Kumano Kodo (Tanabe; Nachikatsuura)

Kumano Kodo is the network of ancient pilgrimage routes that crosses the forested mountains of the southern Kii Peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture, leading to the three major Kumano shrines: Hongu Taisha, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha. Since the 10th century, retired emperors, nobles from Kyoto, monks and later ordinary people have made the journey on foot as an act of purification. The region blends Shinto nature worship — mountains, rivers and waterfalls — with Buddhism.

The routes are part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004, one of the two pilgrimage routes in the world on that list, alongside the Camino de Santiago, with which it maintains a dual-pilgrim program. The most traveled route is the Nakahechi, the former imperial route, which starts in the Tanabe area and crosses the mountains to Hongu, with small shrines called oji along the way, guesthouses in villages and hot-spring inns at day’s end.

Tanabe is the gateway, with a train station and the pilgrims’ information center. In Hongu, Hongu Taisha and the former shrine site, Oyunohara, with the largest torii gate in Japan, are near the hot-spring villages of Yunomine and Kawayu. On the coast, Nachikatsuura houses Nachi Taisha, the Seiganto-ji temple and Nachi Falls, 133 meters high, while nearby Shingu is home to Hayatama Taisha.

The walk requires preparation: trails climb and descend stone steps and roots, and the villages are small, with limited lodging that requires booking. Those who don’t hike can visit the shrines by bus and walk short sections on foot.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Tanabe, Nachikatsuura.