WAKAYAMA, JAPAN
LUCY KEHOE, JUNIOR EDITOR You’re never alone when walking Japan’s Kumano Kodō Pilgrim Path. Even if fellow white-clad pilgrims vanish into the Kii Peninsula’s dense pine forests, your journey is crowded with ghosts. These trails have hosted fearsome samurai, richly robed shoguns and imperial emperors – and that history swirls through the mist-cloaked mountains. Winding across the intersection of the Wakayama, Nara and Mie prefectures, the routes have provided passage to Japan’s greatest shrines – Hongū Taisha, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha – and oji (enshrined natural landmarks) for millennia. In contrast to the pixelated, whirring streets of Japan’s cities, this cloud-capped corner south of Kyoto offers sensory respite beneath a multitude of crimson torii gates.
The mysticism of these ancient paths has always enticed me. The Kumano Kodō trails meander beneath primeval forests and through hushed bamboo groves, cutting into villages flanked by rice paddies and looping steaming hot spring towns. They’re as much nature paths as pilgrim routes and you’ll meet travellers seeking secular enlightenment alongside those following Japan’s unique Shinto-Buddhist customs. All are welcome to partake in the ritual of prayer at the shrines, dropping a coin into donation boxes, bowing and clapping twice (to wake the gods), before bowing once more. Collecting ruby-red shrine stamps has even become a national pastime, while the chance to have your fortune told (for a mere 75p) entices even the most reluctant of pilgrims.
Of seven routes (of varying difficulties), the five-day Nakahechi Imperial Path is the most encompassing, taking in a visit to the grand 33m-high torii gate at Hongū Taisha shrine, the overgrown ruins of an abandoned settlement, a soak in hot springs and Japan’s largest waterfall, Nachi Falls. Pick up a bamboo hiking stick from the start-point town of Tanabe and pad eastwards. Accommodation is limited but not lacking in quality. The local tourist board tb-kumano. jp provides a list of the best.
Once I’ve collected my shrine stamps, unravelled my fortune and found peace under the pines, the return to civilisation calls for a little luxury. I’ll be spending a night at Kyoto’s Sowaka Hotel sowaka.com for its blend of tradition and modern extravagance.