Kyoto to Osaka | 100 Kilometer Folding Bicycle Journey

Date I went: 04/10/2020

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I've been itching to do this bike trip for a while and finally made it a reality on April 10th, 2020! Until now the farthest bike trip I had done was in Okinawa when I went around the Southern part of the island traveling a respectable 60 kilometers in a day. Today's trip would be a little over 100 kilometers back and forth between Kyoto and Osaka. I was a bit nervous about doing such a long trip in one day, but felt like I had it in me as I had been slowly conditioning myself throughout my trip biking.

On the folding bicycle it took me about 4 hours to go there, and another 4 hours to come back. I left around 8 a.m. in the morning and got back into Kyoto a little before 9 p.m.

This will be the beast I am riding today. The Airbnb apartment offers these bad boys rent free! It's what i've been using to go around Kyoto and today will be testing it on a 100 kilometer journey; this is also the same type of bicycle I used in Okinawa so I've gotten used to riding folding bikes.

Bicycle Route from Kyoto to Osaka

The route from Kyoto to Osaka starts along the Kamo river at first and then goes along the connecting Yodo River. It's a great bicycle and walking path with not too many people using it, but enough to not feel lonely while traveling along it. A lot of people who live by the river use the path for exercise or going on bicycle trips like myself.

There's lots of really cool river scenery I encounter on my journey. Sometimes I have to go over train tracks to continue along the path South to Osaka. It's very well pathed as well which goes a long way to traveling efficiently. The Sakura trees are just nearing the end of their cycle so most of the petals have already fallen off.

At one point in my journey I travel alongside and under the Shinkansen rail. I hear it zooming overhead a few times and really get a sense of how incredibly fast and futuristic it is! Maybe it will seem obsolete though when Elon finishes his Hyperloop.

The cities and towns going from Kyoto to Osaka literally never stop! there is not a single break of rural area between the two cities. I think that it attests to how much is going on in this area for people to be living all along the river.

The path is very comfortable to ride on, and usually is empty like this. People that do pass me by are very friendly and always give a nod acknowledging your existence.

Hirakata Park (ひらかたパーク)

On the other side of the river I spot this huge rainbow ferris wheel that is a part of the Hirakata Amusement Park. Actually in Japan there are quite a number of these small amusement parks, but I would say this one is on the larger side with a huge ferris wheel and a roller coaster.

Yodogawa Kasen Park - Niwaji Putter Golf Course (パターゴルフコース)

Sugahara Johoku Bridge (菅原城北大橋)

As I near Osaka city I pass by these athletic/recreation fields with tennis courts, baseball fields, basketball hoops, soccer fields, and any other activity you can imagine. The Japanese usually gather things up all in one area like this in a compartmentalized way. It's like this is the athletics area, this is the shopping area, and this is the bar/izakaya area. It's like every part of a town/city in Japan has a theme or distinction.

In Japan there are a lot of these mini golf courses called park golf where usually more elderly people play golf with mallet putters and golf balls, but the holes are like a miniature golf course (bottom left picture).

I also saw this man fishing along the river. Japanese love to fish anywhere they can I guess! (bottom right picture)

I'm almost in the city now, and my legs are definitely hurting a bit as I am approaching the 45 kilometer mark. It starts to get more congested as you go into the city so I'd recommend being careful the closer you get to the bigger buildings.

Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street romotional association (天六商店街振興組合)

This is one of the Arcades you can find in Osaka called Tenjinbashisuji. Arcades in Japan are long shopping streets that are typically covered and can be found all over Japan even in the smallest towns. Osaka's Arcades are definitely some of the longest in Japan... I probably biked down this Arcade for a good half hour and it was still going! Of course I had to weave in and out of pedestrians so I don't recommend it.

This Arcade goes back to my earlier point of how the Japanese like to group things up all into one place as it is more efficient. Of course you can find malls and restaurants in more decentralized places within a city/town in Japan, but locals can easily come to Arcades and find everything they need! This makes sense since most Japanese rely on public transportation so they can zoom around to different parts of town as easily as Americans with their cars.

Temma Tenjin Hanjo Tei (天満天神繁昌亭)

I'm not really sure why there were these Japanese Theater looking statues hanging above the Arcade entrance... pretty cool though!

They can be found around the corner from the Temma Tenjin Hanjo Tei Performing Arts Theater, but if you are walking down the main Arcade street you will run into this site eventually.

U.S. Consulate General Osaka (駐大阪・神戸米国総領事館)

During the start of Covid in Japan all the flights leaving the country and coming in were shutdown. I was set to leave Japan in early April, but my flight ended up getting cancelled. It was unclear at the time how long this would last, so I decided to go to the consulate on this day as well to see if I could catch a plane ride back home through them. No luck here though... and I had to actually call them from outside since they weren't allowing anyone besides staff inside the building.

Dotonbori (道頓堀)

I think when people think of Osaka, Dotonburi is definitely the most recognizable place. During Covid is was completely empty in parts as every business had to shut down.

Dotonbori Glico Sign (道頓堀グリコサイン)

The Glico sign is one of the most recognizable sites in this area. The billboard was installed in 1935 as an advertisement for the Glico confectionery company. I don't see how it has anything to do with confectioneries... and I think most people just come to take picture with it because, well, look at it! It's Japanese randomness culture as I like to call it.

I ended up leaving Osaka around 5 p.m. to head back to Kyoto completely forgetting I still had at least 4 hours of biking left to do. I was having such a nice time exploring the city on bicycle that I lost track of the time.

In the bottom picture you can see Osaka's towering buildings clearly from the bicycle/pedestrian path.

Isoshima Golf Center (磯島ゴルフセンター)

Japanese also love to golf in case you didn't know.

The sun starts to set around 7 p.m. and I still have about 30 kilometers left back to Kyoto. I probably biked in the dark for a good hour, but it was actually quite pleasant since the path was very safe and Japan is just a safe place in general.

Toji (東寺)

I didn't even know I'd be passing by Toji on my way back home, as I was just focused on getting into my bathtub and bed as soon as possible. This was a nice treat though at the end of the long biking day. It's one of the most well illuminated temples I saw in Kyoto.

I completed my first 100 kilometer bike ride, plus a little extra since I was biking around in the city! I would say this was on the easier side as the road is fairly flat all the way. The only thing that was difficult about this bicycle route was the winds!

Here is my Bicycle Route Rating for this trip:

Difficulty: 3

Scenery: 7

I can't think of other criteria to describe it now, but maybe I'll think of something later!

This bike route is definitely doable in a day for serious cyclist (which I am not and I was way in over my head to do this in a day), but if you want to take it leisurely I'd recommend biking to Osaka and staying the night there, or taking your bicycle back on the train to Kyoto.