Why this ride
A 60 km round trip from Sakai - roughly 1 h 17 in the saddle. It goes by way of Higashiumazuka Kofun, Horyu-ji Area and back through Higashiumazuka Kofun. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Shichikannon Kofun and Horyu-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 60 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 17
- 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. Shichikannon Kofun
Haniwa are the clue to this place. These clay cylinders and figures, shaped as houses, horses, warriors and dancers, were set around the slopes of the great Japanese tombs to guard the dead, and replicas of them now stand in parks and museums in Sakai. Shichikannon is a mound from that world, one of the numerous burial sites in the city that became a World Heritage property in 2019, and as with its neighbours you appreciate it from outside the moat. The lawn, the trees and the water do most of the talking.
Read the complete Shichikannon Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Shichikannon Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Higashiumazuka Kofun.
2. Higashiumazuka Kofun
The Yamato basin, in the middle of Nara prefecture, is where Japan's early rulers raised their great earthen tombs, and Kashihara sits at the heart of it. Around the third and fourth centuries and for several hundred years afterward, the leaders of the Yamato court were buried under mounds, many in a distinctive keyhole shape, a round tomb joined to a trapezoidal front. These are the kofun, which simply means old mound. They were ringed with clay cylinders called haniwa, some formed into the shapes of houses, horses, warriors and dancers, and many were surrounded by moats.
Read the complete Higashiumazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Higashiumazuka Kofun comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Horyu-ji Area.
3. Hōryū-ji Area
The buildings at Hōryū-ji are around thirteen hundred years old, and some of them are among the oldest wooden structures anywhere in the world. Founded in the early seventh century by Prince Shōtoku, a regent remembered as a champion of Buddhism and a founding figure of the Japanese state, the temple was rebuilt after a fire later in the same century, and parts of that rebuilding still stand. In 1993 it became one of the first sites in Japan to be listed by UNESCO, as the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
Read the complete Horyu-ji Area write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 30 km into the recorded legs you reach Horyu-ji Area. Next is back through Higashiumazuka Kofun.
4. back through Higashiumazuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Higashiumazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Higashiumazuka Kofun, late in the day. Next is Shichikannon Kofun.
5. Shichikannon Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Shichikannon Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Shichikannon Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Shichikannon Kofun to Higashiumazuka Kofun
Shichikannon Kofun → Higashiumazuka Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Higashiumazuka Kofun to Horyu-ji Area
Higashiumazuka Kofun → Horyu-ji Area is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hōryū-ji Area to back through Higashiumazuka Kofun
Hōryū-ji Area → back through Higashiumazuka Kofun is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Higashiumazuka Kofun to Shichikannon Kofun
back through Higashiumazuka Kofun → Shichikannon Kofun is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.