Why this ride
A 424 km round trip from Ōkawa - roughly 6 h 30 in the saddle. It goes by way of Remains of Hara Castle, Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine and back through Remains of Hara Castle. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mietsu Naval Dock and Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 424 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 30
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Mietsu Naval Dock → Remains of Hara Castle
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 86 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 129 km
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 Remains of Hara Castle.
2. Remains of Hara Castle
On a headland overlooking the Ariake Sea, at the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki prefecture, the grassy ruins of Hara Castle mark the scene of one of the darkest episodes in Japanese history. In the winter of 1637 to 1638, thousands of peasants, many of them Christians, rose up against heavy taxation and religious persecution, and took refuge in the abandoned castle under the leadership of a charismatic teenager, Amakusa Shirō. The shogunate besieged the castle for months with a huge army, and when it finally fell, almost all the defenders, including women and children, were killed.
Read the complete Remains of Hara Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Remains of Hara Castle comes up about 129 km into the recorded legs. Next is Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine.
3. Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine
Out in the sea off Nagasaki, a low island called Takashima was the place where modern Japan dug its first Western-style coal shaft. In 1868, in the very year of the Meiji Restoration, the Scottish merchant Thomas Glover went into partnership with the Saga domain to sink a shaft here using steam-powered machinery from Britain. The mine later passed to Mitsubishi and became one of the pillars of the company's rise, fuelling steamships, factories and the rapid industrialisation of the country. Takashima is now part of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 213 km into the recorded legs you reach Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine. Next is back through Remains of Hara Castle.
4. back through Remains of Hara Castle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Remains of Hara Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Remains of Hara Castle, late in the day. Next is Mietsu Naval Dock.
5. 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
Back at Mietsu Naval Dock. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Mietsu Naval Dock to Remains of Hara Castle
Mietsu Naval Dock → Remains of Hara Castle is 129 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Remains of Hara Castle to Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine
Remains of Hara Castle → Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine to back through Remains of Hara Castle
Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine → back through Remains of Hara Castle is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remains of Hara Castle to Mietsu Naval Dock
back through Remains of Hara Castle → Mietsu Naval Dock is 128 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.