Nijo-jo and Yakushi-ji

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nijo-jo

   Nijo Castle is not really a castle, in the sense of a stronghold, but a palace dressed up as one. The first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu, built it in 1603 as his residence in Kyoto, to show the emperor and the nobles who held real power in Japan, and his grandson Iemitsu added to it in the 1620s. The Ninomaru Palace, the main building, has long corridors with floors that squeak like nightingales when walked on, a feature meant to warn of intruders, and rooms covered in gold-leaf screens painted with tigers, pines and eagles by the Kano school. The style was intended to impress and intimidate visiting lords.

   Read the complete Nijo-jo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nijo-jo is where the day begins. Next is Nara Palace Site.

2. 2. Nara Palace Site

   For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.

   Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nara Palace Site comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fujiwara Palace Site.

3. 3. Fujiwara Palace Site

   Before Nara, before Kyoto, there was Fujiwara-kyō. In 694, the Empress Jitō moved the Japanese court to a new capital in the southern part of the Nara basin, the first in Japan to be laid out on a Chinese-style grid of streets, with the imperial palace at its centre. It lasted only sixteen years, until the court moved north to Nara in 710, but it marked a turning point in the history of the Japanese state.

   Read the complete Fujiwara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Fujiwara Palace Site. Next is Yakushi-ji.

4. 4. 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.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Yakushi-ji, about halfway. Next is back through Fujiwara Palace Site.

5. 5. back through Fujiwara Palace Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fujiwara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Fujiwara Palace Site sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nara Palace Site.

6. 6. back through Nara Palace Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Nara Palace Site comes up about 147 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nijo-jo.

7. 7. Nijo-jo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nijo-jo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nijo-jo closes the day.