Why this ride
From Ōkawa it runs 370 km to Ōkawa; allow about 5 h 00 of riding. It goes by way of Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port, Misumi West Port, Sakitsu Village in Amakusa and back through Misumi West Port. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mietsu Naval Dock and Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 370 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 00
- 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. Mietsu Naval Dock
The Mietsu Naval Dock lies on the Saga Plain, where the Chikugo river flows into the Ariake Sea. It is a place that easily gets overlooked: a modest dry dock and a few stone structures among reeds and creeks. Yet UNESCO listed it in 2015 among the sites of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution, and the reason is the Saga domain's ambition. In the 1850s, under its daimyo Nabeshima Naomasa, Saga set about learning Western shipbuilding, cannon casting and steam technology faster than almost any other domain in Japan, and Mietsu was where the navy was trained and its ships were built and repaired.
Read the complete Mietsu Naval Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mietsu Naval Dock is where the day begins. Next is Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port.
2. Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
On the flat shore of the Ariake Sea in Kyushu, in the city of Omuta, a set of brick buildings, steel headframes and tidal docks tells the story of how Japan became an industrial power. The Miike coal mine and the port that served it were inscribed by UNESCO in 2015 among the sites of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution, and the centre of Omuta is a few kilometres away, with a city of about a hundred and thirty thousand people spread around it.
Read the complete Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Misumi West Port.
3. Misumi West Port
At the tip of the Uto Peninsula in Kumamoto, where the land narrows towards the islands of Amakusa, there is a small Meiji-era harbour that looks almost unchanged since it was finished in 1887. Misumi West Port was designed by the Dutch engineer Rouwenhorst Mulder as part of Japan's rapid modernisation after it opened to the West, and its long stone quays, drainage channels and carefully fitted granite blocks were built by Japanese stonemasons using their traditional skills. For a while it was a busy export port for coal from the Miike mines across the bay, but when the railway reached another harbour its importance faded, which is precisely why it survived. It is now part of the World Heritage site of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution.
Read the complete Misumi West Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 110 km into the recorded legs you reach Misumi West Port. Next is Sakitsu Village in Amakusa.
4. Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
A small Gothic church with a spire stands right at the water's edge in Sakitsu, a fishing village tucked into an inlet on the southern coast of Amakusa's Shimoshima island. It looks almost Breton, a surprise in rural Kyushu, and the story behind it is one of the most moving in Japanese history. When Christianity was banned in the early seventeenth century, the people of Sakitsu kept their faith in secret for over two centuries, disguising prayers and objects as Buddhist or Shinto practice, and using things from their own fishing life, such as abalone shells whose inner patterns recalled holy images, as objects of devotion.
Read the complete Sakitsu Village in Amakusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa, about halfway. Next is back through Misumi West Port.
5. back through Misumi West Port
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Misumi West Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Misumi West Port sits at 213 km, about halfway. Next is back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port.
6. back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port comes up about 336 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mietsu Naval Dock.
7. Mietsu Naval Dock
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mietsu Naval Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mietsu Naval Dock closes the day.
Leg by leg
Mietsu Naval Dock to Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
Mietsu Naval Dock → Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port to Misumi West Port
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port → Misumi West Port is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Misumi West Port to Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
Misumi West Port → Sakitsu Village in Amakusa is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa to back through Misumi West Port
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa → back through Misumi West Port is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Misumi West Port to back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
back through Misumi West Port → back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port to Mietsu Naval Dock
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port → Mietsu Naval Dock is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.