Why this ride
496 km from Hachinohe to Hachinohe, about 7 h 46 of riding. It goes by way of Goshono Site, Oyu Stone Circles, Isedotai Stone Circles and Shirakami-Sanchi. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Korekawa Site and Shirakami-Sanchi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 496 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 46
- 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. Korekawa Site
The Korekawa site lies on the southern edge of Hachinohe, a port city on the Pacific coast of Aomori prefecture in northern Honshu, and it is one of seventeen locations in the UNESCO listing of the Jōmon prehistoric sites of northern Japan. The Jōmon were hunter-gatherers who lived in these islands for over ten thousand years, making some of the oldest pottery in the world and developing a remarkably settled, sophisticated way of life without farming. At Korekawa, waterlogged layers preserved things that usually vanish: wooden bowls, combs, bows and baskets, many of them coated in red lacquer, showing a level of craft that surprises everyone who sees them.
Read the complete Korekawa Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Korekawa Site is where the day begins. Next is Goshono Site.
2. Goshono Site
In the hills of northern Iwate, a short ride from the town of Ichinohe, a group of round houses with grass-covered roofs sits in a quiet clearing among cedar and broadleaf woods. They look like something out of a fairy tale, low mounds with doorways and smoke holes, and they are reconstructions of pit dwellings from the Jomon period, the long prehistoric era of hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan from around fifteen thousand years ago until the arrival of rice farming. The Goshono site was a large settlement in the middle Jomon period, and excavations found that some houses here were roofed with earth rather than thatch, which is why the reconstructions look the way they do. Since 2021 it has been one of the components of the World Heritage site of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
Read the complete Goshono Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Goshono Site comes up about 49 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 136 km into the recorded legs you reach Oyu Stone Circles. Next is Isedotai Stone Circles.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Shirakami-Sanchi.
5. Shirakami-Sanchi
Shirakami-Sanchi is one of the largest remaining virgin beech forests in East Asia, a vast tract of mountains straddling the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures in northern Honshu. It joined the World Heritage list in 1993, one of Japan's first natural sites, and the core area is left almost untouched, with no roads or facilities. Siebold's beech, a species found only in Japan, dominates the forest, and it shelters black bears, Japanese serows, golden eagles and the black woodpecker. The trees are at their most beautiful in autumn, when they turn gold and copper, and in spring when the new leaves are a startling pale green.
Read the complete Shirakami-Sanchi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shirakami-Sanchi sits at 205 km, about halfway. Next is back through Isedotai Stone Circles.
6. back through 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 through Isedotai Stone Circles comes up about 310 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Oyu Stone Circles.
7. back through Oyu Stone Circles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 360 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Oyu Stone Circles. Next is back through Goshono Site.
8. back through Goshono Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Goshono Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Goshono Site, late in the day. Next is Korekawa Site.
9. Korekawa Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Korekawa Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 496 km.
Leg by leg
Korekawa Site to Goshono Site
Korekawa Site → Goshono Site is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Goshono Site to Oyu Stone Circles
Goshono Site → Oyu Stone Circles is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ōyu Stone Circles to Isedotai Stone Circles
Ōyu Stone Circles → Isedotai Stone Circles is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Isedotai Stone Circles to Shirakami-Sanchi
Isedotai Stone Circles → Shirakami-Sanchi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shirakami-Sanchi to back through Isedotai Stone Circles
Shirakami-Sanchi → back through Isedotai Stone Circles is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Isedotai Stone Circles to back through Oyu Stone Circles
back through Isedotai Stone Circles → back through Oyu Stone Circles is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oyu Stone Circles to back through Goshono Site
back through Oyu Stone Circles → back through Goshono Site is 86 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Goshono Site to Korekawa Site
back through Goshono Site → Korekawa Site is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.