Under a modest round hill in the rice fields of Asuka lie two people who changed Japan: the Emperor Temmu, who died in 686, and his wife, who ruled after him as Empress Jito. Temmu had come to power by winning a short and bloody civil war in 672, the Jinshin disturbance, after hiding for a while in the mountains of Yoshino. Jito, who died in 702, was cremated, unusually for her time, and her ashes were laid beside her husband's. The tomb is octagonal, an echo of the imperial throne's shape, and a deliberate rank marker in the burial customs of the late seventh century.
Asuka has the feel of a place where Japan found its feet. It was the seat of the court in the sixth and seventh centuries, when Buddhism arrived and Chinese models of government were adopted, and the flat valley is dotted with strange stone monuments: giant granite blocks in tombs, carved stone figures whose purpose nobody quite knows, and the painted chamber of Takamatsuzuka, whose murals of women in colourful robes startled everyone when they were found in the 1970s. The whole region is gentle and green, and in September the paddy banks glow with red spider lilies.
The ride from here goes to the Yoshino and Omine area, which suits the story: you retrace, more or less, the path of an exile heading into the mountains. The road leaves the Asuka basin and rises into the Yoshino hills by roads lined with cedar and persimmon, with climbs that get steadily narrower. Kimpusen-ji, the headquarters of the mountain Shugendo tradition, and its enormous wooden hall of Zao Gongen stand high on the slope above the town of Yoshino, a place known above all for its cherry trees, planted by pilgrims over the centuries and flowering in waves from the lower slopes to the summit in April.
Remember a few practical things. The back lanes of Asuka are tiny, shared with cyclists and farm vehicles, and the village streets are often barely wider than a car, so go gently. Kashihara has fuel stations and food in good supply, but between there and Yoshino the choice shrinks. During the cherry season Yoshino is very crowded, and the road up to it may be restricted, so go in the off-season, or very early. Autumn colour, in November, is also lovely, and much quieter.