{"id":77273,"date":"2021-02-10T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/?p=77273"},"modified":"2021-02-26T21:01:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T12:01:56","slug":"hiking-pilgrimage-trails-kumano-kodo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/voyapon.com\/hiking-pilgrimage-trails-kumano-kodo\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Hiking the Pilgrimage Trails of Kumano Kodo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For well over a thousand years, the Japanese have been making ascetic and symbolic pilgrimages along the mountainous trails of the Kumano Kodo<\/strong> (\u718a\u91ce\u53e4\u9053)<\/strong>. To hike the Kumano Kodo is to embark on one of Japan\u2019s most ancient spiritual journeys, through an undulating expanse of primeval nature steeped in mist and mystery, in folklore and legend; to walk in the land of the gods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trails take their collective name from the Kumano region of Wakayama Prefecture<\/strong>, which covers the southern part of the Kii Peninsula in central Japan, and the Japanese word kodo<\/em>, meaning \u201cold ways.\u201d The Kumano Kodo is also the only walking trail, besides the Camino de Santiago in Spain, to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape. Its principal attractions are the Kumano Sanzan, a group of three grand Kumano shrines and one temple<\/strong> \u2014 Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine, Kumano Nachi Taisha Grand Shrine and its adjacent Nachisan Seiganto-ji Temple, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine \u2014 where the kami<\/em>, or Shinto gods are said to reside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone with a penchant for hiking, an interest in Japanese history, and a soft spot for ancient polytheistic belief systems (in which the roots of Shintoism are planted), I was charged with excitement at the prospect of walking the Kumano Kodo. Luckily, I found myself in a car snaking alongside the Kumano-gawa River in late December en route to the pilgrimage trail.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entry into the Kumano Kodo: the Land of the Gods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unloading from the car at a small shrine complex \u2014 which I\u2019d later learn was Takijiri-Oji; the Kumano Kodo mountain pass entrance <\/strong>\u2014 I met up with my Colorado-born guide, Mike, who\u2019s lived in Wakayama\u2019s Tanabe City for over 20 years. An adopted local, his knowledge of the trail was encyclopedic. Plus, he walked with a stick, and I tend to put trust in people who walk purposefully with sticks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was hoping we could cover a significant portion of the trail in one day before Mike informed me it covers hundreds of miles and takes various routes in and around the Kii Mountain Range. I reigned in my somewhat lofty ambitions and accepted that walking as much of the Kodo as we could pack into one day would suffice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are six main walkable trails<\/strong> (Kiiji, Kohechi, Nakahechi, Ohechi, Iseji, and Omine Okugake-michi) making up the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, which connect the three grand shrines and temple, as well as providing routes to Koyasan (the mountaintop home of Shingon Buddhism), Yoshino (a significant site of mountain worship in Nara Prefecture), and Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture (Japan\u2019s most important Shinto shrine). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Six walkable trails make up the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage and connect the three grand Kumano shrines and temple.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Kodo trails come in varying levels of difficulty, while some have been preserved better than others. The Nakahechi route<\/a> is the most popular<\/strong>, covering fairly manageable terrain for 30 km between the Tanabe outskirts and Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine. The Kohechi and Omine Okugake-michi are complex and undulating treks through steep forests, flanked by few inns and rest stops; they are not recommended to be taken without trained guides and thorough preparation. The two coastal trails, Ohechi and Iseji, around southern Wakayama and toward Ise Jingu respectively, have largely succumbed to construction given their proximity to civilization, but have retained some remnants of their former glory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great Diarists and History of the Kumano<\/strong> Kodo<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Nakahechi route was our entry point to the Kumano Kodo. We kicked things off at the adjacent Kumano Kodokan information center, a dodecagonal wooden hut nestled on the banks of a trickling river surrounded by evergreen forests. Here I learned of the trails’ historical context, who began walking them, and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, mountains in Japan were considered both the abode of the gods and a gathering space for the spirits of the dead<\/strong>. For this reason, the mountainous Kumano region was always revered by adherents to Japan\u2019s polytheistic belief systems (which were to become collectively known as Shintoism<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Chinese brought Buddhism to Japan between the 4th and 6th centuries, it gave structure and organization to Japan\u2019s indigenous religion. The two religions syncretized to form one larger school of thought, where Buddhism and Shintoism worked in tandem; local Shinto kami were now, in essence, manifestations of Buddhist entities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Heian Period (794 \u2013 1185) the act of pilgrimage was largely reserved for the religious and political elite. And it was the elite\u2019s connection to the intertwining philosophies of Shintoism and Buddhism that led to the Kumano Kodo\u2019s beginning as a pilgrimage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South has always been an auspicious direction; the Kodo was directly south from Kyoto (the former capital and home to the Heian Courts). The Kumano region is also home to Japan\u2019s creation mythology; namely, through the first emperor Jimmu \u2014 a supposed descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu \u2014 who spent time navigating the testing Kumano terrain en route to founding Japan. The Buddhist deities worshipped in Kumano were also linked to their own cosmic paradises; ascending the trails to honor them in Kumano \u2014 a literal paradise on earth \u2014 was also considered a pathway to achieving internal paradise. Furthermore, the Kodo was an ideal outlet for ascetic practices, as well as for purification of the mind, body, and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the poets, scribes, and scholars who walked the Kumano Kodo alongside the aristocracy, there are first-person accounts of pilgrimages from the Heian Period \u2014 replicas of their diaries<\/strong> sit in glass cases within the information center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s from these first-hand pilgrimage diaries, such as Chuyuki <\/em>(\u4e2d\u53f3\u8a18) by Heian noble Fujiwara-no-Munetada (1062\u20131141), that we can learn about the journeys themselves. After visiting Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine along with a retinue of travelers, Munetada arrived in Yunomine Onsen, still thought to be the home to one of Japan\u2019s oldest hot springs. \u201cI bathed in a small ravine where hot spring water surfaces beside the flow of a cold creek, a very rare sight,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThose who bathe in these waters will be cured of all illness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking the Kumano Kodo in light of these layers of historical intrigue, every stone underfoot and boulder along the trail, every towering cedar and moss-covered shrine, every tumbling river and babbling brook becomes infinitely more interesting. If the hills had voices, one can only imagine the stories they\u2019d tell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trodden Trail: Nakahechi Route<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I got my first real taste of the Kumano Kodo, right outside the entrance of the Kodokan, where we joined the Nakahechi route. A large engraved stone noted we were entering a designated World Heritage area. Behind this stood a stern torii gate indicating the entrance to Takijiri-Oji, the sacred entrance to the trail<\/strong>. A little further along, a wooden post erected beside a tree proudly stated two words: \u201cKumano Kodo.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our hike on this particular section of the Kumano Kodo was a testing of the waters, if you will. We trudged up a fairly steep yet well-trodden path for about 500 meters. Though we had it all to ourselves, Mike informed me that it’s typically more congested in less virulent times, especially during the spring sakura <\/em>(cherry blossom) and koyo <\/em>(autumn foliage) seasons. As we moved deeper into the forest, the air became more still as the sounds of cars on a nearby road faded, replaced by the snap of twigs underfoot and the chirrup of birds in the boskage overhead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our brief ascent culminated in a little red-bibbed jizo<\/em> statue, a bodhisattva who guards travelers and the souls of the unborn, brooded over by a sacred rock. This \u201cmother rock\u201d was mythologized centuries ago, after tales spread of it protecting a baby left in its care for several days. Next to these was a natural tunnel in the earth leading to a small gap between two boulders, just about wide enough for an average-sized human to squeeze through. Safe passage through this tunnel, known as \u201cthe womb,\u201d symbolizes the purification of your soul, part of an old Buddhist rebirthing ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A little red-bibbed jizo<\/em> statue, a bodhisattva, guards travelers and the souls of the unborn along the Kumano Kodo trails.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I am not a particularly large man, so I fancied my chances of braving the womb relatively unscathed. With some muffled grunting and an ungainly push, I succeeded in coming out the other side, in being reborn. I can\u2019t say I felt entirely purified. Still, it was a great example of how the Kumano Kodo\u2019s natural surroundings worked to symbolize the religious beliefs which had long attracted pilgrims to the region.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We descended the trail and regrouped at the car to make our way further along the Nakahechi route. We got back on the trail from a popular starting spot at Hosshinmon-oji,<\/strong> one of the hundreds of smaller shrines dotting the Kodo. Hosshinmon-oji marks the outermost entrance into the divine precinct of Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine, around five miles away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hosshinmon-Oji
Hosshinmon-oji is one of the hundreds of smaller shrines along the Kumano Kodo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From here, the Nakahechi led past farms, vegetable allotments, and the home of an old woodcarver who\u2019d fashioned scarecrows for the neighboring farmers before it entered a forest of cryptomeria cedar, cypress, pines, chestnut, conifers, exotic-looking ferns, and countless other botanical species. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deeper into the forest, we passed by an abandoned school, which was locked in a state of beauty and melancholy intertwined. Classrooms bereft of life and covered in debris looked out at an old swimming pool, littered in golden foliage dropped from deciduous trees clinging to the death throes of autumn. The sun reflected, mirror-like, on the pool\u2019s deathly still surface, while moss crept up over the sides. I could have sat for hours just drinking it all in. Unfortunately, time was not on my side, so I made a quick offering at the school\u2019s Jizo \u2014 said to cure the kind of backache I just so happened to be carrying \u2014 and proceeded onward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe are now re-entering the designated World Heritage area<\/strong>,\u201d Mike told me as we arrived at a path of aging stonework. Much of the section we were about to step foot on had been preserved since the Heian Period, a relic of the old Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, undiluted by the modernization which has taken place around it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bumpy ancient road snaked through a forest of towering trees and slowly began to feel like the fabled land of the Shinto gods. Reality, or at least the modern world, felt lightyears (and literal years) away as we marched to the beat of our footsteps, to the rhythm of our surroundings, with only snippets of conversation here and there to break the environmental soundscape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of small shrines peppered the sides of the road, many of which honored those who had walked the Kodo but failed to come back alive. It helped to put in perspective what it was like to walk these trails a thousand years ago, with no backpacks full of water and snacks, no GPS in your pocket if you stumbled off course, no guide who knew these woods like the back of his hands leading the way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continued to the approximate halfway point between Hosshinmon-oji and Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine, a small rest hut overlooking a tea farm that served onsen<\/em> coffee<\/strong> (made with hot spring water). We tucked into our Kumano Kodo Bento<\/em><\/a> (lunchbox) purchased in advance at Omuraya and enjoyed the much-needed warmth and energy from our steaming, caffeine-charged brews. (Please note that there are no lunch stops along this portion of the route, so please pack meals or snacks accordingly.) A viewpoint sat next door to the rest, providing unhindered views across the Kii Mountain Range rolling toward the horizon. On a clear December day, as it was for us, one can see 20-plus-miles into the distance: a several-day trek along the Kumano Kodo from where we were standing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the World of Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We walked for another couple of miles through a similarly serene forested landscape to reach the Kodo\u2019s first grand shrine, Kumano Hongu Taisha Grand Shrine<\/strong> (\u718a\u91ce\u672c\u5bae\u5927\u793e).<\/strong> Just as all roads lead to Rome, all Kumano Kodo trails lead to this grand shrine, situated in the heart of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n