Why this ride
From Honmachi it runs 321 km to Honmachi; allow about 5 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Remains of Hara Castle, Oura Cathedral, Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine and back through Oura Cathedral.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Misumi West Port and Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 321 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 41
- 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
Misumi West Port → Remains of Hara Castle
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 25 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 70 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Misumi West Port 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 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Oura Cathedral.
3. 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
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Oura Cathedral. Next is Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine.
4. Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
From the sea, Hashima looks like a battleship: a small rocky island off Nagasaki surrounded by high concrete walls, crowded with tall, empty apartment blocks. The Japanese call it Gunkanjima, battleship island, and it is the most famous ruin of Japan's industrial age. Mitsubishi mined coal here from undersea seams from the late nineteenth century, and as the mine grew the island was extended with land reclaimed from the sea and built up with concrete housing, schools, a hospital and shops. At its peak it was one of the most densely populated places on Earth. When the mine closed in 1974, everyone left within weeks, and the island has been slowly crumbling ever since.
Read the complete Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine, about halfway. Next is back through Oura Cathedral.
5. back through Oura Cathedral
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Oura Cathedral sits at 134 km, about halfway. Next is back through Remains of Hara Castle.
6. 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 comes up about 250 km into the recorded legs. Next is Misumi West Port.
7. 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
Misumi West Port closes the day.
Leg by leg
Misumi West Port to Remains of Hara Castle
Misumi West Port → Remains of Hara Castle is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
Oura Cathedral → Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine to back through Oura Cathedral
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine → back through Oura Cathedral is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Oura Cathedral to back through Remains of Hara Castle
back through Oura Cathedral → back through Remains of Hara Castle is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remains of Hara Castle to Misumi West Port
back through Remains of Hara Castle → Misumi West Port is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.