Why this ride
From Hōryūji it runs 59 km to Hōryūji; allow about 1 h 12 of riding. The stops in between: Yashimazuka Kofun, Tatsusayama Kofun and back through Yashimazuka Kofun.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hōryū-ji Area and Tatsusayama Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 59 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 12
- 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. 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 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 back through Yashimazuka Kofun.
4. 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 Horyu-ji Area.
5. Hōryū-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 at Horyu-ji Area. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hōryū-ji Area to Yashimazuka Kofun
Hōryū-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 back through Yashimazuka Kofun
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 Horyu-ji Area
back through Yashimazuka Kofun → Horyu-ji Area is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.