Kyoto · Arashiyama to Miyama Thatched Village
A 108 km loop from Arashiyama
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Why this ride
Old Japan, forest roads and a quiet village reward. A 108 km loop that starts and ends near Arashiyama, about 1 h 52 of riding. The stops in between: Keihoku forest road, Miyama thatched village and Kameoka. It keeps to quiet secondary roads.
Roadbook
- Arashiyama gate
start
Arashiyama is Kyoto's western edge, where the city runs out of temples and begins to climb into forested hills, and the river Katsura slides under the long wooden Togetsukyo bridge with the mountains rising green behind it. It is one of the most visited corners of the city, and with good reason: the famous bamboo grove, the Tenryu-ji temple with its garden, the old villas tucked among the maples and the little steam-era train that runs up the Hozu gorge all sit within a short walk of each other. Muko, a city to the south, belongs to the suburbs rather than the mountains.
That crowd is the thing to plan around. By ten o'clock the streets are jammed with tourists, rickshaws and tour buses, and a rider will spend more time dodging selfie sticks than leaning into corners, so the start of this ride should be early, at the first light if you can manage it, when the bridge is empty and the bamboo whispers. Once you leave the town, the road climbs north through forest and small valleys, with cedar plantations, narrow lanes and tight bends, a surface that is smooth but often damp, and views that open and close between the trees. Autumn colour in November and cherry blossom in early April bring the biggest crowds and the finest scenery.
The ride runs toward Miyama, the thatched village in the hills north of Kyoto, where dozens of farmhouses with deep, steep roofs of straw stand among rice paddies, a preserved landscape of rural Japan. It is a place of unhurried charm, and the road there is a good way to see how quickly Kyoto's city fades into mountain country. Roads in this part of Japan are well maintained, speed limits are modest and enforced, and local drivers are patient but may not expect a motorbike.
Arashiyama has a long history as a retreat for the imperial court. Aristocrats of the Heian period, over a thousand years ago, built villas among the hills and came to admire the moon over the river, and poets wrote about its cherry blossoms and autumn leaves. The Togetsukyo bridge, whose name means moon crossing bridge, is said to have been named by an emperor who saw the moon appear to cross it. The mountain behind the town holds a park with wild macaques, which can be reached by a short, steep climb.
Fuel is easy to find in Kyoto, so fill up before heading into the hills. Pack a light rain jacket, carry some cash for small shops and leave plenty of time to enjoy the ride.
- Keihoku forest road
scenic
North of Kyoto, the city's famous temples and tourist crowds fall away within a few kilometres and the mountains begin. Keihoku is the high, forested country in the northern part of Kyoto's municipal area, reached by roads that follow river valleys up into cedar plantations, and it feels remote in a way that is hard to believe so close to a city of one and a half million. The slopes are covered with straight, tall trees, planted in neat rows, and the light under them is deep green and still.
These are the Kitayama cedars, a type of forestry that has supplied Kyoto's architects for centuries. The trees are pruned and managed with great care to produce slender, uniform, knot-free trunks, which are polished and used as pillars in teahouses and fine homes. The craft goes back to the fifteenth century or so, and it is a living tradition, visible in the carefully tended groves that climb the hillsides. The old road along the river, a branch of the route that carried fresh mackerel from the Sea of Japan to Kyoto, is known as the Mackerel Road, and fish were said to be salted on the way and arrive in time for the evening meal.
The riding is a pleasure. The roads climb through the forest in a series of curves, with a good surface but some narrow sections, and the air is cool and fragrant. Traffic is light, apart from the occasional logging truck, and the pace is slow. In autumn the maples add red and gold to the dark green, and in winter, snow can fall and ice can form on the shaded corners, so check the conditions before you go. Fog in the valleys is common in the morning.
Fuel and food are best handled before leaving the city or in Kameoka, about sixteen kilometres away, or in Arashiyama on the western edge of Kyoto, where the services are plentiful. Small shops and roadside stations in the valleys offer drinks and snacks, but it is wise not to rely on them. Bring a rain layer, because mountain weather changes quickly. Mornings and late afternoons give the best light, and the air carries the clean smell of cedar. It is a quiet, easy way to see the other side of Kyoto.
- Miyama thatched village
photo
Kitamura, the old heart of Miyama, is a hamlet of thatched farmhouses in a green valley in the mountains of northern Kyoto Prefecture, and it looks like a painting of an older Japan. Dozens of houses with steep, deep roofs of reed thatch stand in rows along a stream, among rice paddies and vegetable plots, and the hillsides behind are thick with cedar and oak. The effect, especially in the early morning when mist hangs over the roofs, is of a world that has been left undisturbed.
The village has been designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, and the roofs are maintained by the community. Re-thatching is a communal job, since a roof needs to be redone every few decades, and the work requires large quantities of reed that must be cut and dried each year. The houses are farmhouses, built by families of the Tamba region, who grew rice and vegetables in the narrow valley, and they were designed to shed snow and rain. Some are now cafes, craft shops, and guesthouses, and a small museum explains the way of life.
The roads to the valley are quiet and pleasant, climbing through forest and farmland on a surface that is generally good, though narrow in places. The ride is gentle, with open bends, a cool breeze, and traffic that is light on weekdays and heavier at weekends and in the autumn colour season. Look out for tour buses on the narrow sections, and keep your speed modest in the village, where visitors wander the street. Winter brings snow, which makes the thatched roofs beautiful and the roads slippery.
Fuel is not available in the village, and the nearest large towns, Obama on the Sea of Japan coast and Arashiyama on the edge of Kyoto, are some distance away, so fill the tank before the climb. Kameoka and the towns on the Keihoku road have stations. In the village, you can find simple lunches of soba noodles, local vegetables, and river fish, and a cup of green tea on a porch is a good way to spend a quiet half hour. Late autumn and winter are especially beautiful, when the hills are gold or white, and the stillness is almost complete.
- Kameoka food
stop
Kameoka is a city in the hills west of Kyoto, in the basin where the Hozu river leaves its mountain gorge and spreads out into the plain. Most visitors know it only as the place where the river boats start, wooden flat-bottomed craft that carry passengers down the Hozu gorge to Arashiyama, steered by boatmen with long poles, and a ride in one is still among the pleasures of the Kyoto area. With about ninety-seven thousand people, it is larger than it first seems, and it makes a very practical place to eat.
History has a dramatic cameo here. Kameyama castle, now long gone, was the base of Akechi Mitsuhide, the general who in 1582 marched his army out of Kameoka toward Kyoto and turned on his lord, Oda Nobunaga, at Honno-ji temple. The remains of the castle site lie within the grounds of a religious organisation, and the memory of the betrayal still colours the town's story. The surrounding hills are quiet, with bamboo and cedar and terraced fields.
For a rider, Kameoka is the gateway to some of the best country roads in the Kyoto region. Heading north-west, the road climbs through forested hills to the thatched-roof villages of Miyama, and west toward the wooded valleys of Tamba, with mostly good surfaces, medium bends and few cars. Along the way there are small farm shops, tea houses and noodle restaurants. The rainy season, in June and early July, brings humidity and mist, summer is hot, and the best months are April, May, October and November, with cherry blossom in spring and autumn leaves in the hills.
As a food stop, the city has a good range: noodle shops, family restaurants, bakeries, convenience stores that are better than they have any right to be, and local specialities such as Tamba chestnuts, black beans and sweet potatoes, depending on the season. Fuel stations are easy to find, and the town centre is compact. Parking is straightforward, with free bike spaces at some restaurants. Have a hot bowl of something, and refill the tank before the hills, where stations are sparser and close early.
- Back to Arashiyama
finish
Back at Arashiyama. That is the ride.