Look at the first picture. The Japanese words in red mean "You are here". We were round-riding in a clockwise direction along the coastline of the Shakotan Peninsula, which is located in the west of Sapporo. There are lots of (about 1000 or more) rest areas along the road in Japan, which are called "michinoeki", which are literally roadside stations. Each michinoeki has its own characteristics but one thing in common, the rest rooms which are open to the public 24/7. The red sign on the board points at a michinoeki, Oskoi Kamoenai.
You can see it in the second picture, and it looked rather exclusive compared with other michinoekis. According to its staff, it was destroyed by high waves of a typhoon in 2004 and had long been closed, but was rebuilt in 2010. Hearing that, I understood its exclusive design. The hill behind it also looked steep, though the wall was shored up.
Yesterday it was raining heavily almost all day. There were "no" riders other than us. I thought that the total number of riders in Hokkaido might have decreased recently, but it was not right. They were just staying inside and we were just abnormal. We met several riders since then today and met a couple riding a Honda Gold Wing here. Chatting with strangers in this way is also part of the fun of motorcycle riding. We continued on the journey.
(Vocabulary)
shore sth up
＜経済・価格など＞を支える = prop up
＜屋根・壁など＞を支える = prop up
Michinoeki:
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2006/08/lay-by-michino-.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2014/08/muroran-city-and-toyako-lake.html
地図で赤い文字で書いてあるところに着いた。この道の駅の造りに興味を持った。この周囲をシャットアウトする構造は異様である。聞けば２００４年に台風により破壊され、２０１０年に場所を変えて再開したらしい。後ろの擁壁をみると、この場所は海の上に作った場所に違いなく、厳しい自然環境が想像された。
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