Kumano Kodo: Ohechi

Kumano Kodo Ohechi: the coastal route.
Choritsu Taiikukan-mae to Kumano Nachi Taisha (Nachisan), 12th of October to 16th of October 2024.
Tonda to Tanabe, 28th of October 2024.
Distance: 102.6km. 6 days.

When poets and artists set out on the pilgrimage to one of the three great shrines, they often walked along the coast, on the Ohechi route. If you decide to walk it, maybe you might hear an echo of a poem or haiku once spoken out to the ocean coming back from it. This is an approximately 100 kilometres long route that starts in Tanabe and then follows the coast around to Nachi-Katsuura and from there up to Nachisan and Kumano Nachi Taisha.

Map of the Kumano Kodo routes with Ohechi outlined.

Much of this route has suffered the same fate as Kiiji, where modern times have eaten up where the old ways once ran. Walking it as a continuous route is still possible, but be prepared for a good deal of walking on busy roads. Like Kiiji, only a few sections are described in the official guidebooks. These are however relatively well waymarked with the official wooden poles and signs. Additionally, some local enthusiasts have put in a great effort to additionally waymark the route with small handmade signs. Once again, the online track made by Masako Iwamoto Vierstraete was invaluable.

The Tonda-zaka path.

Ohechi is called the coastal route, but despite its promises of walking next to the Pacific Ocean, the route also takes me up into the hills and mountains. Due to time, I start my hike nearby the Tonda-zaka trailhead instead of Tanabe. The walk takes me on a lovely path up into the hills with the sun shining through the trees, sometimes with a bustling creek next to me and the usual occasional Jizo statue watching over the walkers.

The lovely Shuku-no-taki waterfall, reached by a detour of about 1.3km off the trail.

Path leading up the Hoto-zaka slope from the Hiki-gawa river, featuring a short but steep climb.

Time might sometimes disagree with the priorizations that I take, but being curious is a natural and integral part of me. Sometimes it does pay off, sometimes it does not. The detour to the Shuku-no-taki was a pay off. Although it required a slightly steep descent on an uneven path, it was well worth the detour. A beautiful waterfall flowing into a small pool seemingly deep into the forest.

Wabukagawa-oji shrine, founded in 1625.

While the traditional boat trip on the Kumano-gawa river is well known, the Ohechi route features a boat trip on its own. The Ago-no-Watashi ferry was used to cross the Hiki-gawa river until the service was discontinued back in 1954. It is now possible to experience the same ride on a traditional, flat-bottomed wooden boat again, although it has to be booked at least three days in advance. As I have not booked it, I walk the longer route around, which is an interesting but sometimes cumbersome path.

Walking on a danchiku section on the Naga-zaka part of the Ohechi.

A walk with view of the sea and the land through the trees.

Lost in translation is at times far from being a cliché when hiking in Japan, once on the way, a signpost has me waiting until I get the translation to be ‘please close the gate after you’. It can also be a source of an eventful evening, like when I go out for dinner in Susami. Coming in from the street, I get the attention of both the host and guests, all seemingly surprised to find a gaijin entering. Much linguistic amusement follows, but when I leave I had got a nice dinner and a couple of beers. One of the guests paid for it all, I just hoped that I had given the thanks it deserved, as the other guests wrongfully had said that he only had paid for the first beer.

Nestled inside the forest on the Esuzaki promontory you find the mysterious looking Esuzaki-jinja shrine, probably due to it showing signs of neglect.

Most interesting on the second day is the walk on the Naga-zaka path over sections that were built using an ancient technique called danchiku, a terraced construction where earth and clay has been pounded together to create an even ridgeline that would defend against erosion. It feels like a natural bridge connecting one ridgeline with another.

View from the room of a momentary luxury henro or pilgrim, the Fairfield by Marriott Wakayama Kumano Kodo Susami.

Sunset over Esuzaki from Osamazaki.

Despite those hikes up into the hills with windows in the foliage out to the ocean, there is no avoiding the fact that there is a lot of walking on sections that had been built using more modern techniques using asphalt, often with only narrow shoulders to walk on. As the weather is mostly good to me while I am walking the Ohechi, I get off easy. If the weather had been inclement, it would have been an altogether different experience.

Satono beach, walking on sand and rocky surface next to cliffs.

Although not as bad as advertised, there is no getting around walking on a busy road on the Ohechi at times, sometimes on narrow road shoulders next to the vehicles passing by.

In the end, all the walking on a busy road is not as bad as I had first envisioned it to be, there were enough small detours off the road to take the focus away from it. Especially the ones that take me down to the seashore, where I walk on rocky and sandy beaches, with cliffs next to me both in the sea and on land.

Fishing boats in the sea.

Along the way I stay at a beautiful hotel with a view of the sunset, where in the evening I could sit outside in the onsen with the sound of the waves hitting the cliffs below while the light from the lighthouse does its round dance on the sky. Just outside of Kushimoto, I have a view of the Hashigui-iwa rocks from my window, a row of 40 large stones that together form a line about 850 meters long, said to have been made by Kobo Daishi. It is easy to see where the inspiration for a haiku could come from.

Hashigui-iwa rocks outside of Kushimoto.

The official maps of the Ohechi shows only one route, but the track I got from Masako presented me with an option of two routes in Nakaminato after Kushimoto. I opt for the inland route instead of continuing further alongside the coast. It is a good choice as I again find myself on an adventurous walk not knowing what awaits me.

The torii gate of the Atago jinja above Kozagawa.

Deep in the forest I walk past a mesmerizing pond lit up by the filtered rays from the sun, but it is the near open ridgewalk and later summit of Hachiro-yama that is the highlight. Despite being only 250 metres above the sea, Hachiro-yama offers an almost 360 degrees panorama of the surrounding landscape. When in Nachi-Katsuura, be sure not to miss out on the public footbath next to the port, a relaxing experience after some long days on the Kumano Kodo.

A small illuminated pond in the woods on the inland section of the Ohechi after Koza.

View from the summit of Hachiroyama.

Heavy rain turns the paths into small rivers and me into a pilgrim with an umbrella when I finish the Ohechi. The Daimon-zaka slope is an impressive entryway to Kumano Nachi Taisha, a cobblestone staircase that is almost 600 meters long with 267 steps. I walk up it to the sound of rain dripping from the centuries-old Japanese cedars, cypresses, camphor trees and bamboo groves on either side of me.

Between Nachi-Katsuura and Nachisan there is a short section of forest walk, where the heavy rain turned the path into small rivers.

The most iconic image from Kumano Nachi Taisha is the 133-meter-high waterfall, the tallest in Japan, next to the red pagoda of the Seiganto-ji temple. When I am there, the pagoda is under maintenance, and the ugly scaffolding did not invite to taking many photographs. However, the disappointment is short-lived, because it is still such a beautiful place and the fact that they maintain it is only positive.

Probably one of the most impressive sections of the Kumano Kodo, the Daimon-zaka slope leading to Kumano Nachi Taisha.

View of the Nachisan waterfall from the park beside the Seiganto-ji pagoda.

At a later time in my journey, I return to do the missing section between Tonda and Tanabe, walking it in reverse as finishing in Tanabe provides more services than Tonda. Involved some walking on roads and paved surface, but had some few nice surprises including a bridge and a shrine underneath a cliff. Roads is a keyword, but the Ohechi route was a pleasant surprise.

The Sanno-bashi bridge on the Ohechi between Tonda and Tanabe.

< Kohechi | Nakahechi >

Note: After finishing at Kumano Nachi Taisha, I traveled to Yunomine Onsen for the two nights that I had booked there. A very special place indeed. I spent the next day doing a day hike on the Omine Okugakemichi, going as far as I could before I had to return back to Hongu and Yunomine Onsen. Leaving the small village tucked in between the hills, I took the Kumano Gawa traditional boat ride to Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Shingu, from where I started on the Iseji route that I will write about later. Finishing the Iseji section in Hongu, I took the bus to Inabane-oji and the Nakahechi route.

Some of the info in this article I must credit this nice article by John Rucynski on his walk on the Ohechi: https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/11308/.