Why this ride
On the way it passes Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock, Shitsu Village in Sotome and back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine and Shitsu Village in Sotome
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 104 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 21
- 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. 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 Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock.
2. Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock
Nagasaki has always lived off its harbour, and the harbour is a long, deep, hill-framed bay that looks, from the hillside streets, like a Scottish loch with a Japanese accent. The Kosuge Slip Dock sits on the eastern shore, a stone-lined cradle where ships were once hauled out of the water for repair. It dates from the very start of the Meiji era, the late 1860s, and was built with the help of Scottish engineers and a Scottish merchant, Thomas Glover. Mitsubishi took over the yard in the 1880s and the company is still building ships on the same shoreline today, which is why most of the neighbourhood is working industry rather than a museum.
Read the complete Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Shitsu Village in Sotome.
3. Shitsu Village in Sotome
Sotome is a stretch of rugged coast north of Nagasaki, where steep hills drop into the East China Sea, and the village of Shitsu clings to its slopes. During the centuries when Christianity was banned in Japan, the farmers and fishermen of this remote area kept their faith in secret, passing down prayers and rituals from generation to generation, hiding their devotion behind Buddhist and Shinto practices. When the ban was lifted in 1873, many of them returned to the Catholic Church. The Shitsu church, built in 1882 under the direction of the French missionary Marc Marie de Rotz, stands on a hill above the sea, a simple white building with a low profile designed to resist the strong winds. De Rotz was more than a priest: he taught the villagers to make bread, pasta and textiles, built a clinic and a workshop, and his legacy is still honoured locally. The village and church are part of the UNESCO listing of the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region.
Read the complete Shitsu Village in Sotome write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Shitsu Village in Sotome. Next is back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock.
4. back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock, 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 Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock
Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine → Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock to Shitsu Village in Sotome
Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock → Shitsu Village in Sotome is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Shitsu Village in Sotome to back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock
Shitsu Village in Sotome → back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock to Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine
back through Nagasaki Shipyard/ Kosuge Slip Dock → Takashima Coal Mine/ Hashima Coal Mine is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.