Why this ride
445 km from Shingū to Shingū, about 6 h 40 of riding. The stops in between: Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K, Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb and back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest and Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 445 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 40
- 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. Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest
Rain made this place, and a lot of it. The Kii Peninsula sticks into the Pacific south of Osaka, steep, forested and very wet, with some of the heaviest rainfall in Japan, and the Nachi river tumbles down its flank in a cascade that has been worshipped for well over a thousand years. Nachi Falls drops one hundred and thirty-three metres in a single plunge, the tallest single-drop waterfall in the country, and the Shinto shrine at its foot, Hiro Jinja, treats the falls themselves as the god. Beside it, on a ridge above, Kumano Nachi Taisha and the Buddhist temple Seiganto-ji sit side by side, with a red three-storey pagoda that frames the white thread of water like a postcard. The two religions here have long lived in the same compound.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest is where the day begins. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
2. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K comes up about 146 km into the recorded legs. Next is Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb.
3. Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb
The mound itself is easy to miss: a small, round hump of grass in a quiet corner of the Asuka countryside, surrounded by rice fields and persimmon trees. What made it famous is what was inside. In 1972, archaeologists opened a stone chamber here and found painted walls, with women in bright, flowing robes, a procession of men, and the guardian animals of the four directions, among them the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger. The paintings date from around the end of the seventh century or the start of the eighth, and show the strong influence of Korea and China on the early Japanese court. It was the first wall painting of its kind found in Japan and caused a sensation.
Read the complete Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 222 km into the recorded legs you reach Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb. Next is back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
4. back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K, late in the day. Next is Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest.
5. Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 146 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb to back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb → back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → Kumano Sanzan - Nachi Primeval Forest is 146 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.