Why this ride
166 km from Fukuoka to Fukuoka, about 3 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group, Hetsu-miya, Nakatsu-miya and Okitsu-miya Yohaisho.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fukuoka afternoon · Okitsu-miya Yohaisho
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 166 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 11
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fukuoka
Fukuoka is the big city of Kyushu, home to about one and a half million people, and it feels closer to Seoul and Shanghai than to Tokyo in the way it turns its face to the sea. The harbour of Hakata has been a gateway to the continent for two thousand years, and a gold seal found nearby, dated to the first century AD, is said to record a gift from the Chinese emperor. In 1274 and 1281 the Mongols landed here with huge fleets, and the stone wall built to resist them survives in places.
Read the complete Fukuoka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fukuoka is where the day begins. Next is Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group.
2. Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
In Fukuoka prefecture, on the shore of the Genkai Sea, a group of burial mounds records the power of the Munakata clan, the family who were priests and sea-lords of the strait between Kyushu and Korea. Shimbaru-Nuyama is a cluster of tombs from the fifth and sixth centuries, small and large mounds scattered over a low ridge, and it belongs to the World Heritage listing for Okinoshima and the associated sites of the Munakata region, inscribed in 2017. Okinoshima is a remote island in the channel where ritual offerings were made for centuries to pray for safe voyages, and no women are allowed to land, and men must purify themselves in the sea before setting foot on it.
Read the complete Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group comes up 14 km in. Next is Hetsu-miya.
3. Hetsu-miya
Hetsu-miya is the third of the Munakata shrines, and the only one you can drive to. Munakata Taisha honours three goddesses, the daughters of the sun goddess Amaterasu in the old myths, and each lives in a different place along the sea lane between Japan and Korea: one on the remote island of Okinoshima, one on Ōshima and one here on the mainland, at Tashima, beside a calm pine grove close to the shore. The grounds are plain, with a simple wooden hall and an air of sea and pine, and in autumn a festival draws crowds and boats.
Read the complete Hetsu-miya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
28 km in you reach Hetsu-miya. Next is Nakatsu-miya.
4. Nakatsu-miya
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.
Read the complete Nakatsu-miya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nakatsu-miya, about halfway. Next is Okitsu-miya Yohaisho.
5. Okitsu-miya Yohaisho
Some holy places are meant to be seen from a distance. Off the coast of Munakata, in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, the island of Okinoshima rises from the Genkai Sea about sixty kilometres offshore. It is a sacred island where rituals were performed from the fourth to the ninth century, and tens of thousands of offerings, including mirrors, jewels and gold rings, were left on its rocks. Ordinary visitors are not allowed to land, so on the island of Oshima, closer to the mainland, stands the Okitsu-miya Yohaisho, a hall from which worshippers can pray towards Okinoshima across the sea.
Read the complete Okitsu-miya Yohaisho write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Okitsu-miya Yohaisho sits at 56 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nakatsu-miya.
6. Back to Fukuoka
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fukuoka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nakatsu-miya comes up 70 km in. Next is back through Hetsu-miya.
7. back through Hetsu-miya
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hetsu-miya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least 106 km in you reach back through Hetsu-miya. Next is back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group.
8. back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group, late in the day. Next is Fukuoka.
9. Fukuoka
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fukuoka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 112 km.
Leg by leg
Fukuoka to Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
Fukuoka → Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group to Hetsu-miya
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group → Hetsu-miya is 4 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hetsu-miya to Nakatsu-miya
Hetsu-miya → Nakatsu-miya is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hetsu-miya to back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
back through Hetsu-miya → back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group is 4 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group to Fukuoka
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group → Fukuoka is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.