Ninna-ji and Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja

Scenic road chapters

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 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 45 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 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Fujiwara Palace Site. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja.

4. 4. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja

   Mount Yoshino, in the mountains of Nara Prefecture, is famous throughout Japan for one thing above all: cherry blossom. Some thirty thousand trees cover its slopes, planted over the centuries as offerings, and each spring they bloom in waves from the lower slopes to the summit. Kimpu Shrine, Kimpu-jinja, stands near the top of the mountain, in the area known as Oku Senbon, the inner thousand trees, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Sacred Sites of the Kii Mountain Range.

   Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja, 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 141 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 155 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ninna-ji.

7. 7. 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

   Ninna-ji closes the day.