Once out of Tochigi, the roads were all paved (except for a couple detours for getting a tile). I had GK 32s on my Ritchey Outback and they were just right. Could have gotten away with 28s if I hadn't been tiling. Roads on the flats have lots of heavy trucks, but they had good cycle friendly paved section parallel to the road. They weren't grown over like some paths, so I made good speed on them. In the mountains the roads were paved well, and little or no traffic. The Manganji Temple was kind of interesting. Looks like a training center with dormitory for monks. After the temple (km23 mark) I went over the ridgeline to the next valley. Nice descent to the road, then a ride through the valley with old farmhouses and rice fields just planted. Nice section of road.