Ep.154 Wild Camping & Yoichi's Hidden History

In this episode of the show, I talk about the beginning of the summer festival season here in Hokkaido, including the lively Otaru Ushio Festival.I also share my recent bike trip to Yoichi, where I spent a night wild camping on Fugoppe Beach. It was a beautiful evening by the sea, and I stayed there because I wanted to explore some of the Rita Taketsuru sites around Yoichi the next day.Some of those sites , including the gravesite of Rita and her husband Masataka Taketsuru, were quieter and more reflective than I expected. It was an interesting contrast to go from the energy of a summer festival to a peaceful cemetery on the same ride.But the real surprise came when I found that the same cemetery had a monument to the Aizu samurai who settled in the Yoichi area. I had no idea that was a part of Yoichi's history.The more you explore Hokkaido, theu more connections you discover to Japan's samurai past and the bicycle is the perfect way to uncover these hidden stories. Cycling Hokkaido Podcast Instagram page:www.instagram.com/cycling.hokkaido.podcast/Buy Me a Coffee:buymeacoffee.com/cyclinghokkaidoBrad Bennet and Freewheeling.jp Instagram page:www.instagram.com/freewheeling.jp/Ep.87 Sapporo Su & Tokyo Joe in Hokkaido:https://pod.link/1717043158/episode/ZDdmOGE2MjgtYzJiZi00ZGE4LTg3MjktOTFlYTQ4OGM3OTlmEp.83 Baseball,Whisky & Star Warshttps://pod.link/1717043158/episode/MDQzZDE5MjMtMmUwNS00N2UwLWI3YjItN2NlNTRjMTYwMmM1Ep.12 Cycling Yoichi, a Town in Declinehttps://pod.link/1717043158/episode/OGNkMTgwMzAtNzI1Yi00NmM3LWJhNGYtZTIxYzA1MDgzNDBl