After struggling last week, this one was a complete change of pace. My weekly mileage was half that of previous weeks on this trip, but the rest was sorely needed.

👟 Weekly Summary

Monday - Day 51 - Lake Biwa to Kyoto (57.73 km)

We had two options today, along a lake or a shorter route through the fields and villages. We chose the shorter route, and made the right choice. Whenever we looked back towards the lake, we would often see a rainbow. It was sunny with scattered showers on our route, but glancing towards the lake, we saw the grey haze that indicated it was raining over there.

We eventually returned to follow the lake for a short while when we passed over the bridge into Otsu. It was bright and blustery, and we were making relatively good time compared to our recent efforts. Soon we were heading along the busy roads and up and over the last small hills into Kyoto.

Entering Kyoto was totally different to entering Tokyo. We came down the hill through some small backroads and quiet alleys, past all the old houses, until we turned a corner into the chaos of Fushimi Inari Shrine and all the crowds. We made our way around them, not stopping to visit the shrine and headed to our home for three nights. The longest we've stopped somewhere since we arrived in Japan.

Tuesday - Day 52 - Kyoto (Rest Day)

We took the train to Nara. The original plan had been to run there, then go to Osaka from Nara. Instead of adding extra distance, we made it a rest day, going to Nara on the train and then running directly between Kyoto and Osaka.

Nara Park is famous for its deer. That was a big reason to head here, to feed the deer. People have been feeding the deer here for a very long time, and in that time, the deer discovered that lowering their head politely made people more likely to give food. That behaviour spread through the herd, and all the tourists love it, and give the deer more crackers, which reinforces it.

The deer are still wild animals, though. One of them gave me a few butts and followed me around after I had finished giving it crackers. Another one bit me on the bum, which hurt quite a bit. But overall, the deer experience was peaceful.

Nara is also home to Tōdai-ji temple and the Nara Daibutsu, or great big Buddha statue. This one is much smaller than the one in Tsukuba, at only 14.98 m tall, which is still fairly big, and even more impressive when you consider it is over a thousand years old.

Our final stop of the day was Bar Capo in Kyoto. A bar I'd spent several nights drinking in over my previous visits to Japan a decade ago. I'd loved the feel of the place when I was there before, and had spent many hours drinking and chatting to the owner via translation apps.

Time moves on, and we didn't stay in touch, but I found this little bar again, walked in, and the same owner stood there, looked at me, and the cogs turned, and he knew he knew me. I had a couple of drinks, reminiscing about the place and catching up with him. He'd been to see the Oasis reunion; I'd seen the Stone Roses. It was a wonderful moment, and I'd love to go back there sometime before the next decade.

Wednesday - Day 53 - Kyoto (Rest Day)

We were up early to see Ryōan-ji and Kinkaku-ji Zen temples. The temple grounds of Kinkaku-ji Zen were stunning, and the temple itself quite beautiful, but it was ever so busy. Everyone was piling in to try and get the same few snaps of the temple.

Next up was Ryōan-ji, famous for its stone garden, but the rest of the temple grounds are well worth exploring. It wasn't as busy as Kinkaku-ji, nor was the route so firmly set, so we felt we had more time to explore, and after sitting to enjoy the kare-sansui (dry landscape), we made our way around a crazy mirror lake, admiring the autumn colours. The lake was perfectly still, and the reflections off it were crystal clear. Looking at the reflections of maple leaves from a nearby tree, it looked fully three-dimensional.

Into town for lunch, and our first stop was dessert. There was an ice-cream parlour that I had also visited a decade ago, and I wanted to see if it still existed. It did, and I chose the same one as before, a french-fries parfait. Joy had the fried chicken one. It's a strange choice, fried food on top of a glass of ice cream and fresh fruits, but it works.

After that was lunch, we hadn't quite decided what we wanted, and spotted a place that did a "tomato curry ramen" around Gion, so we wandered in. It seems that tomato curry soup is exactly what you would get if you turned tikka masala into a soup.

That evening we went out to see Fushimi Inari Shrine. There were still plenty of people around, but nowhere near the daytime hordes. It was a lovely way to end what, if not a restful day, was at least one where we got to forget about running.

Thursday - Day 54 - Kyoto to Osaka (50.04 km)

We woke up early to visit Fushimi Inari Shrine in the daylight. At 7.30, crowds were already beginning to form at the bottom, and we missed some of the peace we experienced the night before. Still, I was glad to explore the area in the light before we head off towards Osaka around 10.

We left town and passed through some industrial areas that exist between Kyoto and Kobe/Osaka. We then went from passing recycling centres filled with cubes of crushed cans to a long stretch along a river, with grass on either side of us. It made getting into Osaka much quicker than a slightly shorter main road would have, as we managed to skip a load of traffic lights.

There were a few kids doing sprints along the path, and every time I got close to them, they sprinted ahead, but in true tortoise and the hare fashion, I caught up and passed them. Soon I heard them coming back up behind me, so I kept up with them for their sprint, letting them pull ahead towards the end as I remembered that I had a long way to go and my hamstrings weren't used to this pace. It was great fun to run with them for a few moments before they stopped to rest, and I trundled along towards Osaka.

I'd hoped to show Joy the Dotonbori area for food, but she was too tired, so we headed to a little restaurant nearby for dinner. Good food complete, next up, it was time for a good sleep.

Friday - Day 55 - Osaka Rest Day

Oh, what a difference 9 hours of glorious sleep makes. It was perhaps my best sleep in weeks, especially as there was no need to get up early. A slow morning was followed by heading towards Osaka Aquarium for a mental break from running. The aquarium is massive, one of the biggest in the world. I'd visited it a decade ago, and I was keen to take Joy there.

From the Aquarium, we wandered into town in search of new shoes. We wandered over to a dedicated HOKA store, where we could definitely get a replacement pair of Bondi 9 in my size. Job done and fresh shoes for tomorrow. My last pair had 1,179.5 km on them, so they were well overdue for replacement.

Our final stop for the day, before relaxing, was to search for food. We wandered a little around Dotonbori, with Joy having a third test of the Osaka takoyaki, before settling on a Guyukatsu place. Gyukatsu is a deep-fried beef steak coated in batter and panko breadcrumbs. It was another good meal in Japan; we're rarely disappointed with our food here, but perhaps, given my calorie needs, I should have gone for a second dinner afterwards.

Saturday - Day 56 - Osaka to Kobe (40.70 km)

The first part of the journey was a little frustrating due to the stop-start nature of city running, where you have to stop at every single traffic light. That frustration lasted for the first hour, before the traffic lights became at least a little more spread out, and the traffic light gods were a little kinder to us with their timings.

Rested, fed, and with new running shoes, I was moving well for what felt like the first time in ages. There was a bounce to my step, I felt lighter on my feet, and the running felt much smoother. I don't think I worked any harder, if I even worked as hard, as most days before the break, but today I was hanging in the sub 6.30 minutes per kilometre area, rather than 7.30 plus.

The city never ended, and Osaka merged into Kobe, where we arrived too early for check-in time. Instead, we added a 5 km round trip to our day by heading out to the Brompton store to get the bike checked and a new front tyre put on. That should be the bike set for the rest of the journey.

While we waited, we had an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet. Essentially, you sit down, keep ordering meat on your phone for 80 minutes, and cook each thing as it comes. We had so much meat. I know I've been short of protein recently, but the amount of meat I just ate was obscene. No rice, no carbs, no veg, no salad, just meat. It was alright, but I still had to go back to the bike store and then run to our hotel afterwards, so those last few kilometres were not so much fun.

We ended the evening by seeing the Kobe night view. It's one of the three famous night views of Japan. The other two being Hakodate (which we've seen) and Nagasaki (which we haven't). It was late in the day, so there wasn't much time to visit, and Joy felt bitterly cold. Instead, we only hung around for 10 minutes before making the journey back down.

Sunday - Day 57 - Kobe to Kobe (6.62 km)

If we could have, we'd have stayed in the same accommodation, but we'd struggled to get anywhere to stay in Kobe, so we had to choose two places on different nights. At least the second place was a little closer to Himeji, making Day 58 a little easier.

The run was short and fairly straightforward. There was a little bit of navigating traffic lights and crowds, but it was far less stressful getting that out of the way today rather than tomorrow.

Lunch was the tiniest amount of Kobe steak, but also the most we could afford. It felt worth the money, though, and if I were a rich man, I'd definitely eat more. It was also nice to be somewhere a little fancy with Joy for a change, rather than the usual convenience store fare.

After our meal, we went over to an adoption event being held by Animal Refuge Kansai. They're one of the charities that we are trying to raise money for, and it was great to see the good work they are doing. They shelter over 100 animals, train those that need additional training, and find homes for as many of them as they can. It was clear to see how much all the volunteers there cared about the animals, and how keen they were to ensure each animal found a good home.

Our final stop of the day was catching up with John Rucynski, author of A Passion for Japan and Bridging the Humor Barrier: Humor Competency Training in English Language Teaching. We first met hiking around Koyasan a decade ago, and John gave us many useful tips when we planned the journey. It was great to meet up again and have a beer.

☀️ Photo from the Road

A single image from a recent run—scenic, silly, sweaty, or all three. Bonus points for temples, stray cats, or vending machines.

🚀 Next Up

We’re off to Himeji to visit the castle, before we do some long days on the way to Hiroshima. It really feels like we’re getting towards the end of the journey.

🏁 Finish Line

That’s all, folks. Thank you for reading and for all your support.

Take it easy,

Phill