Why this ride
A 217 km round trip from Sakai - roughly 4 h 05 in the saddle. It goes by way of Byodo-in, Yamada-dera Temple Site and back through Byodo-in.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tsukamawari Kofun and Yamada-dera Temple Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 217 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 05
- 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 Byodo-in.
2. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byōdō-in comes up about 58 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yamada-dera Temple Site.
3. Yamada-dera Temple Site
South of the modern town of Sakurai, in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture, the grass and low walls of Yamada-dera mark the ruins of what was once a very grand temple. It was founded in the 640s by Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro, a powerful minister of the Soga clan, who was caught up in court intrigue and is said to have taken his own life at the temple in 649, after being accused of treason. The story gives the quiet site a sad edge. In later excavations, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of the main hall and a long covered corridor whose timbers had collapsed and been buried in place, one of the best-preserved examples of seventh-century temple architecture in Japan.
Read the complete Yamada-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 108 km into the recorded legs you reach Yamada-dera Temple Site. Next is back through Byodo-in.
4. back through Byodo-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byodo-in, late in the day. Next is Tsukamawari Kofun.
5. 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
Back at Tsukamawari Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Tsukamawari Kofun to Byodo-in
Tsukamawari Kofun → Byodo-in is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to Yamada-dera Temple Site
Byōdō-in → Yamada-dera Temple Site is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yamada-dera Temple Site to back through Byodo-in
Yamada-dera Temple Site → back through Byodo-in is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Byodo-in to Tsukamawari Kofun
back through Byodo-in → Tsukamawari Kofun is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.