Kumano Kodo: walking Japan's ancient pilgrimage
For over a thousand years, emperors, aristocrats, and ascetic monks have walked the network of trails across the misty Kii Peninsula south of Osaka. Unlike European pilgrimage routes that follow flat agricultural river valleys between cathedrals, the Kumano Kodo climbs straight through temperate rainforests dominated by giant Japanese cryptomeria cedars (sugi) and moss-carpeted stone staircases.
We hiked the classic 68-kilometre Nakahechi route from Takijiri-oji to the Grand Shrine of Kumano Nachi Taisha over four days, staying each night in family-run minshuku guesthouses in river hamlet valleys.
The stone staircases of the Daimon-zaka
The physical character of the trail is defined by ichirizuka (stone marker mounds) and ancient flagstones laid down during the Heian period (794–1185). Climbing uphill through damp mist under an unbroken canopy of 800-year-old cedars, the silence is complete save for the drip of condensation and the sound of your trekking poles tapping wet slate.
Small roadside stone shrines (oji) appear every few kilometres, dedicated to the syncretic deities (kami) of Shinto mountain worship and esoteric Shingon Buddhism.
Pilgrimage on the Kii Peninsula is not an intellectual exercise; it is an embodied rhythm of steep climbs, steaming cedar baths, and quiet bowls of mountain soba.
Thermal healing in Yunomine Onsen
On night two, the trail descends steeply into Yunomine Onsen, a tiny thermal village clustered along a bubbling sulfurous creek. Yunomine is home to Tsuboyu—a tiny stone bathhouse built directly over a natural thermal spring, recognized as the only UNESCO World Heritage hot spring open for public bathing.
Pilgrims have performed purification rituals here for eleven centuries before praying at Kumano Hongu Taisha. Soaking in 42°C mineral water that changes colour from milky white to deep turquoise throughout the day melts every trace of quadriceps soreness.
- Accommodation logistics: Minshuku rooms along the Nakahechi route must be booked 4–6 months in advance via the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau; spontaneous walk-in lodging does not exist.
- Meals: Guesthouse stays include lavish multi-course kaiseki dinners featuring river trout (ayu), locally foraged mountain fern shoots (sansai), and wild boar stew.
- Rain protection: The Kii Peninsula receives over 3,000mm of annual rainfall; a dedicated waterproof pack liner is non-negotiable.
Reaching Nachi Falls
The pilgrimage culminates at Kumano Nachi Taisha, where the three-story vermilion pagoda stands against the dramatic backdrop of Nachi Falls (Nachi no Otaki)—a single uninterrupted 133-metre plunge of water roaring over volcanic rock. Standing at the base of the falls as incense smoke drifts through ancient cedars, you understand why this waterfall has been venerated as a living deity since prehistoric times.
Questions on planning the Nakahechi pilgrimage or booking rural Wakayama guesthouses? Say hello.