Why this ride
From Ōmuta it runs 458 km to Ōmuta; allow about 6 h 55 of riding. It goes by way of Mietsu Naval Dock, Remains of Hara Castle, Oura Cathedral and back through Remains of Hara Castle. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port and Oura Cathedral
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 458 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 55
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Mietsu Naval Dock.
2. 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 comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Remains of Hara Castle.
3. 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
about 163 km into the recorded legs you reach Remains of Hara Castle. Next is Oura Cathedral.
4. Oura Cathedral
Nagasaki is a city of steep hills around a deep harbour, and on one of those slopes above the old foreign settlement stands a small white Gothic church that is, in its quiet way, one of the most important in Japan. Oura Cathedral was built in the early 1860s by French missionaries, who had been allowed to serve the foreign community in the treaty port after Japan's long seclusion, and it was dedicated to the twenty-six Christians who were executed on a hill in Nagasaki in 1597. The church faces the site of that martyrdom, and it is the oldest surviving Gothic-style church in the country.
Read the complete Oura Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Oura Cathedral, about halfway. Next is back through Remains of Hara Castle.
5. 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 sits at 225 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mietsu Naval Dock.
6. back through 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 through Mietsu Naval Dock comes up about 426 km into the recorded legs. Next is Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port.
7. 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
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port closes the day.
Leg by leg
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port to Mietsu Naval Dock
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.
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 Oura Cathedral
Remains of Hara Castle → Oura Cathedral is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Oura Cathedral to back through Remains of Hara Castle
Oura Cathedral → back through Remains of Hara Castle is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remains of Hara Castle to back through Mietsu Naval Dock
back through Remains of Hara Castle → back through Mietsu Naval Dock is 128 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mietsu Naval Dock to Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
back through 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.