Rice and mountains on the Kumano Kodō (熊野古道)

The Kumano Kodō (熊野古道) is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes that crisscross the Kii Hantō, the largest Peninsula of Japan. These sacred trails were and are still used for the pilgrimage to the sacred site "Kumano Sanzan" (熊野三山）), or the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano: Kumano Hongū Taisha (熊野本宮大社), Kumano Nachi Taisha (熊野那智大社) and Kumano Hayatama Taisha (熊野速玉大社). The Kumano Kodō pilgrimage routes that lead to Kumano can be geographically categorized into three sub-routes: "Kiji", "Kohechi" and "Iseji". The Kumano Kodō and Kumano Sanzan, along with Koyasan and Yoshino and Omine, were registered as UNESCO World Heritage on July 7, 2004 as the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range".

We walked the Nakahechi pilgrimage route. The Nakahechi pilgrimage route is the one that once used by ex- Emperors and Nobles from the 10th century onwards, hence it’s name of ‘the Imperial route’ – it also the most popular route with foreign visitors and locals. The Nakahechi pilgrimage route starts from Tanabe on the western coast of the Kii Peninsula and works it’s way east across the mountains towards the Kumano Grand shrines at Kumano Hongu.

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Photograph taken by

Jos van der Heiden (2015)

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