Satellite tombs are the quiet puzzle of Furuichi. Beside every great mound there seems to be a scatter of small ones, some round, some square, and some keyhole-shaped, and Mukohakayama is one of the mounds clustered around the tomb of the emperor Ojin, a sizeable keyhole in its own right. Archaeologists reckon that the people buried in them were relatives and retainers of the ruler, which would make the whole area a vast family graveyard laid out around the king like a court around a throne. At the larger scale the Mozu-Furuichi tombs were listed by UNESCO in 2019.
The tombs make better sense when you remember how the land looked. In the fifth century this was a fertile plain of rice paddies and rivers between the mountains of Kongo and Ikoma and the sea, and the tomb builders had access to a large workforce and an organised administration. They covered the mounds with stones, lined them with clay cylinders and figures called haniwa, and encircled them with moats, so that from a distance they would have looked like fortresses.
Today the neighbourhood is part of Habikino, a city known for its orchards, with grapes and figs growing on the slopes at the edge of the hills. That is useful to a rider, because the roads on the east side lead up into small rural lanes where farm stands sell fruit in season. The riding in the lowlands is slow, with signals and narrow streets, and the key is to head east early. Summer is hot, with high humidity, and autumn is the best season, with clear skies and the first colour in the leaves.
Fuel is available in Habikino and Matsubara, both with stations on the main roads, and the supermarkets and convenience stores sell cold drinks, which you will need in July. A few modest shops near the station offer a plate of local noodles.
The ride list takes this point on to Daigo-ji, the great temple complex in the hills south-east of Kyoto, famous for its cherry blossoms and its five-storey pagoda dating from the tenth century. The road takes you through Nara's countryside, and the old capital makes a good place for a rest on the way.