Kôfuku-ji and Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kôfuku-ji

   In the early eighth century, when Nara became Japan's first permanent capital, the powerful Fujiwara clan moved their family temple here, and Kofuku-ji became one of the great temples of the city, wealthy enough to maintain its own warrior monks. Its five storey pagoda, rebuilt in the fifteenth century after one of several fires, is the second tallest wooden pagoda in Japan and a symbol of Nara, reflected in the Sarusawa pond below. The Central Golden Hall was rebuilt and reopened in 2018, and the National Treasure Museum holds the famous statue of Ashura, a three faced, six armed guardian with a strikingly human expression. Kofuku-ji is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara World Heritage Site. The pagoda is undergoing a long restoration and may be wrapped in scaffolding when you visit.

   Read the complete Kôfuku-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kôfuku-ji is where the day begins. Next is Fujiwara Palace Site.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji.

3. 3. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji

   Every April, the hillsides of Yoshino turn pink and white as tens of thousands of cherry trees burst into bloom, and the narrow ridge-top town fills with visitors who come to see one of Japan's most famous blossom displays. But Yoshino is more than a flower show. It is the heart of Shugendō, a mountain religion that blends Buddhism, Shinto and ancient nature worship, and the Kimpusen-ji temple, with its enormous wooden main hall, the Zaō-dō, is its spiritual centre. The temple is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, listed by UNESCO in 2004.

   Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji. Next is back through Fujiwara Palace Site.

4. 4. back through Fujiwara Palace Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   back through Fujiwara Palace Site, late in the day. Next is Kôfuku-ji.

5. 5. Kôfuku-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kôfuku-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Kôfuku-ji. That is the ride.