Ninna-ji and Ujigami-jinja

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Ninna-ji

   Ninna-ji lies on the north-western side of Kyoto, in the district of Omuro, and it is one of those temples that tell you a great deal about how Japanese politics once worked. It was founded in 888 by the emperor Uda, who after abdicating became a Buddhist priest and lived here as head of the temple, and for generations afterwards its abbots were members of the imperial family. The complex is known for its Niomon gate, its five-storey pagoda from the seventeenth century, and its garden with a view of the hills. UNESCO included it among the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto in 1994.

   Read the complete Ninna-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ninna-ji is where the day begins. Next is Enryaku-ji.

2. 2. Enryaku-ji

   Mount Hiei rises between Kyoto and Lake Biwa, and in 788 a young monk named Saichō built a small hermitage on its slopes. It grew into Enryaku-ji, the headquarters of the Tendai school of Buddhism and one of the most powerful religious institutions in Japanese history. Many of the founders of later Buddhist schools, including Hōnen, Shinran, Dōgen and Nichiren, studied here. At its height, the mountain held thousands of temples, and the monastery maintained an army of warrior monks who regularly descended on Kyoto to intimidate the court. In 1571, the warlord Oda Nobunaga, tired of their political meddling, attacked the mountain, burned the temples and killed thousands of people. The monastery was rebuilt in the following decades, and today its halls are spread across the forested summit in three main areas, connected by footpaths and roads. The main hall, the Konpon Chūdō, houses a lamp said to have burned continuously for over a thousand years. Enryaku-ji is part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

   Read the complete Enryaku-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Enryaku-ji comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ujigami-jinja.

3. 3. Ujigami-jinja

   Uji is a small city on the river of the same name, south of Kyoto, and it holds two treasures that face each other across the water. On the west bank stands the Byōdō-in, a temple whose Phoenix Hall, built in 1053, appears on the Japanese ten-yen coin. On the east bank, up a quiet lane, is Ujigami-jinja, a modest shrine whose main hall is considered the oldest surviving Shinto shrine building in Japan, dating from the late Heian period, in the eleventh century. Its simple wooden structure, with a cypress-bark roof, stands in a small courtyard surrounded by trees, and it is far less crowded than the Byōdō-in. Both are part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

   Read the complete Ujigami-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Ujigami-jinja. Next is back through Enryaku-ji.

4. 4. back through Enryaku-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Enryaku-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Enryaku-ji, late in the day. Next is Ninna-ji.

5. 5. Ninna-ji

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ninna-ji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Ninna-ji. That is the ride.