Why this ride
From Ushibukamachi it runs 153 km to Ushibukamachi; allow about 1 h 56 of riding. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine and Misumi West Port
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 153 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 56
- 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. Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
A small Gothic church with a spire stands right at the water's edge in Sakitsu, a fishing village tucked into an inlet on the southern coast of Amakusa's Shimoshima island. It looks almost Breton, a surprise in rural Kyushu, and the story behind it is one of the most moving in Japanese history. When Christianity was banned in the early seventeenth century, the people of Sakitsu kept their faith in secret for over two centuries, disguising prayers and objects as Buddhist or Shinto practice, and using things from their own fishing life, such as abalone shells whose inner patterns recalled holy images, as objects of devotion.
Read the complete Sakitsu Village in Amakusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa comes up about 0 km into the recorded legs. Next is Misumi West Port.
2. Misumi West Port
At the tip of the Uto Peninsula in Kumamoto, where the land narrows towards the islands of Amakusa, there is a small Meiji-era harbour that looks almost unchanged since it was finished in 1887. Misumi West Port was designed by the Dutch engineer Rouwenhorst Mulder as part of Japan's rapid modernisation after it opened to the West, and its long stone quays, drainage channels and carefully fitted granite blocks were built by Japanese stonemasons using their traditional skills. For a while it was a busy export port for coal from the Miike mines across the bay, but when the railway reached another harbour its importance faded, which is precisely why it survived. It is now part of the World Heritage site of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution.
Read the complete Misumi West Port write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Misumi West Port. Next is back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa.
3. back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sakitsu Village in Amakusa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa, late in the day. Next is Takashima Coal Mine/ Takashima Coal Mine.
Leg by leg
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa to Misumi West Port
Sakitsu Village in Amakusa → Misumi West Port is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Misumi West Port to back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa
Misumi West Port → back through Sakitsu Village in Amakusa is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.