Why this ride
A 334 km round trip from Takanosu - roughly 5 h 10 in the saddle. The stops in between: Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle, Oyu Stone Circles and back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Isedotai Stone Circles and Oyu Stone Circles
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 334 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 10
- 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. Isedotai Stone Circles
In a quiet corner of Akita prefecture, near the town of Takanosu in the north of Japan's main island, a set of stone circles lies on a low terrace above the Yoneshiro river. The Isedotai stone circles were built around four thousand years ago by the people of the Jomon culture, hunter-gatherers who lived in the Japanese archipelago for more than ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. The site is part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021, a series of seventeen sites across Hokkaido and the north of Honshu that illustrate the long, settled life of these people.
Read the complete Isedotai Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Isedotai Stone Circles is where the day begins. Next is Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle.
2. Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Over three thousand years ago, Jomon people in northern Japan arranged stones into circles on a terrace at the foot of Mount Iwaki, the conical volcano that dominates the Tsugaru plain in Aomori prefecture. The Omori Katsuyama stone circle is one of these monuments, with a ring of standing and placed stones that may have been used for rituals, burials or marking the seasons. It is part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021, which celebrates a culture of hunter-gatherers who settled in permanent villages and made pottery for over ten thousand years.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle comes up about 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is Oyu Stone Circles.
3. Ōyu Stone Circles
Two great rings of river stones lie in a quiet field on a plateau near Kazuno, in the north of Akita prefecture, and at the heart of each stands a small arrangement of upright stones that has been called a sundial. The Ōyu Stone Circles, known as Manza and Nonakadō, were built by the Jōmon people around four thousand years ago, and they are the largest stone circles in Japan. Beneath and around them archaeologists have found graves, suggesting they were places of burial and ceremony. Some researchers believe the circles were aligned with the setting sun at the summer solstice. Since 2021 they have formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
Read the complete Oyu Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 166 km into the recorded legs you reach Oyu Stone Circles. Next is back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle.
4. back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle, late in the day. Next is Isedotai Stone Circles.
5. Isedotai Stone Circles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Isedotai Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Isedotai Stone Circles. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Isedotai Stone Circles to Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Isedotai Stone Circles → Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle to Oyu Stone Circles
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle → Oyu Stone Circles is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ōyu Stone Circles to back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Ōyu Stone Circles → back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle to Isedotai Stone Circles
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle → Isedotai Stone Circles is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.