Why this ride
On the way it passes Remains of Hara Castle, Mietsu Naval Dock and back through Remains of Hara Castle. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine and Mietsu Naval Dock
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 436 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 48
- 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
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine → Remains of Hara Castle
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 66 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 89 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
From the sea, Hashima looks like a battleship: a small rocky island off Nagasaki surrounded by high concrete walls, crowded with tall, empty apartment blocks. The Japanese call it Gunkanjima, battleship island, and it is the most famous ruin of Japan's industrial age. Mitsubishi mined coal here from undersea seams from the late nineteenth century, and as the mine grew the island was extended with land reclaimed from the sea and built up with concrete housing, schools, a hospital and shops. At its peak it was one of the most densely populated places on Earth. When the mine closed in 1974, everyone left within weeks, and the island has been slowly crumbling ever since.
Read the complete Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine 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 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mietsu Naval Dock.
3. 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
about 217 km into the recorded legs you reach Mietsu Naval Dock. Next is back through Remains of Hara Castle.
4. 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 Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine.
5. Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine to Remains of Hara Castle
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine → Remains of Hara Castle is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Remains of Hara Castle to Mietsu Naval Dock
Remains of Hara Castle → Mietsu Naval Dock is 128 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Mietsu Naval Dock to back through Remains of Hara Castle
Mietsu Naval Dock → back through Remains of Hara Castle is 129 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Remains of Hara Castle to Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
back through Remains of Hara Castle → Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.