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Kumano Kodo
The Kumano Kodo is a network of ancient pilgrim roads through the forested mountains of the Kii Peninsula, mostly in Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region, leading to the three grand shrines of Kumano.
The Daimonzaka stair, Kumano Kodo
- Prefecture
- Wakayama
- Region
- Kansai
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
The roads that emperors walked to Kumano, taken a gentle section at a time.
For more than a thousand years, pilgrims have made their way to Kumano, a land of steep cedar forest, rivers and waterfalls at the southern end of the Kii Peninsula that was believed to be the dwelling place of the gods. In the Heian period the retired emperors made the journey from Kyoto with their courts, some of them dozens of times, and in later centuries samurai, merchants and farmers followed in such numbers that the procession was likened to a line of ants.
Their destination was the Kumano Sanzan, three grand shrines some distance apart: Kumano Hongu Taisha in the mountains, Kumano Hayatama Taisha at the mouth of the Kumano River, and Kumano Nachi Taisha beside the great waterfall of Nachi. Kumano welcomed every pilgrim, whatever their rank or faith, and Shinto and Buddhism were worshipped here side by side.
The roads and shrines were inscribed in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, a World Heritage Site, and the Kumano Kodo is one of only two pilgrimage routes on the list, with the Camino de Santiago. The way to know it is a short section at a time, along stone paths through the cedars to a shrine, with a car waiting at the end and an onsen ryokan by the river for the night.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see on the Kumano Kodo
Kumano Hongu Taisha
The head of the three grand shrines, reached by a flight of stone steps lined with banners, its halls roofed in thick cypress bark. The three-legged crow, Yatagarasu, the messenger of the Kumano gods, appears throughout the precinct.
Oyunohara
The sandbank in the Kumano River where Hongu Taisha stood until a flood in 1889, now a quiet grove beside the river, entered through a great torii almost 34 metres high, one of the largest in the world.
Nachi Falls
A single fall of 133 metres, the tallest in Japan, dropping from the forest into a pool, and worshipped in its own right as a god. The vermilion three-storey pagoda of Seiganto-ji stands before it in the classic view.
Kumano Nachi Taisha and Seiganto-ji
A shrine and a temple side by side on the mountain above the falls, a rare survival of the old union of Shinto and Buddhism; Seiganto-ji is the first temple of the Saigoku pilgrimage of thirty-three Kannon temples.
Daimonzaka
A stone-paved stair of some six hundred metres climbing to Nachi between cedars said to be eight hundred years old, the most beautiful short piece of the old road, taken at an easy pace.
Kumano Hayatama Taisha
The vermilion shrine of the three at Shingu, near the mouth of the Kumano River, with a sacred nagi tree said to be more than a thousand years old and a treasury of offerings given by emperors and shoguns.
Fushiogami-oji to Hongu
The last stretch of the Nakahechi route, about three and a half kilometres along forest paths and past tea fields, where pilgrims had their first sight of Oyunohara and knelt in thanks. It is an easy walk of about ninety minutes, downhill to the shrine.
Yunomine Onsen and Tsuboyu
A small onsen village in a valley near Hongu where pilgrims purified themselves before entering the shrine. Its tiny riverside cabin, Tsuboyu, is the only onsen on the World Heritage list in which you can bathe.
Kawayu Onsen
An onsen village where hot water rises through the gravel bed of the Oto River, so that guests can sit in warm water at the edge of a mountain stream.
experiences
The best of the Kumano Kodo
A section of the old road, at your own pace
A morning on the stone paths of the Nakahechi with a guide who knows the oji, the small roadside shrines, and the stories of the pilgrims who stopped at each, with a car to meet you where the walk ends.
An onsen ryokan by the river
A night at a ryokan in the Hongu onsen villages, with an open-air onsen above the river, dinner of mountain vegetables, river fish and Kumano beef, and the forest dark beyond the windows.
Nachi with a priest
The great falls, the shrine and the pagoda explained by someone who serves there, with time beside the pool at the foot of the water.
The market at Katsuura
The fish market at Nachi-Katsuura, one of the great tuna ports of Japan, followed by a lunch of tuna in all its forms.
plan your visit
The Kumano Kodo on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights is the least we would give Kumano, with one in the onsen villages near Hongu, and three lets you see all three grand shrines and two or three sections of the old roads at an easy pace.
- Getting there
- From Osaka, the Kuroshio limited express reaches Kii-Tanabe in a little over two hours, and the Hongu area is about an hour on by car. From Tokyo, flights to Nanki-Shirahama take about seventy minutes. By private car, Hongu is about four hours from Osaka or Kyoto and about two and a half from Koyasan.
journeys
The Kumano Kodo on a private journey
We bring guests to the Kumano Kodo on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
The Kumano Kodo: questions answered
Can you visit the Kumano Kodo without long walks?
Yes. The three grand shrines and Nachi Falls are all reached by car, and the old stone paths through the cedars can be walked in short sections of an hour or two, with a car to meet you at the end.
What are the three grand shrines of Kumano?
Kumano Hongu Taisha in the mountains, Kumano Hayatama Taisha at Shingu, and Kumano Nachi Taisha beside Nachi Falls. Together they are called the Kumano Sanzan.
How many days do you need for the Kumano Kodo?
Two to three nights, enough for all three grand shrines, Nachi Falls, one or two sections of the old roads and a night in an onsen village near Hongu.
How do you get to the Kumano Kodo from Osaka or Kyoto?
By the limited express from Osaka to Kii-Tanabe in a little over two hours and then by car to Hongu in about an hour, or by private car from Osaka or Kyoto in about four hours.
Is the Kumano Kodo a World Heritage Site?
Yes. It was inscribed in 2004 as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, with Koyasan and Yoshino, and it is one of two pilgrimage routes on the World Heritage list, with the Camino de Santiago.
What is the easiest section of the Kumano Kodo?
The walk from Fushiogami-oji to Kumano Hongu Taisha, about three and a half kilometres and mostly downhill, takes about ninety minutes and ends at the shrine. The Daimonzaka stair at Nachi is shorter, beneath cedars said to be eight centuries old.
Can the Kumano Kodo be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, the Kumano Kodo included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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The Kumano Kodo, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to the Kumano Kodo, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.