Why this ride
138 km from Kyoto to Kyoto, about 2 h 33 of riding. The stops in between: Nagayama Kofun, Genemonyama Kofun, Maruhoyama Kofun and Komoyamazuka Kofun.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kyoto long day · Komoyamazuka Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 138 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 33
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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. Kyoto
Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years, from 794 until 1868, and it still carries itself like it. The founders laid the city out on the Chinese model, a rectangular grid with the palace at the north, and the grid is why a tourist can wander straight for ten minutes and know where they are. The old city sits in a basin ringed by low wooded mountains on three sides: Higashiyama to the east, Kitayama to the north, Nishiyama to the west. Seventeen monuments in and around Kyoto make up the UNESCO listing, from the mossy temples to the great castle of Nijo.
Read the complete Kyoto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kyoto is where the day begins. Next is Nagayama Kofun.
2. Nagayama Kofun
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.
Read the complete Nagayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nagayama Kofun comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Genemonyama Kofun.
3. Genemonyama Kofun
A tomb moat is a pond with a purpose, and over the centuries it has become something else: a habitat. Genemonyama Kofun is another of the Sakai mounds, and what strikes you first is the water, dark green and quiet, with lotus pads in summer, ducks in winter and grey herons standing at the edge. The moats were dug to separate the tomb from the world and to supply earth for the mound, and farmers later used the water for irrigation, so that the tombs became part of the local water system. Today they shelter fish, turtles, kingfishers and a surprising amount of insect life.
Read the complete Genemonyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Genemonyama Kofun. Next is Maruhoyama Kofun.
4. Maruhoyama Kofun
Look at a satellite photograph of the city of Sakai and you will see something odd. Among the grey grid of roofs lie dark green shapes, some shaped like keyholes, ringed by water, sitting between houses and rail lines as if the city were growing around them. These are the Mozu kofun, great burial mounds raised for the rulers of the Yamato kingdom in the fifth century, and they form the western half of the Mozu-Furuichi group that was inscribed as World Heritage in 2019. The largest, the Daisen Kofun, is traditionally attributed to Emperor Nintoku and is one of the biggest tombs in the world by area, about half a kilometre long.
Read the complete Maruhoyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Maruhoyama Kofun, about halfway. Next is Komoyamazuka Kofun.
5. Komoyamazuka Kofun
On the map, Komoyamazuka looks like a green thumbprint pressed into the urban sprawl of Sakai, and that is not far off the truth. It is one of the keyhole-shaped burial mounds in the great tomb cluster that gives the city its place on the World Heritage list, an old mound, likely from the fifth century, wearing a moat and a crown of trees. Nobody is quite sure who lies inside many of these mounds, since archaeologists have rarely been allowed to dig, and the names we use are often a mix of old tradition and later guesswork.
Read the complete Komoyamazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Komoyamazuka Kofun sits at 77 km, about halfway. Next is back through Maruhoyama Kofun.
6. back through Maruhoyama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Maruhoyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Maruhoyama Kofun comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Genemonyama Kofun.
7. back through Genemonyama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Genemonyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Genemonyama Kofun. Next is back through Nagayama Kofun.
8. back through Nagayama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nagayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nagayama Kofun, late in the day. Next is Kyoto.
9. Kyoto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kyoto 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 138 km.
Leg by leg
Kyoto to Nagayama Kofun
Kyoto → Nagayama Kofun is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Nagayama Kofun to Kyoto
back through Nagayama Kofun → Kyoto is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.