RtG Japan Daily Dispatch - day00 - Flipbook - Page 23
18 September to
16 October 2025
Day 11 Niigata to Nikko (332km)
Ales and Jana Koci, 1972 BMW 3.0 CSi
We were heading inland today to a night halt as far from
the sea as we’ve been so far, with three Regularities along
the way. The first, the so-called Don’t put it in the Aga, ran
along and over the river of the same name and through
a forest veiled with mist hanging over the hairpins still
dripping with last night’s rain. An imposing bridge, and
another heavy shower that washed the mud from the cars,
made their presence felt en-route to the Time Control in the
Fattoria Comoto, Aizubange, an aptly named establishment
in an area reminiscent of the Italian Dolomites.
A fast road with several more metal bridges over the
Tadami River and its tributary, the Otani, whisked us into
the second Regularity from Magata, with another climb
through the nebbia to almost 950m.
The weather forecast had been fairly accurate for the
morning, but the consensus was that we had endured a few
too many showers and were a little short on sunshine. By
lunchtime, however, at the Time Control in the Aizu Astraea
Hotel in Aizu Kogen, there was a little more blue sky. Sadly,
not enough to sit on the terrace to enjoy our buffet of local
delicacies complete with fish-shaped waffles for dessert.
We’re in the western most region of Fukushima Prefecture,
and Aizu Kogen is an important ski area, popular for its
impressive mountains, through which we travelled on our
way to the Route 56 (85% of the Kicks) Regularity. This might
have been the drier side of the Nanatsugatake mountain
range and the Nikko National Park, but there was still a bear
menace, described by several ominous warning signs. The
section itself passed off without incident and led the rally
up a staircase of hairpins past an abandoned hotel towards
Gill and John Cotton and their stopwatch, stationed at an
equally abandoned ski and snowboard rental shop.
The afternoon’s rally rendezvous was at a Passage
Control in the Kinugawa Coffee shop, where the crews
took on some suitable stimulants to see them through the
final 35km to the day’s end in the Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel
in Nikko, the birthplace of fly fishing in Japan. Sitting next
to a lake, at an altitude of 1269 metres, this small town is a
popular site for the residences of foreign embassies, away
from the heat, noise and bustle of Tokyo.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
The heavy rain this morning was something of a
surprise after the tropical weather of yesterday.
But, much like time and tide, a rally waits for no
man, meaning that for some of the crews a postbreakfast dash to the car park was called for to
secure whatever hoods and covers they had.
29 September 2025
Michael Lutolf and Patt Henderson, 1947 Citroen 11B
www.rallytheglobe.com
