Why this ride
88 km from Ishikawa to Ishikawa, about 2 h 41 of riding. The stops in between: Nakagusuku-jô site, Sêfa-utaki and back through Nakagusuku-jô site.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Zakimi-jô site and Sêfa-utaki
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 88 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 41
- 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. Zakimi-jô site
The walls of Zakimi gusuku curve across the top of a hill in Yomitan like a ribbon of pale limestone, following the contour of the land in graceful arcs rather than straight lines. Built in the early fifteenth century by Gosamaru, a celebrated castle builder of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the fortress is small but beautifully made. Its arched stone gateways, held in place by a wedge-shaped keystone, are among the oldest stone arches in Okinawa. Zakimi is part of the UNESCO site of the Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu, listed in 2000.
Read the complete Zakimi-jô site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zakimi-jô site is where the day begins. Next is Nakagusuku-jô site.
2. Nakagusuku-jô site
On the ridge above Nakagusuku Bay the walls of an old castle follow the curve of the hill in a long ribbon of pale limestone, and the shapes are surprisingly sophisticated. Nakagusuku was built, probably in the fourteenth century and extended in the fifteenth, by the lord Gosamaru, who was respected as a master builder, and its walls use a technique of fitted, curved stones with no mortar, in a pattern the Okinawans call nunozumi, cloth-laying, and a more rugged style called aikatazumi, which looks like a jigsaw. Six enclosures step up along the ridge, with gateways, a well and the foundations of halls.
Read the complete Nakagusuku-jô site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nakagusuku-jô site comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sêfa-utaki.
3. Sêfa-utaki
For the people of the old Ryukyu Kingdom, there was no holier place than Sēfa-utaki, a grove of forest and rock on the southeastern tip of Okinawa island. An utaki is a sacred site in the Ryukyuan religion, often a grove, a rock or a spring, where gods are believed to descend, and this one was the most important of all. The kingdom's highest priestess, the Kikoe-ōkimi, usually a woman of the royal family, was inaugurated here, and for centuries men were not allowed to enter.
Read the complete Sêfa-utaki write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 44 km into the recorded legs you reach Sêfa-utaki. Next is back through Nakagusuku-jô site.
4. back through Nakagusuku-jô site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nakagusuku-jô site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nakagusuku-jô site, late in the day. Next is Zakimi-jô site.
5. Zakimi-jô site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zakimi-jô site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Zakimi-jô site. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Zakimi-jô site to Nakagusuku-jô site
Zakimi-jô site → Nakagusuku-jô site is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nakagusuku-jô site to Sêfa-utaki
Nakagusuku-jô site → Sêfa-utaki is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sêfa-utaki to back through Nakagusuku-jô site
Sêfa-utaki → back through Nakagusuku-jô site is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nakagusuku-jô site to Zakimi-jô site
back through Nakagusuku-jô site → Zakimi-jô site is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.