Why this ride
From Uji it runs 260 km to Uji; allow about 4 h 36 of riding. The stops in between: Yamada-dera Temple Site, Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K and back through Yamada-dera Temple Site. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Byōdō-in and Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 260 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 36
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Yamada-dera Temple Site.
2. Yamada-dera Temple Site
South of the modern town of Sakurai, in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture, the grass and low walls of Yamada-dera mark the ruins of what was once a very grand temple. It was founded in the 640s by Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro, a powerful minister of the Soga clan, who was caught up in court intrigue and is said to have taken his own life at the temple in 649, after being accused of treason. The story gives the quiet site a sad edge. In later excavations, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of the main hall and a long covered corridor whose timbers had collapsed and been buried in place, one of the best-preserved examples of seventh-century temple architecture in Japan.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yamada-dera Temple Site comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
3. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K. Next is back through Yamada-dera Temple Site.
4. back through Yamada-dera Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yamada-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 through Yamada-dera Temple Site, late in the day. Next is Byodo-in.
5. Byōdō-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 at Byodo-in. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Byōdō-in to Yamada-dera Temple Site
Byōdō-in → Yamada-dera Temple Site is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yamada-dera Temple Site to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Yamada-dera Temple Site → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to back through Yamada-dera Temple Site
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → back through Yamada-dera Temple Site is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yamada-dera Temple Site to Byodo-in
back through Yamada-dera Temple Site → Byodo-in is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.