Kumano Hayatama Taisha

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About Kumano Hayatama Taisha

Kumano Hayatama Taisha is in Shingu, about 15 km from Nachikatsuura, near the mouth of the Kumano River. It is one of the three great Kumano shrines, alongside Hongu Taisha and Nachi Taisha, and the name Shingu, "new shrine," comes from it: according to tradition, the deities of Kumano first descended on the Gotobiki-iwa rock on the summit of the neighboring mountain, and later were worshiped at the new shrine on the plain.

The buildings, rebuilt in the 20th century after a fire, are painted bright red with white details, in a style that contrasts with the dark wood of Hongu Taisha. In the courtyard grows a nagi tree about a thousand years old, considered a natural treasure; its leaves, hard to tear, are used as amulets to protect relationships and journeys. The shrine also houses a collection of objects donated by the court, displayed in the treasure museum.

About 1 km away is Kamikura Shrine, atop Mount Gongen, where the large Gotobiki-iwa rock, shaped like a frog, balances on the slope above the town. The ascent is via a staircase of 538 irregular stone steps, steep and without a handrail for much of the way, and the view from the top covers Shingu, the river and the sea. On February 6, at the Oto Matsuri festival, hundreds of men dressed in white run down that stairway carrying torches.

Shingu is a stop on the coastal train and on the buses that go to Hongu, which makes it possible to visit the three great shrines in sequence.