Why this ride
From Kōya it runs 273 km to Kōya; allow about 5 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of Nisanzai Kofun, Motoyakushiji Temple Site, Byodo-in and back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi and Byodo-in
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 273 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 19
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi
Kōyasan is a city in the sky. In 816 the monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, received permission from the emperor to found a monastery on a high, forested plateau in the Kii mountains, and from that start the settlement grew into the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism, with over a hundred temples tucked among the cedars. A few thousand people live in the town, and many of the temples take pilgrims and visitors as guests, serving a vegetarian temple meal called shojin ryori and waking guests for morning prayers. At the far end of the main street begins Okunoin, the great cemetery, where a two-kilometre path winds beneath tall cedars past tens of thousands of moss-covered gravestones to the mausoleum of Kūkai, who is believed to be in eternal meditation rather than dead.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi is where the day begins. Next is Nisanzai Kofun.
2. Nisanzai Kofun
In the middle of the sprawling city of Sakai, south of Osaka, a large keyhole-shaped mound rises above a ring of moats, covered in dense forest and surrounded by houses, roads and shops. This is the Nisanzai Kofun, a monumental tomb built in the fifth century for a member of the ruling elite of early Japan. It is one of the largest of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, a collection of burial mounds listed by UNESCO in 2019, which includes the enormous Daisen Kofun, traditionally attributed to the emperor Nintoku and one of the largest tombs in the world by area.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nisanzai Kofun comes up 47 km in. Next is Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
3. Motoyakushiji Temple Site
In the late seventh century, before Nara became the capital, the Japanese court was based in the Asuka region, south of the Nara basin, and the Emperor Tenmu ordered the construction of a great temple, Yakushi-ji, dedicated to the Buddha of healing, to pray for the recovery of his sick empress. The temple was built in the new capital of Fujiwara-kyō, and when the court moved to Nara in 710, a new Yakushi-ji was built there. The original temple, known as Motoyakushiji, the original Yakushi-ji, was gradually abandoned.
Read the complete Motoyakushiji Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
94 km in you reach Motoyakushiji Temple Site. Next is Byodo-in.
4. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byodo-in, about halfway. Next is back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
5. back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Motoyakushiji Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through Nisanzai Kofun.
6. back through Nisanzai Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nisanzai Kofun comes up 236 km in. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi.
7. Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi closes the day.
Leg by leg
Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi to Nisanzai Kofun
Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi → Nisanzai Kofun is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nisanzai Kofun to Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Nisanzai Kofun → Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Motoyakushiji Temple Site to Byodo-in
Motoyakushiji Temple Site → Byodo-in is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Byōdō-in → back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site to back through Nisanzai Kofun
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site → back through Nisanzai Kofun is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nisanzai Kofun to Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi
back through Nisanzai Kofun → Pilgrimage Routes - Kôya Sankeimichi is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.