Why this ride
131 km from Shimokizukuri to Shimokizukuri, about 2 h 06 of riding. On the way it passes Kamegaoka Burial Site, Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan and back through Kamegaoka Burial Site.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle and Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 131 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 06
- 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. Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Over three thousand years ago, Jomon people in northern Japan arranged stones into circles on a terrace at the foot of Mount Iwaki, the conical volcano that dominates the Tsugaru plain in Aomori prefecture. The Omori Katsuyama stone circle is one of these monuments, with a ring of standing and placed stones that may have been used for rituals, burials or marking the seasons. It is part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021, which celebrates a culture of hunter-gatherers who settled in permanent villages and made pottery for over ten thousand years.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is where the day begins. Next is Kamegaoka Burial Site.
2. Kamegaoka Burial Site
In 1887, a farmer digging in the fields near Kamegaoka, in the Tsugaru region of northern Honshu, found a strange clay figure: a stocky body covered with patterns and a face dominated by huge eyes like snow goggles. The shakōki-dogū, the goggle-eyed figurine, became one of the most famous objects of the Jōmon culture, the hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan for more than ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. Kamegaoka was a burial and settlement site of the final Jōmon period, about three thousand years ago, and it has yielded lacquerware, pottery and figurines of remarkable sophistication. It is part of the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Kamegaoka Burial Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kamegaoka Burial Site comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
3. Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
At the foot of Mount Iwaki, the solitary volcano that rises above the Tsugaru plain in Aomori prefecture, there is a flat terrace where people of the Jomon period laid out a large oval ring of stones a few thousand years ago. The Omori Katsuyama stone circle is one of the sites that make up the Jomon Prehistoric Sites of Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021, and it is a quiet, grassy place where you can stand in the middle and look straight up at the mountain the builders must have looked at every day.
Read the complete Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan. Next is back through Kamegaoka Burial Site.
4. back through Kamegaoka Burial Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kamegaoka Burial Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kamegaoka Burial Site, late in the day. Next is Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle.
5. Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle to Kamegaoka Burial Site
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle → Kamegaoka Burial Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kamegaoka Burial Site to Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Kamegaoka Burial Site → Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan to back through Kamegaoka Burial Site
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan → back through Kamegaoka Burial Site is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kamegaoka Burial Site to Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
back through Kamegaoka Burial Site → Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.