Why this ride
151 km from Aomori to Aomori, about 2 h 10 of riding. On the way it passes Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, Tagoyano Site and back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sannai Maruyama Site and Tagoyano Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 151 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 10
- 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. Sannai Maruyama Site
On the outskirts of Aomori, at the northern tip of Honshu, archaeologists working on a site for a baseball stadium in the early 1990s found the remains of a large village of the Jomon period, a hunter gatherer culture that lived in Japan for over ten thousand years. Sannai Maruyama was occupied for around a thousand years, from about 5,900 to 4,200 years ago, and its finds changed ideas about the Jomon: long houses, pit dwellings, storehouses, burial grounds, and a huge structure of six massive chestnut posts, now reconstructed as a tall wooden tower. In 2021 it became part of the World Heritage listing of Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
Read the complete Sannai Maruyama Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sannai Maruyama Site is where the day begins. Next is Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
2. 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 comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tagoyano Site.
3. Tagoyano Site
In the far north of Honshu, on the Tsugaru plain of Aomori Prefecture, the Tagoyano site is a shell midden left by people of the Jomon period, the long era of hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan for over ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. The mound consists mainly of shells of shijimi, a small freshwater clam that thrived in the brackish water of the old lagoon. Along with the shells, archaeologists found pottery, tools and bones, and the site has become part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021. There is little to see above ground now, just a grassy area and information boards, but the picture it paints is rich: people living by water, fishing, gathering, making beautiful vessels.
Read the complete Tagoyano Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Tagoyano Site. Next is back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
4. back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, late in the day. Next is Sannai Maruyama Site.
5. Sannai Maruyama Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sannai Maruyama Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Sannai Maruyama Site. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Sannai Maruyama Site to Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Sannai Maruyama 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 Tagoyano Site
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan → Tagoyano Site is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tagoyano Site to back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Tagoyano Site → back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan to Sannai Maruyama Site
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan → Sannai Maruyama Site is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.