BMW R1300 GS Adventure | Riding Japan’s Heartland from Nikko to Yonezawa’s Samurai Streets

BMW R1300 GS Adventure | Riding Japan’s Heartland from Nikko to Yonezawa’s Samurai Streets

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the channel. Welcome to a new episode. I am in Nikko’s city. So I got up early this morning, and, headed out to Nikko City because I’m going to be meeting up with the guys from the Tokyo Fire Brigade, helicopter division. We’re going to be heading north. From Nikko City. We’re going to be heading in direction from Aizuwakamatsu to Yonezawa And we’re staying in a hotel. The Route Inn hotel obviously. I love the Route Inn Hotels but we’re going to be taking a lovely route all the way north, through some real windy areas, so I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks for tuning into this episode, and I’ll keep you updated as I typically do throughout the day. So I’ve just arrived here at, McDonald’s, which is the meeting point. And as you can see, Sato san and Kohei san are both here already I’ll head in there. And maybe have a cup of coffee or something, and we’ll catch up. Arch san ? Yes Satoh san ? he is our guide And I am behind him You can change your position for filming sometimes I will come past you and maybe record you and then go back again. Understood Arch ! Well, we just met up there at, McDonald’s and Kohei san he’s explained to me, where we’re going, which, direction? Giving me the route and the biggest delight for me today is, he said that he’s found a great place for our lunch, which is going to be, Japanese ramen. And I haven’t had ramen for ages, so I was like, oh, that’s going to be phenomenal. That’s going to be awesome. Weather is absolutely amazing, and it’s going to be fantastic, great weather for the next two days. So we’ve really lucked out as well. Yeah. When you get into Nikko, it’s kind of like a Nikko City just back there. It’s a little bit flat and you can see around us here you can see all of these mountains, where we’re heading into. Look at this. So we don’t really go up those mountains. We, we basically just stay, at the, the bottom of the mountains. In the valleys. We navigate our way through those beautiful valleys, nice, windy roads all the way up, to a massive lake, to Aizuwakamatsu lovely green, lush, foresty roads. We’re going to be heading up. So, because we’re here on a Friday and the three of us of. Well, I’ve taken a day off from work. The, the traffic should be okay. Even though we’re a little bit in traffic now because we’re just leaving, Nikko City. But it should be relatively okay. I would expect. This is a ski resort. Because if you look there Kohei san it looks like a ski slope ? in the winter ? So I’ve never seen that. This ski resort, Yeah. Because it looks. Yeah, it looks like a ski resort. I think so I don’t think this is a ski resort I don’t think it is áh ok understood They don’t have it here. Yeah, maybe this field is not a ski resort ah okay hahahaha I am the same first I looked there this looks like a ski resort. it’s a hiking trail ah okay okay okay Busy man. Just had a quick, stop there and a catch up. I love talking to these men. Always fun and jokes. And then, now, probably headed on to the, I guess probably to the, lunch location it’s already 10:30 am. So maybe two hours. An hour and a half ride now, which is perfectly fine for me. Whoa, look at that cool bridge. hahahaha relax by riding motorbikes Just another quick break. Cup of coffee. Chill out. Very relaxing. Very relaxing. Coming through this little town here. The Loin Doir Must be a supermarket. And Kohei san just told me He expects maybe that ramen place we’re going to go for lunch. It might be busy. So he said, I’ve already found another one as a backup plan Sweet. he’s got a back up plan if it’s to busy. We just stopped back there, and, had a cup of coffee. Chill out. Lovely ride down the, 121 direction. Aizuwakamatsu The 121 or the 289 depending on what you want to call it. All for these lovely little sleepy towns. This is a beautiful little town. We’re coming through here. Restaurants. Looks like they serve a lot of chicken in there. Yep. Now, this is a beautiful views, Here a cafe called “Mother Lip” That’s mother lip. All these little shops and amazing. Just beautiful. Restaurants. Kohei san is Onto something. Is this the lunch place? I guess taking a right turn here. Sweet this is the lunch place Lunch. Lunch. Ramen. please be careful and thank you for coming Yes we are looking forward to this please take your time, Hakata Ramen looks so good If you want to add seaweed feel free to take okay thank you thank you for the delicious meal thank you for the delicious meal amazing Soup. thank you Sir wow that was great thank you for waiting Yes Sir, can I have full tank of Premium please ? Ok full tank of Premium it is then how would you like pay ? Credit Card please Sir ! Wow. Yeah. Oh! Thank you Kohei san lets go sit over there I’ll share these photos I will send to you Well, Kohei san has delivered yet again. When we were having lunch, he asked, you know, do you want to stop at the michinoeki ? Michinoeki is like a farmer’s market. sure I wouldn’t mind. Maybe an ice cream. Yeah. Soft ice. She’s like, yeah, great idea. So he looked it up and he found, a local, soft cream that they, delivered here its quite a bit of a salty, soft cream. God my God, that was delicious. Absolutely fantastic. Quite unique. I’ve never had an I’ve never had a soft cream, with so much salt in it. So that was good we sat down had a quick catch up, quick chat. Yamagata. We are officially in Yamagata Prefecture. Absolutely epic road. Wow! Amazing. Just another one as usual. Epic road in Japan. My God. I don’t think I’ll ever see the end of it. It’s prefecture after prefecture, road after road. Anyhow, so, so grateful for Satoh san and Kohei san to invite me along because this has been phenomenal. And, pine, the smell of the pine here everywhere. It’s it’s sensational. I love it. A lot of fauna here. Wow. Amazing. right ? Nice Road ! That was beautiful. Thank you so much Kohei san !! Amazing. Wow. We just arrived here at the Yonezawa Uesugi Jinja Shrine I’m not sure what it’s called, but, the official name. I’ll call it Yonezawa Uesugi Jinja Shrine It’s huge. It’s beautiful. So we’re just gonna walk around here a little bit and suck up the culture? I love coming to this kind of places. As you would have seen in many of my videos already. Yeah. This is this is amazing. And the history in these places. So we just visited that beautiful shrine just now, in the middle of Yonezawa It’s got a lot of history in there. That was awesome. Love wandering around there. So what we’re going to do now is we’re going to head over to the hotel and, get checked in have a bit of a wash, chill out, and then we’ll head out for dinner. Hey all back in the hotel now, we just had a fabulous dinner across, from where the station is. It’s been a fabulous ride today. Had a great day together with Kohei san and Satoh san especially, the sportier part of the section that we rode together. Kohei san and myself. So, really happy that I came along with them, for this, two day ride. And then tomorrow we’ve got some more, fabulous rides, planned as well. I don’t know if it’s going to end up being two episodes. Depends on tomorrow’s ride on, how long it’s going to be and, which areas we’re going to venture on out to, so I might combine them together. Otherwise I’ll just split them up to two different days. Thanks very much for tuning into this video, and I’ll see you all in the next one. Thanks, guys. Bye bye.

🌄 A Journey Through Japan’s Hidden Heartland
From the spiritual serenity of Nikko’s misty mountains to the timeworn streets of Yonezawa—this ride dives deep into Japan’s cultural core. I twist through lush valleys, fog-draped forests, and remote village roads where history lingers in every curve. Along the way, expect spontaneous stops, cinematic scenery, and reflections from the saddle of a motorbike chasing connection, freedom, and tradition.
🔹 Route Highlights:
• Nikko’s iconic shrines & winding hill climbs
• Valley passes framed by towering cedar forests
• Rural backroads through Fukushima Prefecture
• Yonezawa’s samurai district and legendary beef origins
📹 Raw. Real. Unfiltered adventure across Japan’s soul-stirring interior—only on Arch Japan Motovlogs.
🎥 Subscribe for more motovlogging journeys across Japan: Arch Japan Motovlogs.