Why this ride
From Sakai it runs 169 km to Sakai; allow about 2 h 53 of riding. On the way it passes Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Tachibana-dera Temple Site, Hokki-ji Area and back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tsukamawari Kofun and Hokki-ji Area
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 169 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 53
- 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. Tsukamawari Kofun
Tsukamawari is easy to miss, a modest tomb among the larger ones in the Mozu cluster at Sakai, and it makes a good excuse for talking about the city's most famous product, the knife. Sakai has been a centre of blade making for centuries, and its craftsmen are said to have first made their name forging the tobacco knives that came into use in the sixteenth century, then turned to swords and finally to the kitchen blades that professional chefs treasure. Even today, many of the best Japanese kitchen knives carry a Sakai stamp, and the old workshops, some of them family firms, stand in the streets near the old harbour. A knife shop here is the sort of souvenir that you can pack in a pannier, though you will need to wrap it properly for travel.
Read the complete Tsukamawari Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tsukamawari Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.
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 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tachibana-dera Temple Site.
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 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Tachibana-dera Temple Site. Next is Hokki-ji Area.
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. 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 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.
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 141 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tsukamawari Kofun.
7. Tsukamawari Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tsukamawari Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tsukamawari Kofun closes the day.
Leg by leg
Tsukamawari Kofun to Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
Tsukamawari Kofun → Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area to Tachibana-dera Temple Site
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area → Tachibana-dera Temple Site is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tachibana-dera Temple Site to Hokki-ji Area
Tachibana-dera Temple Site → Hokki-ji Area is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hokki-ji Area to back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site
Hokki-ji Area → back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site to back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
back through Tachibana-dera Temple Site → back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area to Tsukamawari Kofun
back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area → Tsukamawari Kofun is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.