Why this ride
From Sakurai it runs 347 km to Sakurai; allow about 5 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Byodo-in, Himeji-jo and back through Byodo-in. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Asuka-dera Temple Site and Himeji-jo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 347 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 34
- 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. Asuka-dera Temple Site
Asuka-dera is where Japanese Buddhism first took root in earnest. The temple was started in the late sixth century by Soga no Umako, the most powerful minister of his day, as the first full-scale Buddhist temple in the country, built with the help of craftsmen sent from the Korean kingdom of Baekje. Tile makers, bronze casters and architects crossed the sea, and the layout they used, with a pagoda surrounded by three golden halls, was a new thing on these islands, where until then the gods had been honoured in groves and simple shrines.
Read the complete Asuka-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Asuka-dera Temple Site is where the day begins. Next is Byodo-in.
2. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byōdō-in comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Himeji-jo.
3. Himeji-jo
Himeji Castle is the one that survived. Japan has a lot of reconstructed keeps, concrete inside and gift shop on the ground floor, but the big white donjon here is the real thing, largely as it stood in the early 1600s when Ikeda Terumasa rebuilt the place on the hill. It came through the bombing of 1945 and the Kobe earthquake of 1995 with the timbers intact, and it has been a World Heritage site since 1993. The plaster is so brilliantly white that people call it Hakuro-jo, the White Heron, and on a clear morning from the east side you can see why: the roofs stack up like a bird lifting off.
Read the complete Himeji-jo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 173 km into the recorded legs you reach Himeji-jo. Next is back through Byodo-in.
4. back through Byodo-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byodo-in, late in the day. Next is Asuka-dera Temple Site.
5. Asuka-dera Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Asuka-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Asuka-dera Temple Site. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Asuka-dera Temple Site to Byodo-in
Asuka-dera Temple Site → Byodo-in is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to Himeji-jo
Byōdō-in → Himeji-jo is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Himeji-jo to back through Byodo-in
Himeji-jo → back through Byodo-in is 122 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Byodo-in to Asuka-dera Temple Site
back through Byodo-in → Asuka-dera Temple Site is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Asuka Palace Site and Himeji-jo · 350 km
- Asuka Water Clock Site and Himeji-jo · 348 km
- Asuka Pond Garden Site and Himeji-jo · 348 km
- Sakafuneishi Ritual Site and Himeji-jo · 348 km