Why this ride
From Kashihara-shi it runs 126 km to Kashihara-shi; allow about 2 h 35 of riding. The stops in between: Tôdai-ji, Daigo-ji and back through Tôdai-ji. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb and Daigo-ji
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 126 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 35
- 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. Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb
The Nara basin is dotted with burial mounds, called kofun, and they are the oldest big monuments of the Japanese state. Between the third and the seventh centuries, rulers and their clans were buried in earthen mounds, some shaped like a keyhole, some round and some square, surrounded by moats and decorated with rows of clay figures called haniwa. The famous giant tombs are in Osaka, but Nara holds some of the earliest and the later stone-chambered ones, and the area around Asuka and Kashihara has several.
Read the complete Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb is where the day begins. Next is Tôdai-ji.
2. Tôdai-ji
Nothing quite prepares you for the scale of Tōdai-ji. You walk through the great Nandaimon gate, past two fierce wooden guardian kings carved in the thirteenth century by Unkei, Kaikei and their workshop, and there it is: the Daibutsuden, the Great Buddha Hall, for centuries the largest wooden building in the world, even though the current structure, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century, is smaller than the original. Inside sits the Daibutsu, a bronze Buddha some fifteen metres tall, commissioned by Emperor Shōmu and consecrated in 752 with a ceremony that drew monks from as far away as India. The temple is part of the UNESCO listing of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Tôdai-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tôdai-ji comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Daigo-ji.
3. Daigo-ji
The oldest building in Kyoto does not stand in the city centre but in the southeastern hills, at the temple of Daigo-ji: a five storey pagoda completed in 951, which has survived fires, earthquakes and wars that destroyed almost everything else of its age in the city. The temple was founded in the ninth century on Mount Daigo, and its grounds spread from the foot of the mountain to the summit, linked by a steep path, with halls, gardens and sub temples along the way. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Daigo-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Daigo-ji. Next is back through Tôdai-ji.
4. back through Tôdai-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tôdai-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tôdai-ji, late in the day. Next is Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb.
5. Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb to Tôdai-ji
Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb → Tôdai-ji is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tôdai-ji to Daigo-ji
Tôdai-ji → Daigo-ji is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Daigo-ji to back through Tôdai-ji
Daigo-ji → back through Tôdai-ji is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tôdai-ji to Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb
back through Tôdai-ji → Nakaoyama Mounded Tomb is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.