Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja and Fujiwara Palace Site

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja

   Thunder gave this shrine its name. Kamowakeikazuchi, the god worshipped at Kamigamo, is a deity of lightning, and the compound beside the Kamo river in northern Kyoto is thought to be one of the oldest Shinto sites in Japan, with a founding that tradition dates to the seventh century. In the compound, two neat cones of white sand stand in front of the main sanctuary, symbols of purity, imitating the sacred hill where the god is said to have come down. Beyond them, a small stream runs under a bridge in a grove of old trees, and the whole place has a quiet, swept look, like a stage before the performance.

   Read the complete Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja is where the day begins. Next is Ujigami-jinja.

2. 2. Ujigami-jinja

   Uji is a small city on the river of the same name, south of Kyoto, and it holds two treasures that face each other across the water. On the west bank stands the Byōdō-in, a temple whose Phoenix Hall, built in 1053, appears on the Japanese ten-yen coin. On the east bank, up a quiet lane, is Ujigami-jinja, a modest shrine whose main hall is considered the oldest surviving Shinto shrine building in Japan, dating from the late Heian period, in the eleventh century. Its simple wooden structure, with a cypress-bark roof, stands in a small courtyard surrounded by trees, and it is far less crowded than the Byōdō-in. Both are part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

   Read the complete Ujigami-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ujigami-jinja comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nara Palace Site.

3. 3. Nara Palace Site

   For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.

   Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Nara Palace Site. Next is Fujiwara Palace Site.

4. 4. Fujiwara Palace Site

   Before Nara, before Kyoto, there was Fujiwara-kyō. In 694, the Empress Jitō moved the Japanese court to a new capital in the southern part of the Nara basin, the first in Japan to be laid out on a Chinese-style grid of streets, with the imperial palace at its centre. It lasted only sixteen years, until the court moved north to Nara in 710, but it marked a turning point in the history of the Japanese state.

   Read the complete Fujiwara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fujiwara Palace Site, about halfway. Next is back through Nara Palace Site.

5. 5. back through Nara Palace Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Nara Palace Site sits at 113 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ujigami-jinja.

6. 6. back through Ujigami-jinja

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ujigami-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Ujigami-jinja comes up about 137 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja.

7. 7. Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kamowakeikazuchi-jinja closes the day.