Why this ride
A 163 km round trip from Nara-shi - roughly 2 h 55 in the saddle. The stops in between: Fujiwara Palace Site, Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja, Motoyakushiji Temple Site and back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yakushi-ji and Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 163 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 55
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Yakushi-ji → Fujiwara Palace Site
The ride follows Yakushi-ji → Fujiwara Palace Site for 26 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 26 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Yakushi-ji
Yakushi-ji is one of the great temples of Nara, the capital of Japan in the eighth century. It was founded by Emperor Tenmu in the late seventh century, praying for the recovery of his ill empress, and moved to its present site when the capital moved to Nara in 710. Dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, it is part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. The East Pagoda, which has stood since the eighth century, is one of the few surviving buildings from that era, and its layered roofs, with smaller roofs between each storey, create a rhythm described by one admirer as frozen music.
Read the complete Yakushi-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yakushi-ji is where the day begins. Next is Fujiwara Palace Site.
2. Fujiwara Palace Site
Before Nara, before Kyoto, there was Fujiwara-kyō. In 694, the Empress Jitō moved the Japanese court to a new capital in the southern part of the Nara basin, the first in Japan to be laid out on a Chinese-style grid of streets, with the imperial palace at its centre. It lasted only sixteen years, until the court moved north to Nara in 710, but it marked a turning point in the history of the Japanese state.
Read the complete Fujiwara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fujiwara Palace Site comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja.
3. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja
Mount Yoshino, in the mountains of Nara Prefecture, is famous throughout Japan for one thing above all: cherry blossom. Some thirty thousand trees cover its slopes, planted over the centuries as offerings, and each spring they bloom in waves from the lower slopes to the summit. Kimpu Shrine, Kimpu-jinja, stands near the top of the mountain, in the area known as Oku Senbon, the inner thousand trees, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Sacred Sites of the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja. Next is Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
4. Motoyakushiji Temple Site
In the late seventh century, before Nara became the capital, the Japanese court was based in the Asuka region, south of the Nara basin, and the Emperor Tenmu ordered the construction of a great temple, Yakushi-ji, dedicated to the Buddha of healing, to pray for the recovery of his sick empress. The temple was built in the new capital of Fujiwara-kyō, and when the court moved to Nara in 710, a new Yakushi-ji was built there. The original temple, known as Motoyakushiji, the original Yakushi-ji, was gradually abandoned.
Read the complete Motoyakushiji Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Motoyakushiji Temple Site, about halfway. Next is back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja.
5. back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fujiwara Palace Site.
6. back through Fujiwara Palace Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fujiwara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fujiwara Palace Site comes up about 136 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yakushi-ji.
7. Yakushi-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yakushi-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yakushi-ji closes the day.
Leg by leg
Yakushi-ji to Fujiwara Palace Site
Yakushi-ji → Fujiwara Palace Site is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fujiwara Palace Site to Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja
Fujiwara Palace Site → Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja to Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja → Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Motoyakushiji Temple Site to back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja
Motoyakushiji Temple Site → back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja to back through Fujiwara Palace Site
back through Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja → back through Fujiwara Palace Site is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fujiwara Palace Site to Yakushi-ji
back through Fujiwara Palace Site → Yakushi-ji is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.