Walking Among Deities
Criss-crossing the Kii Peninsula, the ancient pilgrimage routes of Kumano Kodo, framed by sacred mountains, lead to the three grand shrines of Kumano Sanzan.
Since the Middle Ages, thousands of pilgrims have walked Kumano Kodo, traversing a majestic landscape that embraces the deep spiritual roots of Japan. The arrival of Buddhism in the sixth century resulted in its fusion with the country’s indigenous religion, Shintoism, which considers local deities as manifestations of Buddhist entities. This syncretism transformed Kumano into an area revered by practising ascetics and where locals think Buddhism exists in its purest form.
It was during the ninth and 10th centuries that the three great sacred shrines that today form Kumano Sanzan — Fungi Taisha, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha — were consolidated. From the 11th century, the first waves of pilgrims arrived and the Imperial Family made its first pilgrimage. Ultimately, these traditional pilgrimages were replaced by mass tourism, and by 2004, the sacred sites and pilgrimage routes had been inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The area joins the Camino de Santiago, a network of routes leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James in northwestern Spain, as only two network of routes protected by UNESCO.
Kumano Kodo is made up of numerous routes made over the centuries by people from
Kumano Kodo is made up of numerous routes made over the centuries by people from all over Japan as they made their way to the shrines collectively called Kumano Sanzan.
all over Japan as they made their way to the shrines collectively called Kumano Sanzan: Nakahechi, known as the Imperial Route, as it was the path followed by the emperor and the aristocracy of Kyoto; Kohechi, the mountainous route running through the centre of the Kii Peninsula from north to south; Ohechi, the western coastal route with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean; and Iseji, the eastern coastal route, which crosses an interesting variety of landscapes like bamboo forests and terraced rice fields.
My friend Tokiota Kimu and I took Kumano’s most emblematic route, Nakahechi. Travelled more than 100 times by relatives of the Imperial Family between the 11th and 13th centuries, the route encouraged the mass pilgrimage and the emergence of the
The trail is famous for its Oji shrines — small temples where pilgrims can rest, pray and make offerings — along the road.
infrastructure to support it. From Kyoto, the country’s ancient capital, pilgrims took between 30 and 40 days to travel to Kumano Sanzan and return via this route. They followed the coast to the town of Tanabe before heading east to Takijiri-oji where the Nakahechi route begins. The trail is famous for its Oji shrines — small temples where pilgrims can rest, pray and make offerings — along the road.
Before taking the first steps, Kimu grabbed my hand and led me to a large wooden box that is attached to the Oji. Upon finding two coins in his wallet, He gave one of them to me, and told me to do as he did. “This gesture is called saisen, an offering that will ensure us a smooth journey,” he said, dropping his coin into the box and pulling a thick rope to sound a bell. He bowed once and then, standing erect, clapped twice,with eyes closed and hands together pointing to the sky before offering a final bow. He gestured to me that it was my turn, and I dutifully repeated the same ritual.
We set out on a very narrow ascending trail that took us to the small town of Takahara after two-and-a-half hours. Many who take the Nakahechi route stay their first night here, but we follow the path for almost four hours until we reach Chikatsuyu-oji next to the Hiki River.
The next morning, we hit the road very early. It would take seven hours to trek the 21 kilometres to reach Hongu Taisha, the first of the three great shrines of Kumano Sanzan. After an hour of gentle ascent, we reached the small town of Nonaka. We freshened ourselves in a spring at its entrance and filled our canteens with water. In the upper part of the village is Toganoki-jaya, a replica of the typical teahouses that gave pilgrims the opportunity to recover their strength with tea and food. Surrounded by impressive cedars, Tsugizakura-oji nearby is accessed via steep stairs. When we arrived at the temple, Kimu reminded me of saisen, saying, “It is always good to keep the deities happy.”
After our offerings, we returned to the trail. At the Kobiro-toge Pass, the path led into a leafy forest before climbing to 650 metres at Iwagami-oji, the highest point we reached that day. We then descended to Hosshinmon-oji
at around 300 metres. The route continued through villages endowed with impressive tea plantations that extended up to the Oyunohara viewpoint next to Fushiogami-oji. This is the spot where pilgrims could see Hongu Taisha from across a valley for the first time. ‘Fushiogami’ means ‘kneel and pray’ which is what pilgrims used to do here. Kimu and I didn’t reach the viewpoint but enjoyed our last onigiri ( Japanese rice balls) while dwelling on the site’s spiritual significance.
A gentle descent led us to the bottom of the valley where Hongu Taisha sits on an elevated platform accessed via broad stone staircases. The austerity of the shrine surprised us. The original site of the shrine was at Oyunohara, a large sandbank located at the confluence of the Kumano and Otonashi Rivers. The shrine was moved after being almost completely destroyed in a great flood in 1889.
After a night in the vicinity of Hongu Taisha, we went to Yunomine Onsen where pilgrims enjoy the therapeutic properties of the water and perform hot water purification rituals — an integral part of the pilgrimage. Established more than 1,800 years ago, the hot spring is one of the oldest in Japan.
After rejuvenating ourselves , we sailed on the Kumano River to another Kumano Sanzan shrine, Hayatama Taisha. The orange building emanated a sense of peace and tranquillity. Nearby is the Kamikura-jinja shine and its crowning glory, Gotobiki-iwa, a sacred rock within which locals say the gods of the sea dwell. We were rewarded with magnificent views of the city of Shingu against the ocean after climbing 500 stone steps up to the rock. We decided to return to Hongu Taisha by boat and take the Nakahechi route through Ukegawa.
In the Kogumotori section, we stopped for half an hour at Hyakkengura, a viewpoint offering incredible mountain views and where a Jizo statue stood. In the second section, between Koguchi and Nachi Taisha, we traversed some of the most enchanting landscapes of the trip. It sometimes felt like we were in a fairy tale, and Kimu and I looked at each other in awe. One such moment occured when we came across the three-story pagoda of Nachisan’s Seiganto-ji, a small temple founded by an Indian monk in the early fifth century that has the largest waterfall in Japan as its backdrop. This is also the origin of another network of pilgrimage routes that pass some 33 temples in the Kansai region.
We were greeted by a large bold orange torii gate at the last Kumano Sanzan shrine, Nachi Taisha. The joy of reaching the final destination and the sadness that the trip had come to an end filled me as I entered the temple. After performing our final saisen, we descended Daimon-zaka, a gently sloping cobblestone staircase flanked by enormous cedars. Our last stop is the small fishing village of Katsuura, where we spent our final day soothing our weary bodies in its open-air thermal waters and contemplating the horizon of the great Pacific Ocean.