"EARLY BIRDS BREAKFAST" is the breakfast spot attached to Circles. As you all know, the owner, Keita Ohira, serves American breakfasts starting at 7:00 AM every morning. And as those who follow his Instagram (@keita_earlybirds) know, he is always out for a bicycle ride on his days off.
I have never properly asked him how riding fits into his life as a man who crafts delicious food, but his passion for this ride event, "WONDER HOPPER," shows that the two are inseparable for him.
The same can be said for Circles, which, despite being a bicycle shop, also features three food and beverage departments. Where do we go on our bikes, what kind of rides do we enjoy, who do we gather around the table with, and what kind of food do we enjoy? These are the fundamental parts of the life with bicycles that we envision. Though still experimental, a ride series chasing such ideals has begun.
VISON and the Botanical Research Institute RINNE
The venue was VISON, a newly opened commercial resort facility in Taki Town, Mie Prefecture. It is a massive facility themed around healing, food, and knowledge, and the scale, design, and landscape of its unique initiatives are truly overwhelming.
The main venue for this event was "Botanical Research Institute RINNE," a shop standing alone in the wilderness known as "Oku Vison." It is a pleasant space with a large glass wall that overlooks the mountains of Taki Town.
First, we fueled up with a breakfast prepared by Keita from Early Birds. It wasn't the usual Early Birds menu, but a special set created just for this day.
Taki Town and the Miya River
After leaving VISON, we rode all around Taki Town in central Mie Prefecture. It is an area located upstream of Ise Jingu, carrying a mysterious atmosphere. VISON's operations also focus on the medicinal herbs often found in this region as a key theme. The wild cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the mottled green and pink mountainside was truly beautiful.
There was one small pass and one large pass, each respectively. We traced the Kushida River upstream and the Miya River downstream, riding a loop route of about 60km at our own individual paces.
The Takihara-no-miya Shrine we visited along the way is a solemn, sacred place that predates the construction of Ise Jingu.
This place has nurtured a special culture for a long time; it has no high mountains or flashy tourist attractions, just beautiful flowing rivers and lush vegetation. It makes me imagine the landscape of Japan's early dawn, and personally, it is one of my favorite areas.
Dinner around the table, prepared by chef Tomohiro Kamiya of "Hinome"
The long-awaited dinner was a course meal by Tomohiro Kamiya, who runs "Hinome," a restaurant in Kameyama, Mie, that specializes in dishes centered on local vegetables.
The menu listed only the vegetables as ingredients, including the "new onion" as the main. I initially wondered what it would be like to have an onion as the main dish, but each vegetable had such a powerful presence that I was genuinely surprised by how much of a lead role a vegetable could play! It was a stimulating experience, just like the ride.
Chef Kamiya of "Hinome" is 29 years old. Even just from hearing him talk a little about his cooking, it was very clear that his thoughtfulness and uniqueness shine through in both his personality and his cuisine. I was able to spend a truly rich time eating food made by someone who works in that land, using ingredients grown in that land, after riding through that very land. Thank you very much.
The delicious time and fun conversation continued for a long time.
Various Participants
What makes a ride event interesting is that it brings together various types of participants. We had local riders, friends from Nagoya, and others who gathered from Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto to ride and gather around the table together. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves in their own way, whether they were seasoned cyclists or joining their first long ride, and I really enjoyed it myself.
How do we interweave elements like riding, food, region, and people to enjoy life through bicycles? The WONDER HOPPER initiative, which is interesting precisely because there is no single right answer, has just begun. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
WONDER HOPPER
https://www.instagram.com/wonder.hopper/