Why this ride
From Hanawa it runs 525 km to Hanawa; allow about 9 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Isedotai Stone Circles, Shirakami-Sanchi, Kamegaoka Burial Site and Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ōyu Stone Circles and Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 525 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 25
- 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. Ōyu Stone Circles
Two great rings of river stones lie in a quiet field on a plateau near Kazuno, in the north of Akita prefecture, and at the heart of each stands a small arrangement of upright stones that has been called a sundial. The Ōyu Stone Circles, known as Manza and Nonakadō, were built by the Jōmon people around four thousand years ago, and they are the largest stone circles in Japan. Beneath and around them archaeologists have found graves, suggesting they were places of burial and ceremony. Some researchers believe the circles were aligned with the setting sun at the summer solstice. Since 2021 they have formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
Read the complete Oyu Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ōyu Stone Circles is where the day begins. Next is Isedotai Stone Circles.
2. Isedotai Stone Circles
In a quiet corner of Akita prefecture, near the town of Takanosu in the north of Japan's main island, a set of stone circles lies on a low terrace above the Yoneshiro river. The Isedotai stone circles were built around four thousand years ago by the people of the Jomon culture, hunter-gatherers who lived in the Japanese archipelago for more than ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. The site is part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021, a series of seventeen sites across Hokkaido and the north of Honshu that illustrate the long, settled life of these people.
Read the complete Isedotai Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Isedotai Stone Circles comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Shirakami-Sanchi.
3. Shirakami-Sanchi
Shirakami-Sanchi is one of the largest remaining virgin beech forests in East Asia, a vast tract of mountains straddling the border between Aomori and Akita prefectures in northern Honshu. It joined the World Heritage list in 1993, one of Japan's first natural sites, and the core area is left almost untouched, with no roads or facilities. Siebold's beech, a species found only in Japan, dominates the forest, and it shelters black bears, Japanese serows, golden eagles and the black woodpecker. The trees are at their most beautiful in autumn, when they turn gold and copper, and in spring when the new leaves are a startling pale green.
Read the complete Shirakami-Sanchi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach Shirakami-Sanchi. Next is Kamegaoka Burial Site.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
5. 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
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan sits at 206 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kamegaoka Burial Site.
6. 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 comes up about 299 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Shirakami-Sanchi.
7. back through Shirakami-Sanchi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shirakami-Sanchi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 412 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Shirakami-Sanchi. Next is back through Isedotai Stone Circles.
8. back through Isedotai Stone Circles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Isedotai Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Isedotai Stone Circles, late in the day. Next is Oyu Stone Circles.
9. Ōyu Stone Circles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oyu Stone Circles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 525 km.
Leg by leg
Ōyu Stone Circles to Isedotai Stone Circles
Ōyu Stone Circles → Isedotai Stone Circles is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Isedotai Stone Circles to Shirakami-Sanchi
Isedotai Stone Circles → Shirakami-Sanchi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shirakami-Sanchi to Kamegaoka Burial Site
Shirakami-Sanchi → Kamegaoka Burial Site is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
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 back through Shirakami-Sanchi
back through Kamegaoka Burial Site → back through Shirakami-Sanchi is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Shirakami-Sanchi to back through Isedotai Stone Circles
back through Shirakami-Sanchi → back through Isedotai Stone Circles is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Isedotai Stone Circles to Oyu Stone Circles
back through Isedotai Stone Circles → Oyu Stone Circles is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.