Why this ride
A 169 km round trip from Sakurai - roughly 3 h 11 in the saddle. The stops in between: Kurizuka Kofun, Nara Palace Site, Byodo-in and back through Nara Palace Site. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Asuka Pond Garden Site and Byodo-in
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 169 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 11
- 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
Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site
This part of the ride is 28 km of Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 28 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Asuka Pond Garden Site
In the Asuka district, a stone-lined pond lies below a gentle slope, with a channel feeding it and a neat edge of laid cobbles. The Asuka Pond Garden Site was uncovered in the late twentieth century, and it shows that the aristocracy of seventh-century Japan took water seriously, both as a garden feature and as part of ritual. The pond belongs to a type of formal water garden that was introduced from the Asian continent, along with Buddhism and Chinese court culture, and it was probably part of a palace or an elite residence, though the precise function is still debated.
Read the complete Asuka Pond Garden Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Asuka Pond Garden Site is where the day begins. Next is Kurizuka Kofun.
2. Kurizuka Kofun
South of Nara city, the plain is flat and green, with rice paddies in every direction and low, rounded mountains standing on its rim, and the first Japanese states grew here. Kashihara, on the southern side of the basin, sits near the old capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where the court and the first lasting Buddhist temples took shape in the sixth and seventh centuries. Kurizuka is one of the many kofun, ancient burial mounds, scattered around the district, and it is a modest, tree-covered hump rather than a spectacular monument.
Read the complete Kurizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kurizuka Kofun comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nara Palace Site.
3. Nara Palace Site
For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Nara Palace Site. Next is Byodo-in.
4. 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
Byodo-in, about halfway. Next is back through Nara Palace Site.
5. back through Nara Palace Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nara Palace Site sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kurizuka Kofun.
6. back through Kurizuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kurizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kurizuka Kofun comes up about 143 km into the recorded legs. Next is Asuka Pond Garden Site.
7. Asuka Pond Garden Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Asuka Pond Garden Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Asuka Pond Garden Site closes the day.
Leg by leg
Asuka Pond Garden Site to Kurizuka Kofun
Asuka Pond Garden Site → Kurizuka Kofun is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kurizuka Kofun to Nara Palace Site
Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nara Palace Site to Byodo-in
Nara Palace Site → Byodo-in is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to back through Nara Palace Site
Byōdō-in → back through Nara Palace Site is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nara Palace Site to back through Kurizuka Kofun
back through Nara Palace Site → back through Kurizuka Kofun is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kurizuka Kofun to Asuka Pond Garden Site
back through Kurizuka Kofun → Asuka Pond Garden Site is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.