Magodayuyama Kofun and Hokki-ji Area

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Magodayuyama Kofun

   A heron stands in the moat as if it has been paid to be there. That is the first thing worth knowing about Magodayuyama: like most of the large burial mounds of Sakai, it is surrounded by water, and the water is full of life. Carp, turtles, reeds and a surprising amount of birdsong turn up in a part of Japan that otherwise has plenty of concrete. The mound itself is covered in trees that nobody has felled for centuries, since the Imperial Household Agency looks after many of these tombs and keeps people off them. You walk around the edge, not over it, and you read the shape from the lie of the moat.

   Read the complete Magodayuyama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Magodayuyama Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.

2. 2. Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun

   The tomb attributed to Emperor Ingyo stands in Fujiidera, in the eastern suburbs of Osaka, and it belongs to the Furuichi group of kofun, the other half of the World Heritage site shared with Sakai's Mozu tombs. It is a large keyhole-shaped mound, wooded and surrounded by a moat, and like all imperial tombs it is managed by the Imperial Household Agency and closed to visitors. Scholars debate whether the attributions to specific emperors are accurate, since they were made long after the tombs were built, but the scale of the monuments speaks for itself. Nearby, the tomb attributed to Emperor Ojin, Kondagobyoyama, is the second largest in Japan by volume.

   Read the complete Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hokki-ji Area.

3. 3. Hokki-ji Area

   Ikaruga, a quiet town on the western edge of the Nara basin, is where Japanese Buddhist architecture begins. The temple of Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, has wooden buildings counted among the oldest surviving in the world, and in 1993 the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area became, along with Himeji Castle, the first Japanese sites on the UNESCO list. A short distance north, among rice fields and houses, Hokki-ji is a smaller temple with a single treasure: a three-storey pagoda completed in the early eighth century, the oldest of its type in Japan. Seen across the fields with the hills behind, it is a lovely, peaceful sight.

   Read the complete Hokki-ji Area write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Hokki-ji Area. Next is back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.

4. 4. back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun, late in the day. Next is Magodayuyama Kofun.

5. 5. Magodayuyama Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Magodayuyama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Magodayuyama Kofun. That is the ride.