Misumi West Port and Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Sakitsu Village in Amakusa.

2. 2. 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 comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine.

3. 3. back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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

   back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa, late in the day. Next is Misumi West Port.

4. 4. 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 at Misumi West Port. That is the ride.