichi apart from small ones in Tanabe and Shingū; Giant at Onomichi U2.
• Light cable lock (bike unattended ~1.5 h at Daimon-zaka, ~1 h at Okunoin).
• Offline maps (Google + RWGPS) — signal drops between Ryujin and Hongū.
• Cash; small towel for onsen.

Train rules

• Bikes ride free on JR and private railways only fully bagged (rinko bag).
• Shinkansen: total dimensions over 160 cm (up to 250 cm) → reserve the seat with oversized baggage area (last row). EVOC (~280 cm) cannot go on the Shinkansen.
• Kuroshio and other JR limited expresses: the bagged bike rides free with no reservation for it; last-row seats have the most space behind them.

Money and practical

• Cash: temples, small ryokan, island shops often cash-only.
• IC card: Suica/ICOCA works on trains, buses, convenience stores across both Kansai and Tokyo.
• Exchange reference: ~¥156 per USD (Oct 2026).
• Sunset: ~4:50 pm in Wakayama, ~5:00 pm in Hiroshima in late November.

Buying transport

Every train and boat on the trip, where to buy it, and when. Bagged bikes ride free on all of them; the EVOC only travels on the NEX.

The one pass worth buying

• JR West Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, 5 consecutive days, ¥17,000, dated Nov 30 – Dec 4. Covers both Nov 30 Kuroshio legs with reserved seats, Shin-Osaka → Fukuyama, the Fukuyama → Onomichi local, the Kure Line, Hiroshima ↔ Miyajimaguchi, the JR Miyajima ferry (a ¥100 island tax is paid at the gate), and Hiroshima → Shin-Osaka on Dec 3. About ¥27,000 of tickets. Foreign passport on temporary-visitor status.
• Buy it on JR West's online reservation site before leaving; collect at a JR West ticket machine with the passport. Seats must be reserved before boarding (machines, offices, or online with the pass); the oversized-baggage seat on the Shinkansen has to be booked at a staffed office with the pass.
• Not worth it: the Japan Rail Pass (7 days ¥50,000 against ~¥45,000 of fares in the best window, and a supplement for Nozomi); the N'EX round-trip ticket (14-day validity, the gap is 16 days).

Leg by leg

Apps and cards

• Suica in Apple Wallet (adds with a foreign card, tops up in Wallet) for every local train, subway, bus and konbini; load ~¥10,000. A physical Welcome Suica from the airport machine does the same.
• SmartEX for the Tokaido Shinkansen (foreign cards accepted; the oversized-baggage seat is a checkbox at booking; boarding by QR or by linking the IC card).
• JR West online reservation (e5489) for the pass, and for Kuroshio seats if going without it.
• Ekinet (JR East) for the N'EX; Keihan app for the Premium Car.

Timing

• Shinkansen and Kuroshio seats open one month ahead at 10:00 JST; the oversized-baggage seats are the scarce ones, so book each Shinkansen leg on its opening day: Nov 22 → Oct 22, Dec 3 → Nov 3, Dec 4 → Nov 4.
• The pass and its reservations can be made once the pass is bought; the Kushimoto office the evening before covers the whole Nov 30 chain in one visit.
• Ferries and the Nankai/Keihan legs need nothing in advance.

Trip analysis

Rough estimates throughout. ~15 waking hours/day over Nov 21–Dec 5 (~225 h); late-November daylight ~6:40–16:50 in Wakayama, ~7:00–17:05 in Hiroshima, ~6:30–16:30 in Tokyo. KL (Dec 6–12) is unscheduled family time and left out.

Shape

Three acts and a coda: Kyoto (4 nights, peak foliage) → Kii Peninsula by bike (5 days, Kōyasan to the west coast) → Setouchi (Shimanami/Tobishima into Hiroshima, two nights there with Miyajima as a day trip) → an Osaka food night → Tokyo (2 nights) → Kuala Lumpur (6 nights, family). In trip-shape terms: anchor → line → line → hop → anchor → anchor. The bike carries you between the anchors, and the only pure transfers are Nov 22, Nov 29's train hop, Nov 30's evening, Dec 3 and Dec 4.

Riding days

Cumulative: 62 → 132 → 152 → 197 → 282 → 367 → 437 → 542 km. Ride quality is about the roads; by sights, Nov 26 (Kōyasan) and Nov 29 (Nachi, the tuna port, Hashigui-iwa at sunset) are the two best days of the trip.

Load and recovery

• Every Kii and Setouchi riding day is loaded. With no forwarding, the one bag rides on the bike for all six of them: budget roughly 10% slower on the climbs than your unloaded pace, most noticeable on Route 480, the Skyline ascent and Day 3's passes.
• Peak load is Nov 28 – Dec 1: four days in a row (85, 85, 70, 105 km); Nov 30's morning train is the only breather, and Dec 1 is the longest day of the trip. Nov 30 ends with ~3.5 h of trains; Dec 1 starts with a 6:15 ferry. That turnaround (in ~18:45, out ~6:10) is still the tightest of the trip.
• Recovery windows: Nov 27 afternoon at Shimogoten (only ~2.5 h riding, in by ~14:00; keep it empty), Dec 2–3 in Hiroshima (one bed for two nights, a slow morning each day), Dec 3–4 on the Shinkansen, Tokyo.
• Walking: ~150 km on foot over the trip, including ~1,000 stone steps (Okunoin, Hongū 158, Kamikura 538, Daimon-zaka 267). Heavy walking sits inside the Kitayama days (Jingo-ji's 400 steps, Kurama-dera), the Kyoto days, and Dec 2 (Misen).
• Sleep: the Kōyasan night is short by design (dinner 17:00, curfew 22:00, service 6:00). Nov 30 → Dec 1 is the only other short night.
• Jet lag works for you early: westbound arrival means 5 am wake-ups in Kyoto, which is when the Nozomi leaves on Nov 22 and when the Nov 24 dawn walk to Kiyomizu-dera is at its best.

Weather, daylight, light

• Temperatures: the Kitayama passes near 0 °C at 8:00 on Nov 23; Kōyasan and the Skyline mornings ~0–8 °C at 800–1,300 m; Kii coast days 12–17 °C; Hiroshima and Tokyo 5–14 °C; KL ~32 °C and humid.
• Rain: November is among the drier months even on the Kii Peninsula, Japan's wettest region, and typhoon season is over. Late-November rain is still likelier than snow; the Skyline and Route 371 are miserable wet.
• Snow: the Skyline's winter two-wheeler ban normally starts Dec 15; in 2025 a snow regulation started Dec 5. A cold snap in the last week of November is the one weather event that reroutes the trip.
• Wind: the November normals at Shionomisaki and Wakayama are north-east to east-north-east at ~4 m/s — a light cross to quartering headwind on Nov 30's northward coast, not the December north-westerly yet. A southerly means a front and rain; a strong northerly means the Gobō bail-out.
• Daylight: ~10 h. About a third of waking hours fall after dark; Kii evenings are onsen and dinner, city evenings are a Kyoto light-up if the open days want one, the Miyajima torii after dark, Namba and Tokyo.
• Planned light slots: Kayabuki no Sato at dusk (Nov 22), Sasari Pass in first light and Ōhara in mid-afternoon light (Nov 23), Okunoin at night and in morning light (Nov 26–27), Ōyunohara (Nov 28), Hashigui-iwa at sunset (Nov 29) and sunrise (Nov 30), Shirasaki at midday (Nov 30), sunrise from the Innoshima bridge (Dec 1), the Peace Park in the morning (Dec 2), Itsukushima at dusk and after dark (Dec 2) and at dawn (Dec 3). Unused: the Nov 24–25 dawns, unless an option claims them (Fushimi Inari before 8:00).
• Shinkansen Fuji side: seat E (right) Tokyo → Kyoto on Nov 22; seat A (left) Shin-Osaka → Tokyo on Dec 4. Ask for the right side of the oversized-baggage row.
• Miyajima tide, Dec 2: the torii floats at high tide and is walkable at low; check the tide table before picking the ferry.

Decision points, in date order

Risk register

Crowds

Experience portfolio

• Sacred sites (~17 outside Kyoto city, plus the Kyoto section's dozen): Jingo-ji, Saimyō-ji, Kōzan-ji, Jōshōkō-ji, Kurama-dera, Sanzen-in, Hōsen-in, Kōyasan ×3, Takijiri, Tsugizakura, Hongū, Hayatama, Kamikura, Nachi, Ōyamazumi, Itsukushima, Daishō-in. Give each its own lens so they don't blur: Okunoin = atmosphere, the goma service = ritual, Nachi = landscape, Kamikura = the climb, Itsukushima = tide and light, Hongū = history (the 1889 flood).
• Nature and physical effort carry the middle third; food is mapped leg by leg: Kyoto (kappō, obanzai, Fushimi sake and yakitori at a brewery, Inoda, Ichijōji ramen, saba-zushi), Kudoyama (onigiri), Kōyasan (shōjin, goma-dōfu), Ryujin (amago, mikan), Kumano (mehari-zushi, Yuzutsu eggs), Katsuura (tuna), Kushimoto (the hotel dinner; the town is small), Yuasa (soy sauce), Arida (mikan), Onomichi (ramen, in by ~18:45), Setoda (lemons), Miyajima (anago, oysters), Hiroshima (okonomiyaki), Tokyo (counters, depachika, yakitori), KL (hawker).
• Dropped for the schedule: Nara (on purpose, temple saturation), Shionomisaki, Kamikura, the flat Shirahama–Gobō stretch (by train), Tamaki. Osaka gets the Dec 3 night (kushikatsu, Dōtonbori, Ura-Namba).
• Gaps: modern Japan (architecture, design, contemporary art) only in Tokyo; no performance; little hands-on craft. One deliberate contrast fixes it: a single-act kabuki ticket at Kabukiza, a contemporary art museum, or a craft workshop; Saihō-ji's sutra copying (Nov 24) is the one hands-on piece in Kyoto.

Experience archetypes

What people go to Japan for, and how much of each this trip delivers. 100 is the definitive version — you would not need another trip for it; 50 is one proper sample; 0 is absent. The scores are judgment, not measurement, and 100 is a ceiling: temples and shrines would run well past it.

a touch   a real stop   the day is built around it  ·  columns are Nov 21 – Dec 6, coloured by region

The grid is the better view: it shows where in the trip each archetype is served. A dark cell is a day built around it, a mid cell a real stop, a light cell a touch in passing. Read across for how an archetype is spread (food and transit run the whole length; onsen, mountains and the countryside sit inside the Kii block; the city archetypes get a taste in Kyoto's evenings and then wait until Dec 3); read down for what a day is made of (Nov 24 and Nov 26 are the densest, Nov 30 is almost pure coast, Dec 4 is a transfer).

Social rhythm

About half the waking hours are solo: five days from Nov 25 evening through Kii, then two more after the Shimanami day, plus the two Kitayama days before Kyoto. The Dec 1 ride with a friend breaks the longest stretch at its hardest point. Light touchpoints inside the block: the goma service and tea with the monks, innkeepers (cyclists get asked about the route), counter seats, Shimanami cycle cafés at Setoda, a daily photo to friends. In Tokyo, anchor shared time around evenings and keep daytimes flexible.

Purpose alignment

• Food literacy: the strongest thread. One question per course at a counter; a line of tasting notes per meal.
• Tea: matcha at Hōsen-in (Nov 23) is the only sit-down tea in Kyoto now. A brewing session where you prepare the tea yourself would map directly onto gongfu practice: Ippodo's Tokyo tea room in Aoyama is the candidate for Dec 4–5 (check it's still open).
• Photography: the dawn and dusk slots are set; pick one theme for the whole trip (gates and thresholds, light through cedars, people at work) so it comes home as a series.
• Watches and clothes: Ginza (Seiko Museum, Wakō) and Kikuchi Nakagawa in Tokyo; Ura-Harajuku and Daikanyama.
• Repair capability: the Kii days are the real test. Carrying the hanger and tubes only counts if you've practised the swap at home before Nov 21.

Rough spend, Nov 21 – Dec 6 (Japan)

Estimates for one person, in yen, at ~¥156 per USD. Not included: flights, airline bike fees, the Park Hyatt (three nights on Hyatt points), shopping, and KL.

• Where the range comes from: the Shibuya hotel (still to confirm) and the Tokyo food budget swing the most; Kushimoto and Hiroshima are the other open bookings.
• Cash: Muryōkō-in, small Kii shops and most temples are cash-only; Shimogoten and Sasayuri are booked through agencies. Carry ~¥50,000–80,000 into Kii (the withdrawal is on the booking checklist).
• Shared costs not netted out: the Kyoto taxis and the Dec 1 Hiroshima room, if split with company, come down accordingly.

Before you leave

1. Build and load the GPX for all eight riding days plus three fallbacks (R162 Miyama → Keihoku → Takao if Sasari Pass is shut; the 480 → Hanazono → 424 bypass; the old riverside line of 168 Hongū → Shingū), with the Munakata ferry, the Kuroshio stations (Kii-Katsuura, Kushimoto, Gobō, Yuasa, Minoshima) and the Hinomisaki/Shirasaki side roads and Mikan Hill marked.
2. Reserve: Nov 22, Dec 3 and Dec 4 Shinkansen oversized-baggage seats; Nov 30 Kuroshio 2 Kushimoto → Gobō, and Shin-Osaka → Fukuyama for the 15:27 Minoshima Kuroshio; dinners for Nov 23 and 24.
3. Confirm with the hotels: bike storage at the Park Hyatt, Muryōkō-in, Shimogoten, Sasayuri, the Hiroshima hotel and the Osaka hotel; Sasayuri's early breakfast or bento; Hotel Cycle's ~18:45 arrival and pre-6:15 departure; the Shibuya hotel holding the EVOC to Dec 4; whether the Park Hyatt can add Nov 22.
4. Check: Route 38 / Sasari Pass status for Nov 23; Kyoto bicycle liability insurance; the Dec 1 ferries the week before; the Miyajima tide table and the last Misen ropeway descent for Dec 2; the first Sunday NEX from Shibuya on Dec 6; the Wakayama road regulation page from Nov 25.
5. Kit: walkable shoes, spare hanger, lights, cable lock, rain jacket and overshoes, enough yen for the whole Kii section.
6. Protect: the Nov 27 afternoon, and the Dec 5 evening as the finale — Tokyo is two nights, so keep Dec 5 unbooked beyond that.

Leave times

Nov 22 Nozomi ≤7:00 · Nov 23 8:00 · Nov 26 6:30 · Nov 27 ~10:00 · Nov 28 8:00 · Nov 29 7:30 · Nov 30 Kuroshio 7:19 from Kushimoto, riding from Gobō ~9:20 (Kuroshio 15:27 from Minoshima) · Dec 1 6:15 ferry (Sekizen 12:00 from Imabari) · Dec 6 6:00–6:15

Decision log

• Problem: fit Kyoto foliage time, a serious bike tour, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Shimanami, and Tokyo into Nov 21–Dec 6, then family time in KL.
• Alternatives considered:
  • Kii via Route 168 (Gojō → Totsukawa → Hongū): faster, but long tunnels and trucks; loses Kōyasan and the Skyline. Kept as weather fallback.
  • Hybrid via Nosegawa/Kohechi roads: narrow, closure-prone, no time saving.
  • Tamaki Shrine day: great shrine, but costs a full day and ~50 km of tunnel riding. Skipped by default.
  • Nov 29 ridden whole (Hongū → Shingū → Nachi → Katsuura → Taiji → Kushimoto, ~85 km) and the night in Kushimoto, over an earlier version that trained Nachi → Susami and slept in Shirahama: the Kumano day stays intact with the tuna port and Hashigui-iwa, and the morning Kuroshio 2 (7:19 → Gobō 9:02) makes the next day work. Shirahama is the fallback night (16:55 local, 18:01) if Kushimoto lodging falls through.
  • Nov 30: the flat, wind-exposed Shirahama–Gobō stretch goes by train; the ride is Gobō → Mihama → Mio → Hinomisaki → Yura → Shirasaki → Hirokawa → Yuasa → Mikan Hill → Minoshima (~70 km) instead of ~150–160 km from Kushimoto with a dusk finish.
  • Dec 1: the full Shimanami to Imabari and the 12:00 Sekizen ferry (~105 km) over the shorter Munakata → Okamura version (~80 km, 9:40 Blue Line). The full route keeps the Kurushima bridge and gives an easy morning with 1.5 h of slack at the port; it costs most of Mitarai and the Hiroshima daylight. Kirōsan stays out. The Munakata version is the written alternative, switchable at Ōmishima.
  • Four Tokyo nights: cut to two, for a Hiroshima-area day and the Osaka night.
  • Arrival night in Shibuya (Nov 21) instead of pushing on to Kyoto: repack the bike calmly at the hotel that will hold the EVOC, and avoid a ~9 pm Kyoto arrival after a long flight.
  • Kyoto block rebuilt as two Kitayama bike days and two open days: Nov 22 Hanazono → Takao → Keihoku → Miyama (night at Kajikasō, 2.5 km upstream of the thatched village) and Nov 23 over Sasari and Hanase passes to Kurama and the Park Hyatt, with Nov 24–25 kept deliberately light on temples (options, not a plan) because Kōyasan and Kumano follow. Replaces the earlier Kyoto-based version (Higashiyama evening, Kibune → Kurama hike, Inari → Eikan-dō day, Arashiyama–Takao loop); the Kyoto Station hotel for Nov 22 is no longer needed. Nara skipped on purpose; a future-trip item.
  • Kept over two alternatives. A, a city foliage blitz (Nov 22 Ōhara plus Kibune and Kurama; Nov 23 Takao and Arashiyama, then the hotel): the most famous maples per hour, every stop in its peak window, but it loses Miyama and the pass riding and needs a Kyoto hotel on the Sunday of a holiday weekend at peak season; Arashiyama and Eikan-dō are easy from the Park Hyatt on Nov 24–25 anyway, so the only real gain is Ōhara, which is a Nov 24 option. B, the same loop reversed (Kurama and the passes to Miyama on Nov 22; Keihoku, Takao and Arashiyama on Nov 23): the foliage is about the same, and it crosses the whole city in holiday afternoon traffic. At Takao the order is Jingo-ji → Saimyō-ji → Kōzan-ji, with Kōzan-ji the one to cut.
  • Miyama night at Kajikasō rather than a thatched minshuku in Kita: Matabe and Hisaya don't accept single guests, Isobe (the matagi-run ryokan at Nagao) showed no rooms for Nov 22, and Kajikasō had one left; it's 2.5 km past the village on the Sasari road, so the dusk walk happens on the way in and the morning start loses nothing.
  • Nov 23 extended over the Shizuhara pass to Ōhara (Sanzen-in, Hōsen-in) in place of the optional Kibune hour: the one top-tier foliage site the loop didn't reach, in its window, for ~10 km and ~45 min later at the hotel. Kibune moves to the Nov 24 options. Nov 22's extra colour (Ryōan-ji or Ninna-ji before Takao) exists only with the 6:00 train.
  • Nov 26 to Namba by Keihan from Gion-Shijō rather than JR from Kyoto Station: no ride down with the bagged bike. The Route 480 climb from Kudoyama over the Nankai cable car: the climb is the point of the day.
  • Setouchi, first version: one Hiroshima night, a Miyajima overnight (ryokan; the shrine at dusk and dawn) and an Osaka food night on Dec 3 that doubles as the Dec 1 weather buffer.
  • Revised to two Hiroshima nights with Miyajima as a day trip: the first unhurried stretch after ten active days, one fewer hard-to-get booking, the bike parked from Dec 1 to Dec 3, and the Shinkansen straight from Hiroshima. Miyajima after dark survives (ferries until ~22:00); the island at dawn is the one thing given up, and the trip already has four ryokan-style nights.
  • Bike packed into the EVOC on Dec 4 arrival, keeping the Dec 5 evening free.
  • Kōyasan: Fukuchi-in was the first request (only natural hot spring on the mountain); the stay booked through the association is Muryōkō-in, whose 6 am goma service is the best-regarded morning ritual among the shukubō.
  • Nov 26 breakfast at Kudoyama (Omusubi Stand Kudo in the station, Kuwaraku kakinoha-zushi for the climb) rather than Marufuku in Namba: ~45 min earlier onto the climb, food from the valley itself, no bike bag in a small kissaten; the dawn Dōtonbori stop goes.
  • Ryujin inn: Shimogoten over Kamigoten (history), Bijintei (game cuisine, no outdoor bath), Marui (small, cheaper, indoor bath only) and Kirari (buffet) — for the riverside outdoor bath after the Skyline.
  • Yunomine inns full for Sat Nov 28 → Watarase Onsen Hotel Sasayuri (best-reviewed in the Hongū area: 4.5/303 on Jalan, 8 private outdoor baths, kaiseki). Kawayu Midoriya (4.2) and Matsuya (3.1, budget) considered. Tsuboyu and Yuzutsu kept as a late-afternoon visit on the way.
  • No luggage forwarding or delivery services anywhere: everything is carried on the bike, so hotels only need to store the bike and the EVOC.
  • Minoshima as the Nov 30 railhead (after Mikan Hill) with Yuasa as the shorter alternative: weekday Kuroshio stops are Minoshima 13:27 / 15:27 / 17:27 / 18:27 and Yuasa 11 min earlier, so the day is built to the 15:27.
• Why this approach: maximizes distinctive experiences (temple stay, ridge road, Kumano shrines, onsen nights, Mitarai) while keeping daily distances inside daylight; transfers are minimized by riding between places where possible.
• Assumptions that could invalidate this: Skyline open to bikes on Nov 27 (early snow); Route 371 Ōkuma section passable; making the 12:00 ferry at Imabari on Dec 1 (or the 9:40/10:04 from Munakata on the alternative); ryokan availability on Saturday nights; Shinkansen oversized-baggage rules applying to the rinko bag as expected.
• Open questions: earliest Sunday NEX from Shibuya on Dec 6 (vs. a pre-booked transfer); whether Route 198 is a better Day 3 line than 371; whether the Route 480/424 Skyline bypass is rideable; which Kushimoto hotel (onsen on the hill vs the Fairfield at the rocks); whether Sasari Pass is open on Nov 23; which Miyajima ryokan.

Sources

• Skyline winter regulation: https://news.wbs.co.jp/212779
• Dec 5, 2025 early snow regulation: https://www.ryujin-kanko.jp/2025/12/05/4057/
• Route 371 Ōkuma landslide / reopening: https://www.agara.co.jp/article/601369 · https://www.agara.co.jp/article/604329
• Skyline 2023 closure: https://www.agara.co.jp/article/280786
• Kōyasan climb data: https://ctyeh.com/routes/koyasan/tips
• Fukuchi-in onsen: https://www.gltjp.com/ja/directory/item/14883/ · https://yado.knt.co.jp/st/S300058/
• Shukubo Association booking: https://japanactivity.com/koyasan-temple-stay
• Ōmishima Blue Line: http://omishima-bl.net/ · Sekizen ferry (Imabari city): https://www.city.imabari.ehime.jp/kotsus/tosen/sekizen/ · Kure city ferry compilation (Jan 2026): https://www.city.kure.lg.jp/uploaded/life/172317_457585_misc.pdf
• Kure island ferry operators: https://www.city.kure.lg.jp/uploaded/life/172317_457585_misc.pdf
• Tamaki Shrine: https://www.gltjp.com/ja/directory/item/12939/
• Muryōkō-in: https://japaneseguesthouses.com/ryokan-single/Muryoko-in
• Omusubi Stand Kudo: https://retty.me/restaurant/100001517049/ · Kudoyama eating: https://www.mapple.net/pref/30343/spot/
• Ryujin inns (Mapple): https://www.mapple.net/region/a0507030800_g05020000/spot/
• Hotel Sasayuri (Jalan): https://www.jalan.net/yad351112/
• Yunomine inns (Mapple): https://www.mapple.net/region/a0507020700/hotel/
• Foliage peak windows: Jingo-ji https://tenki.jp/kouyou/6/29/36561.html · Jōshōkō-ji (Kyoto City tourism) https://ja.kyoto.travel/flower/momiji/ · Kurama-dera https://rurubu.jp/andmore/spot/80026307/koyo · Kibune https://tenki.jp/kouyou/6/29/36579.html
• Kinokuni Line timetables: Kushimoto https://ekitan.com/timetable/railway/line-station/69-54/d2 · Shirahama https://ekitan.com/timetable/railway/line-station/69-65/d2 · Yuasa https://ekitan.com/timetable/railway/line-station/69-81/d2 · Minoshima https://ekitan.com/timetable/railway/line-station/69-84/d2 · JR West line table https://timetable.jr-odekake.net/line-timetable/2314