Most of the great keyhole tombs of Sakai are surrounded by houses, and the ordinary life of the neighbourhood goes on right up to the moat. Nagayama Kofun is one of the smaller ones, a mound that rises behind residential streets, with a path along the edge and a ring of trees. Locals use the moat's edge for the morning walk, children play on the grass nearby, and old men fish for carp in the water. It is a mixed picture of an ancient monument living quietly inside the modern city.
The tombs here were built in the fifth century, when the Yamato kings held the Inland Sea trade routes and the port of Sakai was a gateway to the continent. Over time, many of the mounds were forgotten, and trees and farms covered them. In the nineteenth century the new Meiji state made a point of identifying the tombs of the ancient emperors, and the Imperial Household Agency has managed them ever since. Many are thus closed to excavation, though archaeologists have worked on the smaller ones.
For a rider, the pleasure is of a slower kind, getting to know the streets of an ordinary Japanese city. Roads here are narrow, flat and busy, but the drivers are calm and the tram line is a historic, charming one. Keep to low speeds, watch for cyclists coming out of side streets and respect pedestrian crossings. Motorbike parking is sometimes easy to find near convenience stores and sometimes impossible, so be prepared to walk. There is a lot of vending-machine coffee and small bakeries, plus family restaurants.
Sakai has all the fuel stations and food you need, and the nearby commercial district around the station is lively. Sakai's old harbour area has a historic lighthouse and warehouses, and the great merchant history is kept alive by museums. In spring, cherry trees along the moat bloom pink, and autumn has clear air. The summer humidity is heavy, so start early.