Why this ride
380 km from Yoshino-chō to Yoshino-chō, about 7 h 19 of riding. On the way it passes Kôyasan - Jison-in, Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K, Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja and Nisanzai Kofun. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji and Nisanzai Kofun
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 380 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 19
- 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. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Every April, the hillsides of Yoshino turn pink and white as tens of thousands of cherry trees burst into bloom, and the narrow ridge-top town fills with visitors who come to see one of Japan's most famous blossom displays. But Yoshino is more than a flower show. It is the heart of Shugendō, a mountain religion that blends Buddhism, Shinto and ancient nature worship, and the Kimpusen-ji temple, with its enormous wooden main hall, the Zaō-dō, is its spiritual centre. The temple is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, listed by UNESCO in 2004.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji is where the day begins. Next is Kôyasan - Jison-in.
2. Kôyasan - Jison-in
Before you ride up to Mount Koya, the great mountain monastery of Shingon Buddhism, stop at its doorstep. Jison-in sits in the Kii river valley at Kudoyama, below the mountain, and it was founded by Kukai, the monk also known as Kobo Daishi, in the early ninth century as the administrative office and supply base for the new monastery above. Its most loved story concerns his mother. Women were barred from Koyasan for over a thousand years, so she lived here, and tradition says Kukai walked down nine times a month to visit her. That, the locals will tell you, is where the name Kudoyama, nine-times mountain, comes from.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Jison-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Jison-in comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
3. Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Mount Kōya is one of Japan's great sacred places, a high basin in the mountains of northern Wakayama where the monk Kūkai founded a monastic centre for Shingon Buddhism in the early ninth century. Today it is a town of over a hundred temples, many of which take in overnight guests, set among towering cedars. South of the summit plateau, deep in the forested ridges, run the old pilgrim trails that link Kōya with the Kumano shrines, part of the network inscribed by UNESCO as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K. Next is Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja.
4. Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
In the foothills below Mount Kōya, in the village of Kudoyama, stands the Niukanshōfu shrine, dedicated to the deities who protect the sacred mountain. In the ninth century, the monk Kūkai, known after his death as Kōbō Daishi, founded a monastery on the plateau of Kōyasan as the centre of Shingon Buddhism, and he established an administrative office here, at the foot of the mountain, to manage the supply of the monastery. Nearby, the temple of Jison-in is associated with Kūkai's mother, who according to tradition lived here because women were not allowed on the mountain, and her son came down to visit her. The shrine and temple mark the start of the Chōishi-michi, the pilgrim path to Kōyasan, marked every 109 metres by stone posts, which climbs about twenty kilometres to the monastery. The sites are part of the UNESCO listing of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja, about halfway. Next is Nisanzai Kofun.
5. Nisanzai Kofun
In the middle of the sprawling city of Sakai, south of Osaka, a large keyhole-shaped mound rises above a ring of moats, covered in dense forest and surrounded by houses, roads and shops. This is the Nisanzai Kofun, a monumental tomb built in the fifth century for a member of the ruling elite of early Japan. It is one of the largest of the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, a collection of burial mounds listed by UNESCO in 2019, which includes the enormous Daisen Kofun, traditionally attributed to the emperor Nintoku and one of the largest tombs in the world by area.
Read the complete Nisanzai Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nisanzai Kofun sits at 148 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja.
6. back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja comes up about 238 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K.
7. back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 290 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K. Next is back through Kôyasan - Jison-in.
8. back through Kôyasan - Jison-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kôyasan - Jison-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kôyasan - Jison-in, late in the day. Next is Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji.
9. Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 380 km.
Leg by leg
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji to Kôyasan - Jison-in
Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji → Kôyasan - Jison-in is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kôyasan - Jison-in to Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
Kôyasan - Jison-in → Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja to Nisanzai Kofun
Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja → Nisanzai Kofun is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nisanzai Kofun to back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja
Nisanzai Kofun → back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja to back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K
back through Kôyasan - Niukanshôfu-jinja → back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K to back through Kôyasan - Jison-in
back through Pilgrimage Routes - Kumano Sankeimichi - K → back through Kôyasan - Jison-in is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kôyasan - Jison-in to Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji
back through Kôyasan - Jison-in → Yoshino and Ômine - Kimpusen-ji is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.