Big Red Bike Tour Stage 2: Freaky Friday

29 August 2025

Pushed for time, yet pressed to get riding the Big Red Bike Tour, I turned to an old favorite for Stage 2 and headed out and about near home to see the local monsters.

We’re short on time because we’re due to go drinking with a neighbor’s family tonight before they return to England. The neighbor’s daughter is married to a man who shares the same surname as the Kangaeroos, which I still find an amazing coincidence. Our not so common but hardly rare clan name managed to find two inhabitants in a foreign country of over 120 million people. So I am keen on going and learning more. They’re already out on a trip and are due back this afternoon, so any trip I made needed to be finished by the early arvo.

I started the Freaky Friday frolic by heading off to see Godzilla outside the DCM Chofu home center.

I have never seen the topiary in a great state, but going back to a couple of years after it was set up in 1999, it still looked good. Now it is neglected.

It wasn’t far from there to the wonderful Kitaro Hiroba, which is packed with attractions for kids based on the characters created by Shigeru Mizuki.

There were a couple of kids beating the heat on one of the attractions, which was spraying them with water, and it was a delight to see the little ones outside, especially as it is still school holidays, albeit a time when focus is generally being given to completing summer assignments.

Next it was onto Jindaiji Temple where I had hoped to see a store of characters also inspired by Mizuki, who lived the most prosperous years of his life in Chofu. But the store has been demolished and no trace survives, including its monsters. It was on to the Lake Tama Cycling Road, which is a delightful path weaving through the western surburbs.

My next target was the topiary Totoro, which I have written about pretty extensively before.

By now, I was running out of time to meet my promised return. And I was nowhere near the target length I’d hoped for on the ride, but it was still fun. I made it to Dodo Hiroba in Fuchu. Although the name hints at an extinct bird not known for its intelligence, this little area is delightfully decorated by a bunch of running Buddhas.