Motorcycle Crash in Oita Japan + Hidden Temples | Project 47 #4 – Day 2/3 🏍️🇯🇵🌅

Motorcycle Crash in Oita Japan + Hidden Temples | Project 47 #4 – Day 2/3 🏍️🇯🇵🌅

[Music] japan is a unique country made up of 47 prefectures my goal is to ride them all this is project 47 hey good morning guys day two yeah baby look at this beautiful weather it’s meant to be cloudy [Music] [Music] all right well that was a cool little campsite yeah it’s still pretty early in the morning here but we got the bike all packed up [Music] look at that the scrambler starting to fall in love with this bike but for now time just to shake off the uh the camp sleepiness and go for a ride see what Kunaki has to offer all right let’s go shake it off and get some rides in hopefully there’s some cool roads to hit should be a coast road I hope but you never know a lot of times in Japan the the coastal roads aren’t overly coastal they kind of sit sort of a little bit inland the plan for day two was to roll out from camp and cut across the Kunasaki Peninsula heading inland to check out some cool shrines and then rolling on south to a waterfall today’s ride would be around 150 km or 4 hours or so in the saddle what a gorgeous day it is beautiful and every time I hit another prefecture I’m just blown away by how beautiful it is you know years ago I watched a short film by Jeremy Jones Snowboard called Life of Glide and he really encapsulated an emotion that had been with me for a long time about chasing this certain feeling that you get you know it’s a feeling I found surfing it’s a feeling I found on snowboard but more so than snowboarding and surfing riding these kind of roads on a motorcycle gives me that sensation like all the way you know like it’s not a short stint it’s just a constant on a flow state I get in you know I could never snowboard on his level i could never surf on Kelly Slater’s level i mean and I’m not going to be riding a motorbike like a you know a pro rider either but I can get that same level of sensation that glide on a motorcycle anytime I want it almost and I think that’s what’s got me so addicted to being out on the road the adventure sure but more than that it’s this this flow state this glide Japanese cross i was having so much fun before I knew it I was completely lost i figured this would be a good time to uh stop and check the maps and try to figure out where I wanted to go next i guess one of the locals saw me thinking I was in trouble or something so he came out to see if I needed a hand what a nice man oh hey hey [Music] orange oh so I’m going to take his advice and go give it a bash and we’ll find the shrines in a little while let’s go have some fun first the gravel in the middle of the road almost further oh yeah baby long sweeping corners nice smooth tarmac yeah this is all right the road started out incredible but before I knew it it was kind of over orange robe if this was all there was was a bit of a lemon i’ve been ignoring Google Maps for a while now and I figured well it was probably time to start listening i’d heard about a shrine up in the mountains that was abandoned it sounded like a really interesting place to check out yeah look at this road [Music] woohoo i wonder if we get a little scrambling [Music] today [Music] heat heat [Music] man this is awesome what a little road to find [Music] it oh there it is there okay got to do a U-turn oh wow so I woke up this track okay I’m going to go up to the U and come back here says parking up ahead okay this is the parking lot here [Music] okay [ __ ] damn that was a that was fun let’s not do that again okay well that sucked so quick little breakdown of what I think happened um I’ll have to check the footage to make sure but it was a total rookie mistake basically tried to do a quick tight U-turn here on the steep incline with Moss on the road hand came off the clutch the bike lurched lurched forward a little bit too fast tried to stop didn’t get my foot down in time and down she went as far as damage to the bike it’s pretty much just cosmetics so I’m stoked about that it’s just this hand knuckle plastic knuckle guy got split in it and now my clutch cable i don’t know if you can see that is just a little shorter than it used to be but still usable for now bike starts up fine no scratches or damage to the the body work or the paintwork so she’s good no fluid leaking so we’ll uh we’ll call that a win second time I’ve ever dropped a motorcycle and both of them have been on camera for this trip and both basically in the same situation so that means I got to spend some time practicing my uh my U-turns on inclines um that’s obviously something I’ve got a weakness for so if you got any tips out there or something I’m missing let me know always got to learn anyway I’m going to pack all this up and go check out the shrine cusentogi was once one of the greatest of Kunosaki’s temples now the ruins are all that remain a large forest fire in 1968 burnt down all the buildings and the shrine was dedicated to Nean a famous monk believed to be a Buddha whose grave can be found here the cobblestone stairs and the carved stones give a sense of awe and [Music] [Applause] history there is tranquility here you can feel it [Music] back at the bike I realized that my right side mirror had come loose and no matter how hard I cranked on it I couldn’t handtighten it like an idiot I’d forgot to check my tool kit and I’d forgotten my spanners so I remembered a hardware store back towards where I started and I figured well it was time to head back and pick up a new set uh I won’t be doing that again [Music] [Music] wow heat [Music] we’ll do those three lock that down that’s not going anywhere okay the mirror’s fixed bike runs got extra tools now we’re going to go head off and hit that next shrine the visit to the hardware store had cost me a fair bit of time but like with everything you can find something good in the bad now the route laid out before me was a different road than what I’d written down here and man was it a good one heat heat i’d made it to Futogji a temple I’d wanted to see for a long time and they must have known I was coming cuz when you know it there’s a coffee shop right outside in the garden what’s your name [Music] futago Gi Temple is located on the hillsides of Mount Fut and was built in 718 over 1300 years ago in this remote mountainous area the Buddhist monk Neiman laid the foundations for the Rokugo Manzan approach and ignited a tradition whereby monks would trek through the peninsula’s mountains in prayer chant and [Music] meditation unfortunately on this day the main hall or Honden was under construction so I couldn’t go [Music] in but the real charm of Fut Goji is walking up into the mountains and looking at all the small shrines the natural beauty of the area is amazing [Music] at the large shrine on top of the hill you can walk behind and see these old carvings lit by candles it’s a very solemn experience there are many ways to enter the shrine if you enter from the bottom you are led up a path with two stone sentinels guarding the entrance due to its remote location Fut is not really on the tourist track and I’m told that people can often enjoy the shrine pretty much to themselves all right man that was that was an epic shrine that was really cool i enjoyed that and now it’s time head off and try to find a waterfall let’s take a ride i’ve got the perfect place in mind we’ve got another person all right we’re into a cool road now just one bed stream my friend the road from the shrine to the waterfall was just amazing nothing but curving twisting mountain roads no one around just me the bike wow what else do you need i can’t get enough of it so this is it oh I see the waterfall that’s wicked so I guess parking is here all right we have arrived it’s now instantly a better day cuz I can see the waterfall from here it’s right there oh that’s wicked tell you what though it’s getting warm i’m going to take this jacket off yeah it’s been an absolutely awesome day man just everything’s been really cool oh wow what a pretty waterfall heat heat [Music] [Music] all right so I think what the plan is now is we’re going to go check out this castle um no idea what it’s going to be like hopefully it’s better than Kumamoto Castle the road to the castle was pretty mundane just a meandering cruise along a main road for the most part mega latte and water cuz I’m a responsible man okay all right let’s go check out this castle heat heat [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] heat heat heat heat [Music] [Music] all right well outside was nice but it was another museum anyway that was the castle hope you enjoyed that i was really hoping that was going to be like a traditional castle inside like Aya Castle was in Miyazaki you haven’t seen the Miyazaki video check out a castle but anyway we’re going to head off now and go check out these cool hot springs it was a cute castle i mean it wasn’t a big castle it was decent decent enough to see but man I would have loved it if it just looked a little more traditional all right so now we’re going to head into the city of Boo and go check out these crazy hot springs okay so we can see that’s Betu City over there on the other side on the far side of the bay we’re heading in somewhere in that zone to go find this uh hotspring all right well this is it and I can see already it’s incredibly touristy chino Chikoku which literally translates to blood pond hell is one of the oldest natural hot springs in Japan with a history dating back more than 1300 years it goes without saying that the main point of interest of Chino Jikoku is its unique appearance its striking red pigment as if the hotring emerged from hell itself though onsens are typically for bathing this one is far too hot to enter temperatures are around 72° or 176° F and the water depth is estimated to be around 30 m we’re going to head up to Eupern ride some crazy roads and then go and see hopefully watch the sun should be cool i’m not going to call i think I’m just going to drop in and say good day so we’ll see what uh see hopefully he’s there but yeah let’s hit it one of the coolest things about going places that you’ve never been is discovering roads you’ve never ridden heat heat [Music] heat heat heat heat [Music] hello hello you enjoy the museum it’s crazy isn’t it unbelievable yeah like your eyes just can’t focus on everything there’s so much stuff in there you can’t come in a day this is how such a and such out of the way we’ve got a Triumph Bonavville with a side car ah I’m so agree wonderful you know we had the side car added so I could go on it ah that’s perfect yeah it’s wonderful yeah my wife uh rode her first Triumph about 2 weeks ago she’s been riding Kawasaki her whole life and she just walked over to a bon and she’s like this one I want this one if not have a safe drive and enjoy the drip so this is IA collection i love this place and I love these people there’s a royal right at the door [Music] [Music] [Music] oh camp yeah wow wow look at this went out and got sushi for [Music] me son is an amazing man just truly unique while he worked his magic and did his thing with the young couple I decided to go for a walk around the museum i didn’t take the camera this time so here’s some footage I took on my last visit [Music] [Music] it It was late in the day and I’ve been on the road for a long time i was so grateful to have such a good friend and honestly I would have been happy to sit there and talk for a few hours longer you watched our son let me camp in his uh park that he calls his forest of legends i’ll explain what that means in tomorrow’s video but before the sun went down I needed to set up my tent and get ready for bed what a day huh started off horrible and just got better and better and better so I’m stoked day two was rockstar i loved it we’re going to wrap up day two here and I shall see you tomorrow yeah baby woo thank you for watching check out day three by clicking this link making Project 47 is absolutely epic but gas and campsites etc add up fast if you’re loving the journey why not join as a team writer for just 140 or a buck a month you’ll help keep me on the road and get some exclusive behind the scenes clips plus a sweet badge hit that membership link below and uh let’s keep rolling together

A solo Japan motorcycle tour through Oita takes a turn—literally. After crashing on a mountain curve, I explore eerie abandoned shrines, thunderous waterfalls, and the crimson hot springs of Chinoike Jigoku. This ride dives deep into Japan’s spiritual and surreal side.

#MotorcycleAdventure #JapanMotorcycleTour #SoloMotorcycleTrip
Follow the journey on Instagram: @ridethrujapan

Hey Team Riders, Oita’s wild roads keep calling, but crashes and fuel costs hit hard! Join for 140 yen/$1 a month to fuel Project 47 and get exclusive behind-the-scenes clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7QUavyzNZwmN69oLfZxsUQ/join

Day 2 in Oita has me weaving through epic roads on my Triumph 400X Scrambler, though a little slip-up (oops!) shakes things up. From the eerie, abandoned Kyu-Sento-ji shrine to the sacred calm of Futagoji Temple, I soak in Oita’s spiritual side. Udo Falls’ misty roar and Kitsuki Castle’s coastal views steal the show, while Chinoike Jigoku’s blood-red waters stun. I end visiting my friend Iwashita-san at his wild Iwashita Collection motorcycle museum—bikes galore! This is Japan raw—two wheels, real moments.

➤ What’s in this episode:

– Riding (and crashing!) through Oita’s backroads
– Haunting Kyu-Sento-ji and serene Futagoji Temple
– Udo Falls’ misty beauty
– Kitsuki Castle’s historic charm
– Chinoike Jigoku’s red-hot springs
– Iwashita Collection with Iwashita-san

➤ What is Project 47?

I’m riding solo through all 47 prefectures of Japan, camping under the stars, and chasing backroads, hidden gems, and local flavors. From shrines to waterfalls, this is Japan unfiltered, seen from two wheels.

➤ If you love:

Cinematic solo motorcycle adventures
Raw, off-grid travel in Japan
Hidden nature, local food, and cultural detours
This series is for you!

LIKE | COMMENT | SUBSCRIBE — Thanks for riding along! Oita Day 3 next.