Why this ride
A 118 km round trip from Hōryūji - roughly 2 h 31 in the saddle. It goes by way of Yashimazuka Kofun, Tatsusayama Kofun, Nabezuka Kofun and Zenizuka Kofun.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area and Zenizuka Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 118 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 31
- 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. Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
If you want to stand in front of the oldest wooden buildings in the world, this is the place. Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple in the town of Ikaruga south-west of Nara, was founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, and although it burned and was rebuilt not long after, its central buildings, including the main hall and the five-storey pagoda, date from around the end of the seventh century. They were among the first sites in Japan inscribed by UNESCO, in 1993.
Read the complete Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area is where the day begins. Next is Yashimazuka Kofun.
2. Yashimazuka Kofun
In the southeastern suburbs of Osaka, among houses, rice paddies and railway lines, rise wooded mounds surrounded by moats. These are kofun, burial mounds built for the elite of ancient Japan between the third and seventh centuries, and the Furuichi group around Fujiidera and Habikino contains some of the largest in the country. Yashimazuka is one of the smaller mounds in the group, standing close to much bigger keyhole-shaped tombs attributed to emperors and empresses. Together with the Mozu group in Sakai, these mounds were listed by UNESCO in 2019 as the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group.
Read the complete Yashimazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yashimazuka Kofun comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tatsusayama Kofun.
3. Tatsusayama Kofun
Southern Osaka has a secret that is hard to see from the ground: its suburbs are woven around ancient burial mounds, some of them among the largest tombs ever built. In Sakai, these kofun belong to the Mozu group, which, together with the Furuichi group further east, was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2019. Tatsusayama is one of the smaller mounds, a wooded hill surrounded by houses and roads, but it is part of the same story. Between roughly the fourth and sixth centuries, the rulers of the Yamato court and their elite were buried in tombs shaped like keyholes when seen from above, with moats around them and clay figures called haniwa placed on their slopes.
Read the complete Tatsusayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 30 km into the recorded legs you reach Tatsusayama Kofun. Next is Nabezuka Kofun.
4. Nabezuka Kofun
Nabezuka is a modest mound in the Kashihara district of Nara prefecture, in the part of Japan where the country's first centralised state took shape. It is the sort of site that does not make the headlines. A rounded hill in a field, perhaps with a few trees, it belongs to the thousands of burial mounds scattered across the Yamato plain, and its main interest is that it forms part of a whole landscape of tombs rather than being a single sight. If you want the big picture, the archaeological museum in Kashihara explains how the mounds changed from large keyholes to small round or square tombs as the centuries passed.
Read the complete Nabezuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nabezuka Kofun, about halfway. Next is Zenizuka Kofun.
5. Zenizuka Kofun
Mozu is an old word for the shrike, a small predatory bird that impales its prey on thorns, and the name belongs to the stretch of Sakai where the biggest tombs lie. A chronicle tells how, when workers were building the tomb of Emperor Nintoku in the fifth century, a deer suddenly fell dead on the site, and a shrike flew out of its ear. The story is a legend, of course, but it gave the district its name, and it hints at how strange and mysterious these monuments seemed even to later Japanese.
Read the complete Zenizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zenizuka Kofun sits at 65 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nabezuka Kofun.
6. back through Nabezuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nabezuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nabezuka Kofun comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tatsusayama Kofun.
7. back through Tatsusayama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tatsusayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tatsusayama Kofun. Next is back through Yashimazuka Kofun.
8. back through Yashimazuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yashimazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yashimazuka Kofun, late in the day. Next is Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.
9. Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area 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 118 km.
Leg by leg
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area to Yashimazuka Kofun
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area → Yashimazuka Kofun is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yashimazuka Kofun to Tatsusayama Kofun
Yashimazuka Kofun → Tatsusayama Kofun is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tatsusayama Kofun to Nabezuka Kofun
Tatsusayama Kofun → Nabezuka Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nabezuka Kofun to Zenizuka Kofun
Nabezuka Kofun → Zenizuka Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zenizuka Kofun to back through Nabezuka Kofun
Zenizuka Kofun → back through Nabezuka Kofun is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nabezuka Kofun to back through Tatsusayama Kofun
back through Nabezuka Kofun → back through Tatsusayama Kofun is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tatsusayama Kofun to back through Yashimazuka Kofun
back through Tatsusayama Kofun → back through Yashimazuka Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yashimazuka Kofun to Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
back through Yashimazuka Kofun → Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.