Taro Yum Yum

 Cheers Dave! Good luck with the trail advocacy, Japan is blessed with endless mountains and countless ancient trails. Couldn't be too hard to polish a few up and link them together.. Gambate!

 Hope you're enjoying the benefits of the big wheels. Fun to watch you working to ride it like a 26'. よくできました！

 Arigatou! Having fun finding out for myself what these wagon wheels are all about.

 @orientdave... Nagoya? Seems Nintendo could imagine a decent set of trails... Hills ring the city, only ever passed through, but thought it could be a great place for a rider to live.

 Oh, it is! There are opportunities a plenty in those hills, I spend a fair bit of time walking some of the trails around here trying to find ways of linking them up...I was on the Toukai Nature Road walking this weekend trying to find some potential places too. You'd be surprised though how, in many places, the mountains are just so young and active that what was passable last week will be impassable for years after the latest typhoon etc. I suspect this is one of the reasons why there are very few permanent trails around. We keep on trying and one day, one day, we will find a beauty or two!

 Toukai shizen hodo! I used to ride from home in Iwayado to Jokouji via Mikuni Yama regularly along the Tokai shizen hodo. Jokouji itself is a nice loop too.

 Exactly Josh, the Shizen Kaido has some great spots in Aichi... I have been trying to convince Mark to go and check some more out. I have found this place, which you know right.... and am wondering where it comes out...any idea? www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m8!1m3!1d3!2d137.439699!3d35.155241!2m2!1f290.57!2f96.6!4f75!2m7!1e1!2m2!1sHGVwpvRsAy5qeNSedtSHNg!2e0!5m2!1sHGVwpvRsAy5qeNSedtSHNg!2e0&fid=5

I have been looking around the Mie side for a few years from Tsuge down through to Kameyama and then across the base of the Suzuka mountains for a while however I haven't found anything as good as the Aichi sections yet: The Suzuka Mountains keep getting washed away in the typhoons leaving impassable (on a bike) stuff. Last week my daughter and I were checking out a section between Yunoyama and Miyazuma when we saw these couple of amazingly huge (think female lion size!) wild / stray dogs come bounding down from the mountains....they just looked at us and continued on their merry way. Great place the Shizenhodo!

 That's got to be the first time I've ever seen a warning for black bears in Japan ツキノフグマ. Plenty of monkey signs and the like, but never bear. Cool. I guess living in Saitama in the late 70's early 80's and riding only road bike and motorcycles in the mountains meant never slowing to see any signs like that. Cool.
The dogs sound a bit sketchy though. Big wild dogs... I think I'd rather encounter a bear.

 I've managed to do both in my 20 years here! A face to face with a black bear on 氷ノ山in Tottori. We stood and stared at each other for...I don't know how long... 5 to 10 seconds, then he ran off. Both were pretty sketchy, but the dogs put more fear in me for sure... they looked like this one on the left: fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1005005_10152056334245499_2099503232_n.jpg Apparently, this breed "甲斐雑犬" from 山梨 looked like what we saw, only obviously living wild by the looks of them.
Scary stuff.

 Isn't that Nebiso? If it is you have found an amazing trail.. See my vid "Last Stand in Japan" for reference. Is a solid hour push/ride to the top from this point but from the top is some great fast rolling single and epic descent, also the highest mnt in Aichi if I remember rightly. Can't remember exactly where it ends but if you pass an onsen on the drive out.. That's where we used to leave a vehicle to retrieve the shuttle vehicle from the top. Plan a full day and enjoy the onsen at rides end. Hope it is indeed Nebiso.. And I hope this helps.

 And some gnarly looking dogs for sure! Wildlife encounters on rides are the best, especially when your out there alone! Enjoy man

 Have seen a couple of bears and on one unforgettable ride, a cougar. Thing could have killed me easily I'm sure. Cool to see wildlife and carry the story rather than scars away.

 Cool. A quick search online for 甲斐雑犬 showed a couple of sites where it appears they use these dogs for hunting wild boar in Japan. Now a boar would scare the daylights out of me.

 Yes mate, acceleration and rolling efficiency are hugely noticeable, the trick is linking all the tighter/techy corners without getting hung up. Has taught me how to ride more efficiently, rather than looking to lip off everything now I'm looking to straightline more and bulldoze my way thru to a point.. I think a full suspension 29er platform (like yours) would be better for rough trail riding, however as the larger wheels allow you to plough, but lack of give in the rear mean she's a hard ride out back.. was getting a lot of pinch flats in the rear when riding platform pedals so have switched to clips allowing me to 'pick' the rear wheel up a lot more, avoiding the slam in the rear!

 Me too mate! I would love to try a big wheeler! As for the flats thats tough josh! I would not think of clips as I have never rode them but on flats you can pick the rear quite easy, you just need to keep your knees loose and pluck the rear for side to side at times! Then about 2 years ago I went tubeless, I have never had a flat since! Just keep lube in the tires and they take the hits like crazy, I even at times hear the rim get slammed but not a pinch flat yet! ahhahah Awesome Trail Surfing! RideOn!

 My tubeless experience not quite as successful, tearing sidewalls on sharp rocks and then end up running tubes anyway! Maybe need a DH tubeless. Would like to try the wider rims though, especially on the larger wheels as there is noticeable flex, which I cant say I ever noticed before now.. Also the back wheel slam issue is new for me as never a problem on 26er hardtail. As you described picking up backwheel on platforms is easy but with clips its instant! Has been fun discovering all the devil in the details!

 You must run DH tires, single wall tires will tear and not be so good, ahahhahah I use just double wall tires, and I have been on the same pair for the last 2 years. Now its about time to swap them out, ahhahahha might be good before winter! WOW, I would not like flex especially on my fat rear! hhahha I have never tried clips so I cant say but I can image how the bigger wheels might be different to pick up and move around. I know on 26ers you had great flow and style so I take your work for it! ahahhahahhah I hope to see more in the future on this bad girl!

 If it can be ridden on a trail, I don't mind what it looks like or what size the wheels are!

 Thanks dude, Tree definitely got the best of me! Still getting the hang of the big wheels, everything feels a bit elongated and gangly thru the tight and twisty's. A lot of fun though!

 Thanks brother. Amazing trails to explore!

 Hahaaha, Yes tree hugging is popular here!

 Hi Schelling, long time no speak! Mt Baldy trails are the most extensive we have.. Groomed single track for miles!