CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 150 km round trip from Kashihara - roughly 2 h 28 in the saddle. On the way it passes Yakushi-ji, Yamada-dera Temple Site, Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore and back through Yamada-dera Temple Site. The line favours views over speed.
The name means the tomb of Princess Nakatsuhime, and it is the tradition that she was the consort of Emperor Ojin, one of the early rulers of Japan, whose own tomb, the second largest in the country, stands not far away. She is a name from the chronicles, written down centuries later, so history and legend are tangled.
Read the complete Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Yakushi-ji.
Yakushi-ji is one of the great temples of Nara, the capital of Japan in the eighth century. It was founded by Emperor Tenmu in the late seventh century, praying for the recovery of his ill empress, and moved to its present site when the capital moved to Nara in 710. Dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, it is part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. The East Pagoda, which has stood since the eighth century, is one of the few surviving buildings from that era, and its layered roofs, with smaller roofs between each storey, create a rhythm described by one admirer as frozen music.
Read the complete Yakushi-ji write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Yakushi-ji comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yamada-dera Temple Site.
South of the modern town of Sakurai, in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture, the grass and low walls of Yamada-dera mark the ruins of what was once a very grand temple. It was founded in the 640s by Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro, a powerful minister of the Soga clan, who was caught up in court intrigue and is said to have taken his own life at the temple in 649, after being accused of treason. The story gives the quiet site a sad edge. In later excavations, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of the main hall and a long covered corridor whose timbers had collapsed and been buried in place, one of the best-preserved examples of seventh-century temple architecture in Japan.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Yamada-dera Temple Site. Next is Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore.
Kasugayama is a forest that has been protected since the ninth century, which is why it feels different from any other woodland in the region. Hunting and logging were banned here in 841, because the hill is sacred to the Kasuga shrine, and the result is a primeval stand of cedar, cypress, oak and evergreens on the slopes just east of Nara. Deer roam through it, as they do through the park below, and in autumn their calls echo through the trees. In the shrine's grounds, thousands of stone lanterns line the paths, donated by worshippers over the centuries, and thousands of bronze lanterns hang from the eaves, lit twice a year during the lantern festivals.
Read the complete Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore, about halfway. Next is back through Yamada-dera Temple Site.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Yamada-dera Temple Site sits at 112 km, about halfway. Next is back through Yakushi-ji.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yakushi-ji write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Yakushi-ji comes up about 124 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun closes the day.
Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun → Yakushi-ji is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yakushi-ji → Yamada-dera Temple Site is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yamada-dera Temple Site → Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kasuga-Taisha and Kasugayama Primeval Fore → back through Yamada-dera Temple Site is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yamada-dera Temple Site → back through Yakushi-ji is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yakushi-ji → Nakatsuhime-no-mikoto-ryo Kofun is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.