Why this ride
A 483 km round trip from Ushibukamachi - roughly 8 h 16 in the saddle. The stops in between: Remains of Hara Castle, Misumi West Port, Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port and Mietsu Naval Dock. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa and Mietsu Naval Dock
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 483 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 16
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa → Remains of Hara Castle
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 56 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 60 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
A small Gothic church with a spire stands right at the water's edge in Sakitsu, a fishing village tucked into an inlet on the southern coast of Amakusa's Shimoshima island. It looks almost Breton, a surprise in rural Kyushu, and the story behind it is one of the most moving in Japanese history. When Christianity was banned in the early seventeenth century, the people of Sakitsu kept their faith in secret for over two centuries, disguising prayers and objects as Buddhist or Shinto practice, and using things from their own fishing life, such as abalone shells whose inner patterns recalled holy images, as objects of devotion.
Read the complete Sakitsu Village in Amakusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa is where the day begins. Next is Remains of Hara Castle.
2. Remains of Hara Castle
On a headland overlooking the Ariake Sea, at the southern tip of the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki prefecture, the grassy ruins of Hara Castle mark the scene of one of the darkest episodes in Japanese history. In the winter of 1637 to 1638, thousands of peasants, many of them Christians, rose up against heavy taxation and religious persecution, and took refuge in the abandoned castle under the leadership of a charismatic teenager, Amakusa Shirō. The shogunate besieged the castle for months with a huge army, and when it finally fell, almost all the defenders, including women and children, were killed.
Read the complete Remains of Hara Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Remains of Hara Castle comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Misumi West Port.
3. Misumi West Port
At the tip of the Uto Peninsula in Kumamoto, where the land narrows towards the islands of Amakusa, there is a small Meiji-era harbour that looks almost unchanged since it was finished in 1887. Misumi West Port was designed by the Dutch engineer Rouwenhorst Mulder as part of Japan's rapid modernisation after it opened to the West, and its long stone quays, drainage channels and carefully fitted granite blocks were built by Japanese stonemasons using their traditional skills. For a while it was a busy export port for coal from the Miike mines across the bay, but when the railway reached another harbour its importance faded, which is precisely why it survived. It is now part of the World Heritage site of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution.
Read the complete Misumi West Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Misumi West Port. Next is Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port.
4. Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
On the flat shore of the Ariake Sea in Kyushu, in the city of Omuta, a set of brick buildings, steel headframes and tidal docks tells the story of how Japan became an industrial power. The Miike coal mine and the port that served it were inscribed by UNESCO in 2015 among the sites of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution, and the centre of Omuta is a few kilometres away, with a city of about a hundred and thirty thousand people spread around it.
Read the complete Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port, about halfway. Next is Mietsu Naval Dock.
5. Mietsu Naval Dock
The Mietsu Naval Dock lies on the Saga Plain, where the Chikugo river flows into the Ariake Sea. It is a place that easily gets overlooked: a modest dry dock and a few stone structures among reeds and creeks. Yet UNESCO listed it in 2015 among the sites of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution, and the reason is the Saga domain's ambition. In the 1850s, under its daimyo Nabeshima Naomasa, Saga set about learning Western shipbuilding, cannon casting and steam technology faster than almost any other domain in Japan, and Mietsu was where the navy was trained and its ships were built and repaired.
Read the complete Mietsu Naval Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mietsu Naval Dock sits at 170 km, about halfway. Next is back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port.
6. back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port comes up about 274 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Misumi West Port.
7. back through Misumi West Port
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Misumi West Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 352 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Misumi West Port. Next is back through Remains of Hara Castle.
8. back through Remains of Hara Castle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Remains of Hara Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Remains of Hara Castle, late in the day. Next is Sakitsu Village in Amakusa.
9. Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sakitsu Village in Amakusa 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 483 km.
Leg by leg
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa to Remains of Hara Castle
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa → Remains of Hara Castle is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remains of Hara Castle to Misumi West Port
Remains of Hara Castle → Misumi West Port is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Misumi West Port to Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
Misumi West Port → Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port to Mietsu Naval Dock
Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port → Mietsu Naval Dock is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mietsu Naval Dock to back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port
Mietsu Naval Dock → back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port to back through Misumi West Port
back through Miike Coal Mine and Miike Port → back through Misumi West Port is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Misumi West Port to back through Remains of Hara Castle
back through Misumi West Port → back through Remains of Hara Castle is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remains of Hara Castle to Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
back through Remains of Hara Castle → Sakitsu Village in Amakusa is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.