In the urban areas, just get a business hotel or something (its just a whole lot easier than searching for a place to hide). Otherwise, in the rural areas you should be able to make it from campsite to campsite without much trouble, last time I was there I went from Fukuyama (I've got a lot of relatives there, stayed for about a week) down to Shimonoseki, and then up north along the Japan sea side. Once past Shimonoseki, it was pretty easy to make it from campsite to campsite. (most expensive one I was at was 1000yen, most were cheap, around 300-500 yen, or even free)

And regarding narrower roads compared to Hokkaido, I honestly felt a lot safer on even the really narrow roads than I ever did riding in some parts of the US, so your opinion of the roads in Japan might be a little different from other people's once you experience them. (Nobody threatening me, nobody throwing things at me, nobody trying to door me etc.) Just watch out for the gutters, I'd hate to fall into one of those things.

What if you try doing something similar to what I did? South to north, or otherwise? You could tour through Hokkaido, and then go south on the less populated Japan sea side, and loop up and maybe stay in Tokyo for a few days before leaving?


Oh, what kind of bike are you planning on using? I did it with a folder, rear rack and a backpack. Nice thing about the folder is I was able to keep the bike after, and I was able to jump on the train a couple times when it started storming. (Also got it on the shinkansen back to Tokyo.)