Why this ride
From Hashimoto it runs 270 km to Hashimoto; allow about 5 h 08 of riding. On the way it passes Nisanzai Kofun, Motoyakushiji Temple Site, Byodo-in and back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja and Byodo-in
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 270 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 08
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
A hunter with two dogs, according to the legend, is why Koyasan exists. When the monk Kukai, later called Kobo Daishi, returned from studying in China in the early ninth century, he threw a ritual three-pronged object into the air and asked it to land on a site for a mountain monastery. He found it hanging in a pine tree on a high plateau in the Kii mountains, and there he met a hunter, the god Karibamyojin, who led him to the place with his dogs. The hunter's mother, the goddess Niutsuhime, is honoured at the shrine that guards the approach. Kukai founded his monastery in 816, and Koyasan has been the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism since.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja is where the day begins. Next is Nisanzai Kofun.
2. Nisanzai Kofun
In the middle of the sprawling city of Sakai, south of Osaka, a large keyhole-shaped mound rises above a ring of moats, covered in dense forest and surrounded by houses, roads and shops. This is the Nisanzai Kofun, a monumental tomb built in the fifth century for a member of the ruling elite of early Japan. It is one of the largest of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, a collection of burial mounds listed by UNESCO in 2019, which includes the enormous Daisen Kofun, traditionally attributed to the emperor Nintoku and one of the largest tombs in the world by area.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nisanzai Kofun comes up 47 km in. Next is Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
3. Motoyakushiji Temple Site
In the late seventh century, before Nara became the capital, the Japanese court was based in the Asuka region, south of the Nara basin, and the Emperor Tenmu ordered the construction of a great temple, Yakushi-ji, dedicated to the Buddha of healing, to pray for the recovery of his sick empress. The temple was built in the new capital of Fujiwara-kyō, and when the court moved to Nara in 710, a new Yakushi-ji was built there. The original temple, known as Motoyakushiji, the original Yakushi-ji, was gradually abandoned.
Read the complete Motoyakushiji Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
94 km in you reach Motoyakushiji Temple Site. Next is Byodo-in.
4. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byodo-in, about halfway. Next is back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
5. back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Motoyakushiji Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site sits at 187 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nisanzai Kofun.
6. back through Nisanzai Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nisanzai Kofun comes up 234 km in. Next is Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja.
7. Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja closes the day.
Leg by leg
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja to Nisanzai Kofun
Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja → Nisanzai Kofun is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nisanzai Kofun to Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Nisanzai Kofun → Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Motoyakushiji Temple Site to Byodo-in
Motoyakushiji Temple Site → Byodo-in is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Byōdō-in → back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site to back through Nisanzai Kofun
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site → back through Nisanzai Kofun is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nisanzai Kofun to Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja
back through Nisanzai Kofun → Kôyasan - Niutsuhime-jinja is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.