Why this ride
64 km from Nakama to Nakama, about 1 h 03 of riding. On the way it passes Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group and back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group. Rivers set the line for much of the day.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Onga river Pumping Station and Mikadobashira starting at Nakama
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 64 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 03
- 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. Onga river Pumping Station
Steel needs water, a great deal of it, and in the early twentieth century the new Imperial Steel Works at Yawata in northern Kyushu needed more than the local streams could provide. The answer was this pumping station on the Onga river at Nakama, built in 1910, which drew water from the river and sent it through pipelines to the steel works. Remarkably, it is still in operation more than a century later. The red brick building with its tall windows is part of the UNESCO listing of Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, alongside shipyards, coal mines and iron works that tell the story of Japan's dramatic transformation into an industrial power.
Read the complete Onga river Pumping Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Onga river Pumping Station is where the day begins. Next is Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group.
2. Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
In Fukuoka prefecture, on the shore of the Genkai Sea, a group of burial mounds records the power of the Munakata clan, the family who were priests and sea-lords of the strait between Kyushu and Korea. Shimbaru-Nuyama is a cluster of tombs from the fifth and sixth centuries, small and large mounds scattered over a low ridge, and it belongs to the World Heritage listing for Okinoshima and the associated sites of the Munakata region, inscribed in 2017. Okinoshima is a remote island in the channel where ritual offerings were made for centuries to pray for safe voyages, and no women are allowed to land, and men must purify themselves in the sea before setting foot on it.
Read the complete Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group comes up 64 km in. Next is Mikadobashira.
3. back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group, late in the day. Next is Onga river Pumping Station.
4. Onga river Pumping Station
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Onga river Pumping Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Onga river Pumping Station. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Onga river Pumping Station to Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
Onga river Pumping Station → Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group to back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group
Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group → back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group is 1 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group to Onga river Pumping Station
back through Shimbaru-Nuyama Mounded Tomb Group → Onga river Pumping Station is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.