Why this ride
337 km from Kōya to Kōya, about 6 h 27 of riding. It goes by way of Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja, Nisanzai Kofun, Motoyakushiji Temple Site and Gobyoyama Kofun. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K and Gobyoyama Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 337 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 27
- 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 - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is where the day begins. Next is Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja.
2. Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
In the foothills below Mount Kōya, in the village of Kudoyama, stands the Niukanshōfu shrine, dedicated to the deities who protect the sacred mountain. In the ninth century, the monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, founded a monastery on the plateau of Kōyasan as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and he established an administrative office here, at the foot of the mountain, to manage the supply of the monastery. Nearby, the temple of Jison-in is associated with Kūkai's mother, who according to tradition lived here because women were not allowed on the mountain, and her son came down to visit her. The shrine and temple mark the start of the Chōishi-michi, the pilgrim path to Kōyasan, marked every 109 metres by stone posts, which climbs about twenty kilometres to the monastery. The sites are part of the UNESCO listing of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja comes up 38 km in. Next is Nisanzai Kofun.
3. 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
76 km in you reach Nisanzai Kofun. Next is Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
4. 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
Motoyakushiji Temple Site, about halfway. Next is Gobyoyama Kofun.
5. Gobyoyama Kofun
The Gobyoyama tomb is the resting place attributed to Emperor Richu, the seventeenth emperor in the traditional count, and it is a giant: a keyhole-shaped mound in Sakai more than three hundred metres long, one of the biggest in the whole country. It was built in the late fourth or early fifth century, and its builders moved an enormous amount of earth. Surfaces were covered with fitted stones, and rows of haniwa figures stood on the terraces, so that in its day the whole mound would have gleamed like a stepped pyramid.
Read the complete Gobyoyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gobyoyama Kofun sits at 151 km, about halfway. Next is back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
6. 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 comes up 189 km in. Next is back through Nisanzai Kofun.
7. 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
227 km in you reach back through Nisanzai Kofun. Next is back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja.
8. back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja, late in the day. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
9. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K 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 337 km.
Leg by leg
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja to Nisanzai Kofun
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja → Nisanzai Kofun is 38 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 Gobyoyama Kofun
Motoyakushiji Temple Site → Gobyoyama Kofun is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gobyoyama Kofun to back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Gobyoyama Kofun → back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 39 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 back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
back through Nisanzai Kofun → back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.