Why this ride
From Kashihara it runs 66 km to Kashihara; allow about 1 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Horyu-ji Area, Tôdai-ji and back through Horyu-ji Area. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Suketayama Kofun and Tôdai-ji
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 66 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 23
- 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. Suketayama Kofun
Suketayama is another of the Furuichi tombs, set in the part of southeast Osaka where the old Yamato elite buried their dead beside the Ishikawa river and the broad Kawachi plain. The ride names the nearest town as Kashihara, but you are within sight of Habikino and Fujiidera and the commuter lines that bind this place to Osaka's centre. The mound here is smaller than the great keyhole tombs but has its own presence, a green hill in a district of tile roofs.
Read the complete Suketayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Suketayama Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Horyu-ji Area.
2. 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
Hōryū-ji Area comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tôdai-ji.
3. Tôdai-ji
Nothing quite prepares you for the scale of Tōdai-ji. You walk through the great Nandaimon gate, past two fierce wooden guardian kings carved in the thirteenth century by Unkei, Kaikei and their workshop, and there it is: the Daibutsuden, the Great Buddha Hall, for centuries the largest wooden building in the world, even though the current structure, rebuilt in the early eighteenth century, is smaller than the original. Inside sits the Daibutsu, a bronze Buddha some fifteen metres tall, commissioned by Emperor Shōmu and consecrated in 752 with a ceremony that drew monks from as far away as India. The temple is part of the UNESCO listing of Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Tôdai-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 32 km into the recorded legs you reach Tôdai-ji. Next is back through Horyu-ji Area.
4. back through Horyu-ji Area
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Horyu-ji Area, late in the day. Next is Suketayama Kofun.
5. Suketayama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Suketayama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Suketayama Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Suketayama Kofun to Horyu-ji Area
Suketayama Kofun → Horyu-ji Area is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hōryū-ji Area to Tôdai-ji
Hōryū-ji Area → Tôdai-ji is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tôdai-ji to back through Horyu-ji Area
Tôdai-ji → back through Horyu-ji Area is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Horyu-ji Area to Suketayama Kofun
back through Horyu-ji Area → Suketayama Kofun is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.