Why this ride
An 89 km round trip from Kashihara - roughly 1 h 48 in the saddle. It goes by way of Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun, Hokki-ji Area and back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Otorizuka Kofun and Hokki-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 89 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 48
- 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. Otorizuka Kofun
Otorizuka is a small mound, and its name, which seems to mean the bird mound, is lovely. What I do know is the setting: a plain south-east of Osaka that holds one of the greatest concentrations of burial mounds in the world, in the Furuichi group, and a small mound like this is part of the supporting cast, a tomb for a person of lower rank who wished to lie near a king.
Read the complete Otorizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Otorizuka Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun.
2. Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun
You cannot really see a kofun. That is the first lesson of Richu-tenno-ryo, one of the great keyhole-shaped tombs of the Mozu group in Sakai, south of Osaka. These are burial mounds built in the fifth century for the early rulers of Japan, shaped like a keyhole with a round back and a wide front, and surrounded by moats. The Richu mound is about three hundred and sixty metres long, among the largest in the country, and you walk around the water on a path, catching glimpses through the trees of a green hill that looks like a wooded island. From the ground it simply looks like a park.
Read the complete Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hokki-ji Area.
3. Hokki-ji Area
Ikaruga, a quiet town on the western edge of the Nara basin, is where Japanese Buddhist architecture begins. The temple of Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, has wooden buildings counted among the oldest surviving in the world, and in 1993 the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area became, along with Himeji Castle, the first Japanese sites on the UNESCO list. A short distance north, among rice fields and houses, Hokki-ji is a smaller temple with a single treasure: a three-storey pagoda completed in the early eighth century, the oldest of its type in Japan. Seen across the fields with the hills behind, it is a lovely, peaceful sight.
Read the complete Hokki-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Hokki-ji Area. Next is back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun.
4. back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun, late in the day. Next is Otorizuka Kofun.
5. Otorizuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Otorizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Otorizuka Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Otorizuka Kofun to Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun
Otorizuka Kofun → Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun to Hokki-ji Area
Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun → Hokki-ji Area is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hokki-ji Area to back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun
Hokki-ji Area → back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun to Otorizuka Kofun
back through Richu-tenno-ryo Kofun → Otorizuka Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.