Tatsusayama Kofun and Hokki-ji Area

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tatsusayama Kofun

   Southern Osaka has a secret that is hard to see from the ground: its suburbs are woven around ancient burial mounds, some of them among the largest tombs ever built. In Sakai, these kofun belong to the Mozu group, which, together with the Furuichi group further east, was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2019. Tatsusayama is one of the smaller mounds, a wooded hill surrounded by houses and roads, but it is part of the same story. Between roughly the fourth and sixth centuries, the rulers of the Yamato court and their elite were buried in tombs shaped like keyholes when seen from above, with moats around them and clay figures called haniwa placed on their slopes.

   Read the complete Tatsusayama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tatsusayama Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.

2. 2. Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

   If you want to stand in front of the oldest wooden buildings in the world, this is the place. Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple in the town of Ikaruga south-west of Nara, was founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, and although it burned and was rebuilt not long after, its central buildings, including the main hall and the five-storey pagoda, date from around the end of the seventh century. They were among the first sites in Japan inscribed by UNESCO, in 1993.

   Read the complete Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tachibana-dera Temple Site.

3. 3. Tachibana-dera Temple Site

   Asuka is where Japan as a state began to take shape, and Tachibana-dera sits right in the middle of it, among rice paddies and low hills in a small valley south of Nara. Tradition holds that Prince Shōtoku, the regent who promoted Buddhism and wrote Japan's first constitution in the early seventh century, was born here, and the temple claims to have been founded by him. The present buildings are much later, but the site is ancient, and the atmosphere of the quiet temple grounds, with their wooden halls, gravel courtyards and a curious stone carved with two faces, one good and one evil, is very special.

   Read the complete Tachibana-dera Temple Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Tachibana-dera Temple Site. Next is Hokki-ji Area.

4. 4. Hokki-ji Area

   Ikaruga, a quiet town on the western edge of the Nara basin, is where Japanese Buddhist architecture begins. The temple of Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in the early seventh century, has wooden buildings counted among the oldest surviving in the world, and in 1993 the Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area became, along with Himeji Castle, the first Japanese sites on the UNESCO list. A short distance north, among rice fields and houses, Hokki-ji is a smaller temple with a single treasure: a three-storey pagoda completed in the early eighth century, the oldest of its type in Japan. Seen across the fields with the hills behind, it is a lovely, peaceful sight.

   Read the complete Hokki-ji Area write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hokki-ji Area, about halfway. Next is back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site.

5. 5. back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tachibana-dera Temple Site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site sits at 108 km, about halfway. Next is back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.

6. 6. back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Buddhist Monuments in the 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 Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area comes up about 142 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tatsusayama Kofun.

7. 7. Tatsusayama Kofun

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tatsusayama Kofun write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tatsusayama Kofun closes the day.