Biking
Japan is a mountainous country, and while the popular conception is that Japan is a small country with a high population is actually true, as with most countries, the densest population is in the cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo...). The mountains are largely un-crowded, and they afford some excellent mountain biking. Though we don't downhill as much these days, we still frequently pack up our bikes and go to the center of Japan - to Yamanashi and Nagano - where the realmountains are and cool trails are.
However, that doesn't mean that Susono (our little city) doesn't have much to offer; Susono is a valley, surrounded by the Hakone and Ashitaka mountain ranges, and pretty much every time we get on the bike, we either go straight up or straight down. Since we've become dedicated single-speeders (about two years ago), we've developed some pretty impressive leg muscles (pics coming soon, promise!).
Our Rides
We've both sold all our downhill bikes and cross-country bikes (yes, all of them - we'd had a stable of bikes, but they're all gone now!) and we now ride exclusively Single-Speed 29ers. Pictured above left is my Gary Fisher Rig, which I've tricked up with a cool Thomson Expert seat-post and a Thomson stem. Considering that the Rig's only real drawback was the crappy headset, I have to say that the best upgrade I made was installing a gorgeous Chris King headset.
As for Brian - though he had/has a Rig, too, he now exclusively rides his custom built single-speed 29er which we've named "Ruby" for it's beautiful colors. It's a Clockwork cycle, designed and built by Joel Greenblatt (of Clockwork Cycles). The Ruby is a stunning piece of work, and Brian had a very pleasant experience dealing with Joel before, during and after he placed his order. Seriously, if you're thinking of going custom, we can recommend Joel at Clockwork Cycles.