14 October 2026 · Evening, after our final motorcycle stage to Kyoto
This morning, Kyoto could wait. Now we have arrived and ended our final riding day with a BBQ together at the hotel. And I realise how little the word “arrived” says about this journey. You can park a motorcycle. Switching off all those impressions is rather more difficult.
Anneliese and I have had an overwhelming journey. I will probably need weeks to take it all in. But before I try to squeeze the whole of Japan into a single thought, this last day on the road deserves its place in the diary.
Between two rocks – and 256 steps down
On our way to Kyoto, we visited Tarōbō-gū shrine and its Meoto-iwa, the “married rocks”. Two enormous rock faces, a narrow passage between them – and a 76-year-old motorcyclist in the middle. The photograph proves that I fitted. The architecture did not, however, allow much room for grand gestures with outstretched arms.
We took a sensible approach to the steps: the easier route up, then 256 steps down. There is no need to put ambition in charge of every staircase. Going downhill keeps you quite occupied, too.
An Italian pause beside Japan’s largest lake
At lunchtime, we sat in an Italian restaurant beside Lake Biwa. Japan in front of us, Italian food on the table: even on a motorcycle journey, the menu is allowed to cross a border occasionally. The setting by the water was wonderfully romantic. After the rocks and steps, the day found a different rhythm here.
Our ride also took us through the smallest lanes before we returned to Kyoto. Reduced to a few stops, the day’s route reads: Tarōbō-gū, lunch beside Lake Biwa, Kyoto. Between those points lay something that a route list struggles to capture: the sheer pleasure of being on the move.
Victor and Taka: thank you for the little things, too
This evening, I want to thank our two guides, Victor and Taka, by name. They did far more than show us the way. During breaks, they turned the motorcycles around so they were already facing the right direction for departure. They cleaned the mirrors. Small gestures, you might say. To us, they were care we could feel every day.
Taka looked after every detail. Riding with him allowed me to experience my BMW R 1300 GS and its capabilities in the bends more fully. After those stretches together, we waited a few minutes for the group. For me, that joy of riding belongs to Japan just as much as the shrines and landscapes. Victor and Taka helped make this journey exceptional.
Fellow travellers became friends
Our motorcycle journey ended with a BBQ together on the hotel’s rooftop terrace. Unfortunately, the evening was smoky, noisy and a little chaotic. A pity for our last evening together. Around us were people from New Zealand, France, England, America, Germany and Switzerland. We began as a tour group. Along the way, friendships and close connections developed. Those encounters remain valuable, even though I would have wished for a better setting for our final evening.
STOP WAITING reached some people along the way, too. It encouraged them to stop putting things off indefinitely. That makes me very happy. After these shared days, the idea has real faces attached to it once again.
Tonight, above all, I feel grateful: for Anneliese beside me, for our fellow travellers, for Victor and Taka – and for being able to experience all this at 76. The motorcycle stage is complete. In my head, Japan is still very much on the move.
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