Munakata Taisha is not one shrine but three, spread across the sea off northern Kyushu, and Nakatsu-miya is the middle one. The boat leaves from the little harbour of Kōnominato and takes roughly a quarter of an hour, crossing water that was once the main sea lane between Japan and the Korean peninsula. Shrines were built at three points along that lane to protect sailors, and the middle one honours the goddess Tagitsuhime.
The island is small, quiet and rich in forest, with camellias and old trees around the shrine, and deer and cats wander the paths. On the far side is a place where worshippers pray toward Okinoshima, the sacred island further out, which is closed to ordinary visitors and has been for centuries, a place where sailors left offerings of mirrors, gold rings and carved gems that now fill a museum on the mainland. Ōshima is the closest an ordinary person can get to that old idea of the sea as a holy road.
For a rider the real appeal is the coast. The road along the Genkai Sea, with its views of islands, small fishing harbours and pine-covered headlands, is one of the best easy rides in northern Kyushu. The surface is excellent, the bends are smooth and the traffic is light outside holidays, though summer weekends fill the beaches and the road. There is a ferry timetable to respect, and weather can cancel crossings, so check before you set out, and leave the bike on the mainland, since you walk on the island.
Fuel is no trouble. Koga and Nishifukuma, with populations of forty to sixty thousand, are close, and the roadside stations on the coast sell fresh fish, rice balls and strong coffee. The other half of this ride heads for the Imperial Steel Works at Yawata, in Kitakyushu, the plant that powered Japan's industrialisation, and the contrast between the island shrine and the blast furnaces makes the day. Late April and October are lovely, with clear light and mild sea air.