Why this ride
447 km from Shingū to Shingū, about 6 h 48 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 - Seiganto-ji and Takamatsuzuka Mounded Tomb
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 447 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 48
- 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 - Seiganto-ji
Hardly any approach in Japan is as dramatic as the one up to Seiganto-ji. A temple has been here for well over a millennium, founded according to tradition in the fourth century, but what hits you is how it sits: a vermilion three-storey pagoda in front of a 133-metre waterfall, the tallest single-drop fall in the country, with the cedar forest pressing close on both sides. The temple and the neighbouring Nachi shrine share the mountain and the same story. Together they form one of the three Kumano shrines on the Kii Peninsula, and the pilgrim trails that link them are on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji 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 147 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 223 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 - Seiganto-ji.
5. Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji 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 - Seiganto-ji. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 147 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 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → Kumano Sanzan - Seiganto-ji is 147 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.