Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji and Yakushi-ji

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji

   Getting to Kōyasan feels like a pilgrimage even on a motorcycle. The roads climb out of the Kinokawa valley through dense cedar forest, switchback after switchback, until you emerge onto a high basin at around eight hundred metres where a whole town of temples has grown up. The monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, founded the monastery here in the early ninth century as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and Kongōbu-ji is the head temple of the sect. Its halls, painted sliding doors and the large rock garden are worth an unhurried visit, and the whole mountain is part of the UNESCO listing of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

   Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji is where the day begins. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha.

2. 2. Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha

   Deep in the mountains of the Kii Peninsula, where forested ridges fold one behind another like the scenery in a woodblock print, stands the head shrine of the Kumano faith. Kumano Hongū Taisha is one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, and for over a thousand years emperors, aristocrats and ordinary pilgrims have walked here along the network of mountain trails known as the Kumano Kodō, now part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range listed by UNESCO.

   Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha comes up about 79 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yakushi-ji.

3. 3. Yakushi-ji

   Yakushi-ji is one of the great temples of Nara, the capital of Japan in the eighth century. It was founded by Emperor Tenmu in the late seventh century, praying for the recovery of his ill empress, and moved to its present site when the capital moved to Nara in 710. Dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, it is part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. The East Pagoda, which has stood since the eighth century, is one of the few surviving buildings from that era, and its layered roofs, with smaller roofs between each storey, create a rhythm described by one admirer as frozen music.

   Read the complete Yakushi-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach Yakushi-ji. Next is back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha.

4. 4. back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Kumano Sanzan - Kumano Hongû Taisha, late in the day. Next is Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji.

5. 5. Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Kôyasan - Kongôbu-ji. That is the ride.