humans.
Villages full of lifelike scarecrows
no longer feel strange. We’ve come
to expect it. We find something
new, unexpected and different every
day. For the first time in a year on
the road, it feels like we’re a million
worlds away from home and every
country we travelled through to get
here.
And it’s not just the love hotels, ani-
mals, and the nation’s calm demean-
our. Everything is different. Japan is
serious about its rules and everyone
follows them. Riders don’t overtake
cars, pedestrians wait at lights, lit-
tering is unheard of, people don’t eat
while walking, we never worry about
our motorcycles or possessions,
everyone is ultra-polite, calm and
composed, public toilets are spotless
and people treat each other with the
utmost respect.
But there is one thing here that’s
not so different - and that’s Japan’s
deep-rooted love of motorcycles.
TRAVERSE 90