Why this ride
A 156 km round trip from Yoshino-chō - roughly 2 h 48 in the saddle. The stops in between: Motoyakushiji Temple Site, Kurizuka Kofun, Nara Palace Site and back through Kurizuka Kofun. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja and Nara Palace Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 156 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 48
- 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
Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site
This part of the ride is 29 km of Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 29 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja is where the day begins. Next is Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
2. 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 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kurizuka Kofun.
3. Kurizuka Kofun
South of Nara city, the plain is flat and green, with rice paddies in every direction and low, rounded mountains standing on its rim, and the first Japanese states grew here. Kashihara, on the southern side of the basin, sits near the old capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where the court and the first lasting Buddhist temples took shape in the sixth and seventh centuries. Kurizuka is one of the many kofun, ancient burial mounds, scattered around the district, and it is a modest, tree-covered hump rather than a spectacular monument.
Read the complete Kurizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Kurizuka Kofun. Next is Nara Palace Site.
4. Nara Palace Site
For most of the eighth century, Nara was the capital of Japan. The city, then called Heijō-kyō, was laid out on a grid modelled on the Chinese capital Chang'an, and at its northern end stood the imperial palace, Heijō-kyū, a vast compound of halls, offices and gardens. When the court moved away at the end of the century, the palace was abandoned and the land eventually returned to rice fields. Today the Nara Palace Site is a huge open space on the western side of the modern city, part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
Read the complete Nara Palace Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nara Palace Site, about halfway. Next is back through Kurizuka Kofun.
5. back through Kurizuka Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kurizuka Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kurizuka Kofun sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site.
6. back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site comes up about 129 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja.
7. 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
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja closes the day.
Leg by leg
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 Kurizuka Kofun
Motoyakushiji Temple Site → Kurizuka Kofun is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kurizuka Kofun to Nara Palace Site
Kurizuka Kofun → Nara Palace Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nara Palace Site to back through Kurizuka Kofun
Nara Palace Site → back through Kurizuka Kofun is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kurizuka Kofun to back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site
back through Kurizuka Kofun → back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site to Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja
back through Motoyakushiji Temple Site → Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpu-jinja is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.