Higashiumazuka Kofun and Hokki-ji Area

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Higashiumazuka Kofun

   The Yamato basin, in the middle of Nara prefecture, is where Japan's early rulers raised their great earthen tombs, and Kashihara sits at the heart of it. Around the third and fourth centuries and for several hundred years afterward, the leaders of the Yamato court were buried under mounds, many in a distinctive keyhole shape, a round tomb joined to a trapezoidal front. These are the kofun, which simply means old mound. They were ringed with clay cylinders called haniwa, some formed into the shapes of houses, horses, warriors and dancers, and many were surrounded by moats.

   Read the complete Higashiumazuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Higashiumazuka Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Terayama-minamiyama Kofun.

2. 2. Terayama-minamiyama Kofun

   Sakai is a port city on Osaka Bay, and its most extraordinary feature is that it is built around tombs. The Mozu group, named after the old name of this district, includes Daisen, the tomb attributed to Emperor Nintoku, which is among the largest burial monuments in the world by area, a keyhole-shaped mound nearly five hundred metres long, surrounded by triple moats. Standing beside it you see only a wooded hill behind a wall of water, and the true shape is visible only from the air. Smaller mounds, including those at Terayama and Minamiyama, lie scattered among streets and houses, each with a fringe of trees.

   Read the complete Terayama-minamiyama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Terayama-minamiyama Kofun comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hokki-ji Area.

3. 3. Hokki-ji Area

   Ikaruga, a quiet town on the western edge of the Nara basin, is where Japanese Buddhist architecture begins. The temple of Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, has wooden buildings counted among the oldest surviving in the world, and in 1993 the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area became, along with Himeji Castle, the first Japanese sites on the UNESCO list. A short distance north, among rice fields and houses, Hokki-ji is a smaller temple with a single treasure: a three-storey pagoda completed in the early eighth century, the oldest of its type in Japan. Seen across the fields with the hills behind, it is a lovely, peaceful sight.

   Read the complete Hokki-ji Area write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Hokki-ji Area. Next is back through Terayama-minamiyama Kofun.

4. 4. back through Terayama-minamiyama Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Terayama-minamiyama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Terayama-minamiyama Kofun, late in the day. Next is Higashiumazuka Kofun.

5. 5. Higashiumazuka Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Higashiumazuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Higashiumazuka Kofun. That is the ride.