BMWMOA ARTICLE

7/30/2019 BMWMOA ARTICLE

1/9BMWOWNERS NEWS

November 50

Riding Among the

Cherry Blossoms

By Larry Corell


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To celebrate ridinga motorcycle on my sixth continent, I was looking for a unique

experience. It had to satisfy three criteria: 1) I t had to have some

good riding (a real motorcycle experience); 2) it had to have a

cultural element to it; and 3) Penny, my beautiful wife of 46

years, had to be included. Requirement number three meant

no rugged off-road, no flea bag motels where I usually stay and

a van to carry the luggage.Luckily I heard about Phil Freeman and MotoQuests tour of

the southern three islands of Japan. Phil is the founder of

MotoQuest and uniquely qualified to lead a tour of Japan.

Not only does he speak fluent Japanese, he is also pas-

sionate about the country and the people. He also has a

special relationship with a group of Japanese that only

ride BMW Airheads. This group is known as the Flat Twin

Club (FTC).

The FTC has shown Phil the best roads and the quaint-

est inns. They even rode with us on some of the twistiestroads. I was impressed because those old bikes can go! Mr.

Hirata, a FTC member and karaoke singer supreme, is

Phils lead guide. He owns the following BMWs: R69S,

R90S, R100/7, R100RS, R100R Mystic, R100R Classic and

R1150GS. He is a very interesting person that I would

describe as being a mans man. Akiko, a little pixie of a

woman, had several jobs. She drove the support van, was

the group photographer and kept us all in good spirits

with her bubbly personality.

We were a diverse group, 17 of us, from all over the world

South Africa, U.K., Australia, Canada, U.S. and California

(ha, ha, just kidding). Usually I travel alone because there

is more interaction with the locals, but when there is a lan-

guage barrier I look to a tour. Because of their varied back-

grounds, the tour members usually add a lot to the

experience. This group was no exception, very interesting

people. Over the course of a few days it came out that of

the 17 people, 12 had been married for more than 40 years.

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Photos by MotoQuest


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BMWOWNERS NEWS

November 52

If you are thinking this must have been

the geriatric trip with a bunch of old farts,

you would be badly mistaken. The best

riders in the group were in their 70s. They

werent good for 70-year-olds, they were

just plain good! We were lucky because

everyone was a competent rider. It made

for a cohesive group.

We did not go through any major cities

like Tokyo, but we did go through someurban areas. It was amazing that with

stoplights and 90-degree turns, we did

not lose a single rider. Phil had taught us

his version of the buddy system. I think

even he was surprised at how well it

worked. One of our group riders had

done a lot of riding in the Australian Out-

back. He gave us his version of the buddy

system and how important it is when you

are in the bush and have limited fuel.

Getting lost is just not an option.

The mountain roads were as challeng-

ing as you wanted them to be. If you haveever ridden in western North Carolina,

you have some idea of what they were

like. The roads were well maintained and

twisties in the truest sense. Most of the

group rode on 400cc bikes, which were

the perfect size. The Flat Twin riders did

well on those roads.


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After a day of exhilarating riding wewould arrive at a quaint inn or small hotel

The first order of business was to take of

our boots and step into some slipper

provided by the inn a Japanese custom

My size 12s looked pretty silly in those tiny

slippers. We went to our room where we

exchanged the riding gear for a long

kimono.

From there we went to the communa

bathcommunal but gender separate.

had not been this concerned about my

package since junior high school. Fortu

nately I have gained some confidence

since then. It also helped that the wate

was warm. After bathing and then soak

ing, it was back to the room to dress fo

dinner. Dressing for dinner consisted o

putting a shorter, dressier kimono ove

the first one kind of like putting on a

sport coat. I wore my jeans under the

kimono because keeping it closed was

more difficult than I thought.


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BMWOWNERS NEWS

November 54

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Dinner is where the cultural experience was fully expressed. The pre-

sentation of the food was a thing of beauty not at just one or two

meals but all of them. I love Japanese food, but Penny does not share my

passion. Nevertheless, she has an

open mind and does not want to

miss anything. I was very proud

of her. We both ate Fugu, the

blowfish that will kill you if not

properly prepared. The Japanese

have an expression that says you

are crazy to eat Fugu, you are

crazy not to eat Fugu. We also ate

some raw horse. That was a chal-lenge. It did not taste like chicken!

We drew the line at the large

snails and clams that were still moving when placed on the hibachi. We

have open minds and are willing to try something unusual (okay, the

sake helped), but not everyone in our group was as adventurous. But I

never heard anyone complain about being hungry.


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BMWOWNERS NEWS

November 56

One of the highlights of the trip was the cherry blossom trees. Phil had planned it so

we would be there when the blossoms were in full bloom. We have cherry blossoms in

Washington D.C., a gift from Japan, but they have them in the whole country. Everyone

participates in the festival called Hanami. Last year, because of the tsunami, it was very

subdued. This year everyone was in a good mood. On one of the trips most special days

we purchased some lunch from a deli and joined the locals on a riverbank under a full

canopy of blossoms. It was spontaneous, impromptu and something Penny and I will

remember forever.



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BMWOWNERS NEWS

On the last day we boarded the bullet

train to visit the War Memorial in Hiro-

shima. I dont know the exact speed of the

train, but they dont call it bullet for noth-

ing. It was also super smooth. I wish I were

eloquent enough to describe the feeling

you get when you first walk up to the

Memorial. It is profound and very sad at

the same time. You feel like you are stand-

ing in one of the most important placeson the face of the earth. Trying to compre-

hend what happened that day is not

something I could dwell on. I have been

fortunate to have traveled the world, but I

have never experienced a feeling like that.

If you ever get the chance to visit this

magnificent country, do not miss

Hiroshima.

There are some things that surprised

me about Japan. First, the use of the Inter-

net was not nearly as prevalent as in the

U.S. maybe because we were mostly in

rural areas. Second, they do not use creditcards. Use of credit cards is an everyday

occurrence in my family, usually multiple

times a day! Not using them is something

I could get used to.

In my travels on six continents, down

some really bad roads and in some rough

places, I have been frightened only twice

by the people around me. I view the world

as a pretty safe place if you have the right

attitude. Without a moments hesitation I

would say Japan is the safest place I have

ever been. We never had to worry about

leaving our gear on our bikes. One could

probably leave it there for days. The Japa-

nese have a very simple concept: dont

take items that dont belong to you. The

honor system is alive and well.

Having had time to reflect on the trip, I

know it was my most memorable. It was

intense, complex and multi-layered. The

layers keep unfolding as Penny and I have

time to think about what we experienced.

We learned a great deal about another

country, its people and their culture. One

thing that was not different about thistrip: I came home, as I always do, with a

better understanding, appreciation and

love of my own country. There is no place

like home.

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