Dazed and jetlagged, I look down at Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing. From my vantage level within the practice station a few storeys up, I watch lots of of pedestrians (it’s thought that as much as 3,000 cross directly) rush over the world’s busiest intersection in a hasty ‘scramble’ that’s illuminated by the flashing neon lights above.

It’s unsurprising that I’m barely overwhelmed. After a 14-hour flight and braving town’s remarkably environment friendly, but fast-paced and crowded, subway system, I’m on the centre of one of many busiest cities on the earth. It’s the place 37 million folks stay and work (and plenty of hundreds of thousands extra go to as vacationers), the beating coronary heart of Japan’s economic system, and residential to a blur of anime, manga, Pokemon, pachinko parlours, merchandising machines and pet cafes.

But simply 12 hours later and little greater than 5km away I’m biking freely by way of a maze of backstreets and parks, cruising by aged cherry timber with the December solar on my face and just some locals wandering by.

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Eager to flee the crowds, I’ve hopped on a motorbike and am exploring a really totally different facet to the capital. As I discover throughout my travels by way of Japan, by leaping on two-wheels, even within the busiest cities you possibly can slide into the rhythms of native life. I’m travelling with Wayfairer, which specialises in tailored holidays, and the corporate has organized a personal tour with Chad Feyen from Freewheeling Tokyo.

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Chad, who’s initially from the US state of Michigan however has lived in Japan for the previous 20 years, explains that his firm goals to point out travellers a facet of town that the majority vacationers don’t get to see. “We wish folks to expertise these neighborhoods just like the locals do,” he tells me as we pedal out of the Sasazuka district. “Though you don’t see so many bikes within the centre, in these again streets everyone seems to be biking – whether or not that’s a mum choosing up her children or an older individual on a three-wheeler. It’s about slowing down and seeing town otherwise.”

We begin our cycle nonetheless in Shibuya ward – the identical space that options the well-known scramble crossing – but it appears like a world aside. Our bikes are mamachari, which interprets fairly actually as ‘mom’s bicycles’ as a result of they’ve the whole lot a mom would need, apparently: they’re gentle, cheap, have a basket on the entrance and an area for a kid’s seat on the again. There’s no lycra or fancy street bikes in sight. “We’re doing this like native Japanese,” Chad jogs my memory. “Which means taking it slowly.”

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We cruise alongside residential streets and the ‘yellow-brick roads’ of native parks the place the intense yellow fan-shaped leaves of ginkgo timber carpet the bottom. Within the Shimokitazawa neighbourhood, we hop off our bikes and purchase takeaway espresso from an area cafe earlier than wandering by way of the streets of this hipster district. In comparison with the towering malls, quick meals joints and expansive billboards within the centre of Tokyo, right here you’ll discover classic garments markets, libraries, vegan cafes, yoga studios and unbiased shops.

Again on the bikes, our path continues alongside Megurogawa Ryokudo (Inexperienced Promenade) the place a river as soon as flowed. It’s now a road lined with timber and crops, in addition to a man-made stream that Chad tells me kids play alongside in the summertime.

Tokyo’s biking infrastructure isn’t really very properly developed. Bike lanes are few and much between (particularly within the centre of town) and never often properly noticed. The blue strains on the street denote a cycle lane of kinds, however Chad explains the final rule is that bikes ought to behave like automobiles, however solely when secure to take action (which implies you possibly can pedal onto the pavement if wanted). Helmets are necessary ‘when it’s potential’. Like a lot in Japan, cyclists are trusted to comply with the principles as and once they can.

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After leaving the Promenade, we swoop up a hill and are available to a halt exterior Setagaya-Daita Station to look out over the practice tracks. On this vivid winter morning, the magnificent snow-capped Mount Fuji rises up within the distance. It’s a shocking view of Japan’s sacred mountain and nationwide satisfaction. I’m amazed that I’m the one vacationer round. Just a few residents wander out and in the station paying little consideration to the 2 westerners on bikes. Chad shrugs. “I suppose nobody actually is aware of about this spot aside from the locals.”

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We pedal on to the Gotokuji Temple. Chad notes that the majority travellers will see plenty of shrines and temples on their travels round Japan (he’s not fallacious there) and possibly received’t need to spend their time in Tokyo visiting but extra. “However this one is value it,” he assures me. Once more, he’s not fallacious. In early December, the maple timber are in full bloom with their leaves boasting stunningly sharp reds and oranges, contrasting in opposition to a transparent blue sky. Tons of of fortunate cats waving a welcoming paw sit exterior the temple – worshippers purchase collectible figurines of various sizes to carry them good luck and fortune, after which return them to the temple to offer thanks. Even after 20 years in Japan and guiding numerous bike excursions, Chad himself appears mesmerised by the colors and pulls out his telephone to take photographs.

Our last cease is Hanegi Forest on a quiet residential road. This rigorously designed three-story housing complicated was constructed with out disturbing any of the timber that beforehand existed, so the trunks now weave their means by way of the properties. It’s a putting image of how nature may be nurtured in even probably the most bustling metropolis, and – just like the bike tour itself – the right instance of why there’s a lot extra to Japan’s capital metropolis than vivid lights and skyscrapers.

Freewheeling Tokyo runs non-public and small group excursions within the quiet backstreets each morning and afternoon.

Annabel is travelling by way of Japan supported by Wayfairer.

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