Komoyamazuka Kofun and Hokki-ji Area

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Komoyamazuka Kofun

   On the map, Komoyamazuka looks like a green thumbprint pressed into the urban sprawl of Sakai, and that is not far off the truth. It is one of the keyhole-shaped burial mounds in the great tomb cluster that gives the city its place on the World Heritage list, an old mound, likely from the fifth century, wearing a moat and a crown of trees. Nobody is quite sure who lies inside many of these mounds, since archaeologists have rarely been allowed to dig, and the names we use are often a mix of old tradition and later guesswork.

   Read the complete Komoyamazuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Komoyamazuka Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.

2. 2. Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun

   The tomb attributed to Emperor Ingyo stands in Fujiidera, in the eastern suburbs of Osaka, and it belongs to the Furuichi group of kofun, the other half of the World Heritage site shared with Sakai's Mozu tombs. It is a large keyhole-shaped mound, wooded and surrounded by a moat, and like all imperial tombs it is managed by the Imperial Household Agency and closed to visitors. Scholars debate whether the attributions to specific emperors are accurate, since they were made long after the tombs were built, but the scale of the monuments speaks for itself. Nearby, the tomb attributed to Emperor Ojin, Kondagobyoyama, is the second largest in Japan by volume.

   Read the complete Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hokki-ji Area.

3. 3. Hokki-ji Area

   Ikaruga, a quiet town on the western edge of the Nara basin, is where Japanese Buddhist architecture begins. The temple of Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, has wooden buildings counted among the oldest surviving in the world, and in 1993 the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area became, along with Himeji Castle, the first Japanese sites on the UNESCO list. A short distance north, among rice fields and houses, Hokki-ji is a smaller temple with a single treasure: a three-storey pagoda completed in the early eighth century, the oldest of its type in Japan. Seen across the fields with the hills behind, it is a lovely, peaceful sight.

   Read the complete Hokki-ji Area 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 Hokki-ji Area. Next is back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.

4. 4. back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun, late in the day. Next is Komoyamazuka Kofun.

5. 5. Komoyamazuka Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Komoyamazuka Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Komoyamazuka Kofun. That is the ride.