Why this ride
A 59 km round trip from Sakai - roughly 1 h 07 in the saddle. The stops in between: Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun, Hokki-ji Area and back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Maruhoyama Kofun and Hokki-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 59 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 07
- 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. Maruhoyama Kofun
Look at a satellite photograph of the city of Sakai and you will see something odd. Among the grey grid of roofs lie dark green shapes, some shaped like keyholes, ringed by water, sitting between houses and rail lines as if the city were growing around them. These are the Mozu kofun, great burial mounds raised for the rulers of the Yamato kingdom in the fifth century, and they form the western half of the Mozu-Furuichi group that was inscribed as World Heritage in 2019. The largest, the Daisen Kofun, is traditionally attributed to Emperor Nintoku and is one of the biggest tombs in the world by area, about half a kilometre long.
Read the complete Maruhoyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Maruhoyama Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.
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 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hokki-ji Area.
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 30 km into the recorded legs you reach Hokki-ji Area. Next is back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun.
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 Maruhoyama Kofun.
5. Maruhoyama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Maruhoyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Maruhoyama Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Maruhoyama Kofun to Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun
Maruhoyama Kofun → Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun to Hokki-ji Area
Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun → Hokki-ji Area is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hokki-ji Area to back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun
Hokki-ji Area → back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun to Maruhoyama Kofun
back through Ingyo-tenno-ryo Kofun → Maruhoyama Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.