When travelers plan a trip to Japan, they often picture the high-speed rush of the Shinkansen connecting bustling cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. It’s a journey of neon lights, crowded crossings, and famous landmarks. However, the true heart of Japan often lies just beyond the main tourist routes, in the quiet farming villages, pristine mountain streams, and the deep, harmonious relationship between people and the land.
This is where Bicycle Tours Japan, led by Ride Experience Inc., comes in. They offer immersive cycling tours that take travelers beyond the typical tourist routes and deep into Japan’s local life, food, and nature. Founded in Tochigi Prefecture by Tetsuya Yamamoto, Bicycle Tours Japan curates journeys that blend active adventure with authentic cultural encounters. Their itineraries go far beyond simple sightseeing, featuring e-bike rides through historic villages, homemade lunches with local farmers, and visits to hidden temples or bamboo craft studios. Each trip reflects a deep respect for the concept of shizen, the natural harmony between people and their surroundings.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Yamamoto, the Owner and Tour Director of Ride Experience, to learn more about his passion for cycling, the “Shizen” philosophy, and the hidden gems of the Nasu region. Here’s what he had to share about his journey:
The team at Ride Experience Japan – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how Ride Experience and Bicycle Tours Japan began?
Hello, my name is Tetsuya Yamamoto, the founder and CEO of Ride Experience Inc., the company that operates tours under the Bicycle Tours Japan brand. I was born and raised in Tokyo, and before becoming independent, I worked in a legal role at a global IT company. In my thirties, after traveling around the world, I started my own business importing and distributing design goods and bicycle-related products. I had fallen in love with road cycling in my late twenties. After that, cycling was my primary way of getting around Tokyo, and on weekends I traveled around different regions by bike for pleasure.
My work often took me to Europe, where I was deeply inspired by the bike-friendly environments and by cycling tourism as a well-established industry. Seeing how successfully cycling tourism functioned as a business there, I began to dream of someday creating a similar model in Japan. A major turning point came when I sponsored a cycling event in Nasu using “ZAMBIKES,” a bamboo bicycle brand from Zambia that I was representing in the community. As we talked, we realized that Nasu could be the perfect field to bring a European-style cycling tourism business to life. Inspired by this possibility, I moved from Tokyo to Nasu in 2015. The following year, in 2016, together with local partners, I founded Ride Experience Inc. with the goal of creating new economic value and vitality in the region through cycling tours.
By using bicycles as a tool to uncover hidden local resources and refine them into truly moving, memorable experiences, we turn stories of adventure into well-crafted cycling tours. Through these tours, we aim to attract new flows of people and money from around the world to rural Japan. By repeating this process, we believe we can enhance the value of rural lifestyles where people and nature live in harmony, protect rural landscapes and local ways of life, and pass them on to the future. This is the mission of Ride Experience, and the vision that continues to guide us today.
“Bicycle Tours Japan” (Bicycle-Tours.jp) is the brand name and website URL for our inbound cycling tour business for international visitors, operated by our company under this mission.
Locals traversing the rural landscape in which they live in harmony – Credit: NASU Tourism Association
For our readers, could you explain the concept of “Shizen” and what inspired you to build your tours around this specific philosophy?
In Japanese, the word SHIZEN (自然) usually translates to “nature”, but carries a deeper meaning of allowing things to follow their own natural rhythm or being in harmony with nature. It’s an important concept in Zen and Japanese culture.
I have long believed that what truly defines rural Japan is the delicate balance and harmony between the way people live alongside nature and the natural landscapes that are kept beautiful precisely because people inhabit and care for them. This balance is also one of the key reasons why Japan’s countryside captivates people from other countries.
Other cycling tours in Nasu are carefully designed to allow guests to experience this harmony between people and nature, or what I would call a deeper meaning of “SHIZEN” (nature), in the most vivid and memorable way possible. One of the main reasons I fell in love with Nasu is this very community, where human life and the natural environment exist in true harmony, creating landscapes that feel both authentic and enduring.
Taking a break from cycling to hike through the autumn foliage of Mt. Nasu – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Your tours mix outdoor activities like cycling and hiking with cultural and food experiences. What inspired you to combine these elements instead of focusing on just one type of travel?
Over nearly ten years of operating inbound cycling tours in Japan, we have received a great deal of feedback and insight from our guests, and we have continuously refined and improved our tours as a result. Listening closely to their needs and making full use of the strengths of our locally based, knowledgeable Japanese guides, we gradually established our own distinctive tour style.
In this approach, guests can fully enjoy cycling and hiking in rich natural surroundings, while also experiencing local culture and regional cuisine in a well-balanced way. This concept is also a natural extension of our belief that the true appeal of rural Japan lies in the harmony between people and nature, which we describe as a deeper meaning of “SHIZEN”.
The stunning Unganji Temple, one of the many sites on the Shizen Exploration in Nasu tour – Credit: NASU Tourism Association
The “Shizen Exploration in Nasu” tour looks incredible, featuring Zen temple walks, bamboo craft, and countryside cycling. What makes Nasu such a unique place to explore by e-bike?
The Nasu area is located where the southern end of the Ou Mountain Range, the longest mountain range in Japan, meets the northern edge of the Kanto Plain, the largest plain in the country. Geographically, it is characterized by one of Japan’s largest alluvial fans, spreading out at the foot of the Nasu Mountain Range, a major volcanic zone with peaks reaching around 2000 meters.
Because of this, the dramatic landscapes shaped by volcanoes, along with abundant hot springs, exist in close proximity to one of the Kanto region’s most fertile agricultural areas, which has a history of more than 1000 years. These contrasting environments are close enough to explore comfortably by bicycle, making it easy to create tourism experiences that combine stays at high-quality hot spring inns with cycling through beautiful rural scenery.
The region is also strongly committed to local production for local consumption. Local farmers are highly active in meeting the demand from tourism facilities centered around hot springs, such as inns and restaurants. As a result, Nasu remains an area where traditional and picturesque rural landscapes have been carefully preserved.
Enjoying another delicious farmhouse meal prepared by an extraordinary woman – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
We heard that one of the highlights of your Nasu tour is a farm-to-table lunch at a local family’s home. Could you tell us more about that experience and what makes it so special?
This is not simply a farm-to-table lunch. It is a deeply immersive cultural and community experience. Guests are welcomed into the farmer’s own home, a 100-year-old traditional wooden house, where the mother of the family prepares handmade dishes using vegetables and rice grown on their own farm. The meal is enjoyed together in the family’s living room, and guests also have the chance to share simple conversations with the family, making the experience feel warm, personal, and genuine.
What makes it even more special is the extraordinary skill of the farmer’s mother as a cook. Her cooking is highly regarded in the local community, and the full-course style meal she serves, one dish after another, is consistently outstanding. Many of our guests have told us that it was the most delicious meal they had during their time in Japan. This family does not normally operate a restaurant. The experience began through a relationship of personal trust between us, and for more than nine years now, they have kindly provided this lunch exclusively for our tours.
Bamboo grass craft artisan working on a new handmade piece – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Your itineraries often include visits to artisans, such as bamboo grass craftsmen or sake brewers. How do you find these local creators, and what do guests usually think when they meet them?
Most of these relationships begin through my personal connections, though in some cases they are built by visiting repeatedly and sharing our ideas and intentions until trust is established. In the case of the young female bamboo grass craft artisan, I first came to know her through the local community when she had just moved to Nasu and was still searching for what she wanted to pursue.
Because of this, I have been able to closely follow and sincerely support her decision to devote her life to Nasu’s traditional bamboo grass craft. She has trained intensively to master the craft, inheriting techniques that were at risk of disappearing due to a lack of successors, and she is now carrying them forward to the next generation. At the same time, she proposes a thoughtful lifestyle to urban audiences, one that values the use of tools made from natural materials in everyday household life.
Guests are often overwhelmed when they witness the precision and difficulty of the traditional techniques she has spent ten years mastering. They are deeply impressed by the beauty of the baskets and sieves she creates from locally grown bamboo grass, using only her hands and a single machete through many meticulous steps. Many guests end up purchasing her work after the visit. The fee we pay for this hands-on craft workshop is an important source of income for her, and beyond that, guests clearly purchase her pieces because they want to support her work and her values directly.
As for the organic sake brewery visit, the owner’s family personally shares their passion in English, and guests, dressed in white coats, are able to step inside the brewery and learn the sake brewing process in detail. We consistently receive feedback that this is a fascinating and valuable experience not only for sake enthusiasts, but also for guests who do not normally drink alcohol.
Briefing the guests before their tour – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Cycling through rural Japan sounds peaceful, but it can also feel unfamiliar to travelers. How do you make sure guests can enjoy it safely and comfortably while still experiencing authentic local life?
Guest safety is our top priority and a core principle shared by all of our guides.
In practical terms, we carefully select cycling routes that use quiet roads with very little traffic, ensuring a calm and safe riding environment. One of Nasu’s strengths is the abundance of narrow, peaceful back roads that make this possible. Before each ride, guides provide a thorough safety briefing and instruction on how to ride comfortably and confidently. During the tour, they constantly monitor the entire group to make sure everyone is cycling safely and at ease, and they give guidance whenever needed.
To ensure effective safety management and control, we limit group size to a maximum of eight guests per guide, or up to ten in the case of families or groups traveling together. The bicycles we use are selected in advance to match each guest’s height, age, and gender, and they are carefully maintained before every tour by a dedicated professional mechanic. Helmet use is mandatory for all participants.
In addition, all of our guides have completed 40 hours of hands-on training and hold Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) certification, so they are fully prepared to respond quickly and appropriately in the unlikely event of an accident.
Cycling past a local rice field, freshly planted and filled with water reflecting the natural scenery – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Japan’s seasons are stunning year-round. Do you have a favorite season or route for cycling? And is there any local food or drink that pairs perfectly with that season’s ride?
In Nasu, the cycling season basically runs from April through November. For cycling through the satoyama countryside and rural landscapes, May is especially recommended. Just after rice planting, the paddies are filled with water, and cyclists can enjoy riding between fields that reflect the surrounding scenery like mirrors. It is also a beautiful time for fresh green leaves in the highland forests. September is another favorite, when the rice fields turn a brilliant golden color just before harvest.
From June through September, hiking on Mount Nasu is pleasantly cool, and the volcanic terrain offers spectacular views across the Kanto Plain. In October, Mount Nasu is covered in dramatic autumn colors, with vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows that make it one of Japan’s most impressive mountain foliage destinations. Since the mountain is accessible by ropeway, even first-time visitors can easily enjoy a light volcanic hike.
As for food, from May onward the summer season is especially known for the delicious vegetables grown in the Nasu Highlands. Dishes made with ayu sweetfish caught in the clear waters of the Naka River are another local specialty that can only be enjoyed in this region. Fresh, richly flavored soft serve ice cream made with milk from local dairy farms is also very popular. In autumn, guests can enjoy newly harvested local rice, along with mountain mushrooms and seasonal fruits such as pears, persimmons, and figs.
Participating in cycling tours is one of the best ways to experience the area, including this amazing cedar forest – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
For people who have never tried a cycling tour before, what would you say makes exploring Japan by bike such a special experience compared to train or car travel?
Traveling by bicycle allows you to feel the land itself, the contours of the terrain, the scents of the season, and the sounds and light created by nature, all with your entire body. Compared to traveling by car or train, the journey by bicycle is filled with far more discoveries, and compared to walking, it allows you to explore a much wider area. Ordinary mountain roads, farm paths cutting through rice fields, and traditional townscapes reveal themselves as surprisingly moving and beautiful when experienced from the saddle of a bicycle.
For travelers visiting from overseas, cycling along rural Japanese roads with a local guide offers a direct way to experience the harmony between people and nature that lies at the heart of Japanese culture, the philosophy of SHIZEN. There is no better way to truly understand the authentic Japan.
A group taking the time to reflect on nature at a local haiku stop on a tour – Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
Thank you so much, Yamamoto san, for sharing your passion and insights with us. It’s truly inspiring to see how you are honoring Japan’s local culture and “Shizen” philosophy while making it accessible and exciting for travelers from around the world.
If you find yourself curious about a different side of Japan, we highly recommend exploring what Bicycle Tours Japan has to offer. Whether you are an avid cyclist or just looking for a new way to connect with the country, their dedication to authentic, local experiences is sure to provide an unforgettable adventure.
Find out more about Bicycle Tours Japan:
Website: https://bicycle-tours.jp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bikedeepjapan/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RideExperienceJapan
Featured Photo Credit: Ride Experience Inc.
