Why this ride
From Sakai it runs 219 km to Sakai; allow about 4 h 06 of riding. The stops in between: Byodo-in, Yamada-dera Temple Site and back through Byodo-in.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Zenemonyama Kofun and Yamada-dera Temple Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 219 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 06
- 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. Zenemonyama Kofun
Sakai is a port city of well over seven hundred thousand people, and yet in the middle of its houses and factory roofs sit green islands with water around them. Zenemonyama is one of those islands: a burial mound from the age of the great keyhole-shaped tombs, built in the fifth century or thereabouts for someone powerful enough to move an entire hillside of earth by hand. You will not see much of the keyhole from the ground. The shape only makes sense from the air, which is rather the point, because it was made for an audience of gods and passing clouds.
Read the complete Zenemonyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zenemonyama Kofun is where the day begins. Next is Byodo-in.
2. Byōdō-in
Take a ten-yen coin out of your pocket in Japan and you are holding a picture of this place. The Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in in Uji, with its wings stretching out on either side of a central hall and bronze phoenixes on the roof, is one of the most famous buildings in the country. It was built in 1053 by Fujiwara no Yorimichi, a member of the most powerful aristocratic family of the Heian period, who converted his father's villa into a Buddhist temple. Its reflection in the pond in front was meant to evoke the Pure Land paradise of the Amida Buddha.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Byōdō-in comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Yamada-dera Temple Site.
3. Yamada-dera Temple Site
South of the modern town of Sakurai, in the Asuka region of Nara Prefecture, the grass and low walls of Yamada-dera mark the ruins of what was once a very grand temple. It was founded in the 640s by Soga no Kurayamada Ishikawamaro, a powerful minister of the Soga clan, who was caught up in court intrigue and is said to have taken his own life at the temple in 649, after being accused of treason. The story gives the quiet site a sad edge. In later excavations, archaeologists uncovered the foundation of the main hall and a long covered corridor whose timbers had collapsed and been buried in place, one of the best-preserved examples of seventh-century temple architecture in Japan.
Read the complete Yamada-dera Temple Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Yamada-dera Temple Site. Next is back through Byodo-in.
4. back through Byodo-in
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Byodo-in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Byodo-in, late in the day. Next is Zenemonyama Kofun.
5. Zenemonyama Kofun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zenemonyama Kofun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Zenemonyama Kofun. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Zenemonyama Kofun to Byodo-in
Zenemonyama Kofun → Byodo-in is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Byōdō-in to Yamada-dera Temple Site
Byōdō-in → Yamada-dera Temple Site is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Yamada-dera Temple Site to back through Byodo-in
Yamada-dera Temple Site → back through Byodo-in is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Byodo-in to Zenemonyama Kofun
back through Byodo-in → Zenemonyama Kofun is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.