Day 17: (88 km) Sakura - The Best Beach Ever
(08/15/06)

We passed into Niigata-ken today, following highway 345 along a surprisingly concrete free section of the Japan Sea coast. On the way we hit the 1000 km mark. Around sunset, we camped at the best beach I've seen in Japan. It was a happy, supremely chill night. Even the long nightly meeting couldn't ruin my coastal euphoria. It was a day for pictures rather than words.