Japan is one of the best countries in the world for motorcycle touring - great roads, clear signage, amazing food and culture, and towns that make natural stopping points. The navigation challenges usually aren’t about the roads. They’re about signal drop-outs in mountain areas, battery drain, and rain.
This guide is about the Shogun approach: simple systems that keep you confidently routed all day.
- Connectivity: don’t assume you’ll always have signal
Even in Japan, coverage can easily drop in valleys, mountain passes and rural stretches - exactly where the riding is best. For self-guided riders, we strongly recommend having a reliable data plan (SIM or eSIM) so your navigation doesn’t depend on finding Wi-Fi mid-day.
- Download offline maps before you ride
Google Maps is excellent in Japan, but it becomes much less helpful when reception drops out. The single best step is to download offline maps for the regions you’ll be riding through (and test that the offline area covers your day’s routes).
- Route planning: build for human error, not perfection
Most navigation failures happen at the same times: leaving a fuel stop, exiting a busy town, or splitting at a junction. Keep your plan robust:
- Set a clear first waypoint after departure (so everyone is heading to the same place)
- Use obvious regroup points (a major rest area, a well-known viewpoint, a specific town)
- Avoid overly complex routes through cities unless you really need them, traffic can make navigation that extra bit difficult and can easily split groups up
- Phone mounts and rain
Japan can throw sudden rain at you - especially in shoulder seasons and in the mountains. A reliable setup includes:
- A secure motorcycle phone mount appropriate for your bike and roads (Shogun’s bikes all come with a complimentary phone mount)
- Pack a waterproof phone pouch/sleeve - treat this as good enough to keep it dry, but not perfect
- A genuinely waterproof phone case - some cases are marked as waterproof. They can work, but check the waterproof rating and make sure you install properly to keep the seals intact
- Make sure you’re pulling over to troubleshoot or get your phone in a case once it starts raining!
- Charging - treat battery as a safety item
Navigation, photos, translation and messages all compete for battery. Don’t let charging become a late-afternoon crisis. We recommend bringing a power bank to use at lunch. Some bikes have USB power too so you could bring a short, durable cable.
- Touring in a group: prevent the classic “we lost Dave” moment
Group riding works best when you assume the group will be split up at some point - and you design around that.
We recommend agreeing on a plan in advance, keeping regroup points frequent enough (stopping every hour to an hour-and-a-half usually works well) and assign one person to confirm the next step with everyone before departure.
- GPX routes
If you prefer a more “set-and-follow” navigation style, GPX can be a great option for self-guided touring. A GPX file lets you follow a pre-planned track - useful for keeping you on the scenic roads you actually want, and reducing the chances that your navigation app re-routes you onto faster (but less interesting) highways.
Shogun doesn’t provide GPS devices with bikes, but we can provide GPX files on request as part of a self-guided package - these are best suited for riders who bring their own compatible device (or app). In practice this is most common with riders who are used to touring on dedicated navigation - often on bikes like BMW adventure/touring models.
Practical takeaway
A strong Japan motorcycle tour navigation setup is not fancy: it’s reliable data, offline maps, charging and clear regroup points. That combination eliminates most stress and lets you focus on the ride.
If you book a Shogun self-guided tour, we provide day-by-day routing built around realistic regroup points and “no-signal” safe planning - so your route keeps working even when reception doesn’t.
