Why this ride
A 209 km round trip from Kashihara-shi - roughly 4 h 01 in the saddle. It goes by way of Horyu-ji Area, Nisanzai Kofun, Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja and back through Nisanzai Kofun. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hinokuma-dera Temple Site and Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 209 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 01
- 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. Hinokuma-dera Temple Site
Hinokuma lies on the western edge of the Asuka district, where the land begins to rise toward the Katsuragi and Kongō mountains. The name appears in early records connected with the imperial family and the old clans, and a temple, Hinokuma-dera, once stood here, close to the tombs of rulers of the sixth and seventh centuries.
Read the complete Hinokuma-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hinokuma-dera Temple Site is where the day begins. Next is Horyu-ji Area.
2. Hōryū-ji Area
The buildings at Hōryū-ji are around thirteen hundred years old, and some of them are among the oldest wooden structures anywhere in the world. Founded in the early seventh century by Prince Shōtoku, a regent remembered as a champion of Buddhism and a founding figure of the Japanese state, the temple was rebuilt after a fire later in the same century, and parts of that rebuilding still stand. In 1993 it became one of the first sites in Japan to be listed by UNESCO, as the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
Read the complete Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hōryū-ji Area comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nisanzai Kofun.
3. Nisanzai Kofun
In the middle of the sprawling city of Sakai, south of Osaka, a large keyhole-shaped mound rises above a ring of moats, covered in dense forest and surrounded by houses, roads and shops. This is the Nisanzai Kofun, a monumental tomb built in the fifth century for a member of the ruling elite of early Japan. It is one of the largest of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, a collection of burial mounds listed by UNESCO in 2019, which includes the enormous Daisen Kofun, traditionally attributed to the emperor Nintoku and one of the largest tombs in the world by area.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Nisanzai Kofun. Next is Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja.
4. Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
A hunter with two dogs, according to the legend, is why Koyasan exists. When the monk Kukai, later called Kobo Daishi, returned from studying in China in the early ninth century, he threw a ritual three-pronged object into the air and asked it to land on a site for a mountain monastery. He found it hanging in a pine tree on a high plateau in the Kii mountains, and there he met a hunter, the god Karibamyojin, who led him to the place with his dogs. The hunter's mother, the goddess Niutsuhime, is honoured at the shrine that guards the approach. Kukai founded his monastery in 816, and Koyasan has been the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism since.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja, about halfway. Next is back through Nisanzai Kofun.
5. back through Nisanzai Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nisanzai Kofun sits at 131 km, about halfway. Next is back through Horyu-ji Area.
6. back through Horyu-ji Area
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Horyu-ji Area comes up about 182 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hinokuma-dera Temple Site.
7. Hinokuma-dera Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hinokuma-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hinokuma-dera Temple Site closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hinokuma-dera Temple Site to Horyu-ji Area
Hinokuma-dera Temple Site → Horyu-ji Area is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hōryū-ji Area to Nisanzai Kofun
Hōryū-ji Area → Nisanzai Kofun is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nisanzai Kofun to Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
Nisanzai Kofun → Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja to back through Nisanzai Kofun
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja → back through Nisanzai Kofun is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nisanzai Kofun to back through Horyu-ji Area
back through Nisanzai Kofun → back through Horyu-ji Area is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Horyu-ji Area to Hinokuma-dera Temple Site
back through Horyu-ji Area → Hinokuma-dera Temple Site is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.