Why this ride
350 km from Sakurai to Sakurai, about 5 h 38 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 Palace Site and Himeji-jo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 350 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 38
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Asuka Palace Site → Byodo-in
The ride follows Asuka Palace Site → Byodo-in for 53 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Asuka Palace Site
Few places in Japan can claim as much early history as the plain of Asuka, in the south of the Nara basin. In the seventh century, before Nara or Kyoto existed, the court moved from place to place, and for much of that century the centre of power was here. The Asuka Palace Site, also called Itabuki, was the residence of several sovereigns, and the building was reworked more than once. In 645, in the audience hall of this palace, the court strongman Soga no Iruka was cut down in front of the empress by Prince Naka no Oe and Nakatomi no Kamatari, an assassination that opened the way to the Taika reforms, the first attempt to build a centralised state on the Chinese model.
Read the complete Asuka Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Asuka Palace 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 53 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 175 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 Palace Site.
5. Asuka Palace Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Asuka Palace 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 Palace Site. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Asuka Palace Site to Byodo-in
Asuka Palace Site → Byodo-in is 53 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 Palace Site
back through Byodo-in → Asuka Palace Site is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.