Why this ride
From Sakai it runs 87 km to Sakai; allow about 1 h 39 of riding. On the way it passes Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Yashimazuka Kofun and back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tsukamawari Kofun and Yashimazuka Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 87 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 39
- 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 Yashimazuka Kofun.
3. Yashimazuka Kofun
In the southeastern suburbs of Osaka, among houses, rice paddies and railway lines, rise wooded mounds surrounded by moats. These are kofun, burial mounds built for the elite of ancient Japan between the third and seventh centuries, and the Furuichi group around Fujiidera and Habikino contains some of the largest in the country. Yashimazuka is one of the smaller mounds in the group, standing close to much bigger keyhole-shaped tombs attributed to emperors and empresses. Together with the Mozu group in Sakai, these mounds were listed by UNESCO in 2019 as the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group.
Read the complete Yashimazuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Yashimazuka Kofun. Next is back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area.
4. 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, 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 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 Yashimazuka Kofun
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area → Yashimazuka Kofun is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yashimazuka Kofun to back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
Yashimazuka Kofun → back through Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area is 15 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.