Tanabe to Sanpo-ji, 11th of October 2024.
Inabane-oji to Kumano Nachi Taisha (Nachisan), 23th of October to 27th of October 2024.
Distance: 90.2km. 6 days.
I had done the Kiiji, Kohechi, Ohechi and a section of the Iseji of the Kumano Kodo routes. It was time for the most common of the routes, Nakahechi, which is the imperial route. This was the route retired emperors chose. Like Kohechi, the majority of this route has also survived the advent of modern civiliation as most of it still remains up into the hills and mountains in the middle of the Kii peninsula.
Map of the Kumano Kodo routes with Nakahechi outlined.
Nakahechi is also the route that in terms of comparison is the closest to the Camino de Santiago, but where the routes in Spain mostly can be defined as walking in an open landscape, the Kumano Kodo is the opposite. It feels like walking wrapped inside the landscape around you. What constitutes most of the similarity is the social aspect of the walk, although on a somewhat smaller scale. One will not find a large dormitory here, but there might be a communal dinner and a fellowship to be found at the end of each stage. As well as meeting more people on the way.
In front of the Tokei-jinja shrine in Tanabe.
A short and steep descent from the Inabane-toge pass.
As with the Kohechi route, accommodation must be booked well in advance, despite being more options on this trail. The route is also well waymarked and finding the way is not a problem.
A rainy day it was when walking towards Takijiri-oji next to the Tonda-gawa river.
On a narrow path next to the Tonda-gawa river.
According to the guidebooks and official guides, the route is starting from the Takijiri-oji shrine, which is easily reachable by taking a bus from Tanabe. A bus ride that takes about 40 minutes. That being said, the route is actually starting from Tanabe and the Tokei-jinja shrine, but from a commercial point of view it is easy to see that it makes sense to skip the first section. With a few notable exceptions, it is mostly a walk going on paved roads. From Takijiri-oji the route is about 70 kilometres long, add around 25 kilometres if starting from Tanabe.
Rice fields below and mountains behind from a wonderful viewpoint in Takahara.
Prior to starting from Takijiri-oji, I walk from Tanabe to Inabane-oji in the afternoon the day before I embark on the Ohechi route. Then after having finished the first leg of the Iseji in Hongu, I take the bus the next day to Inabane-oji and walk from there in the rain up to Takijiri-oji. Mostly on wet paved roads, but there are some scenic paths going alongside the river on the way.
View of Chikatsuyu and misty mountains.
An old shop in Chikatsuyu.
After having walked three of the routes almost completely limited to my own company, it is nice to finally meet other walkers going in the same direction as I am on the route.
Stone lanterns and steep stairs leading up to the Tsugizakura-oji shrine.
Surrounded by trees, I walk on these ancient built paths, over roots that lays intricate patterns on the ground, on natural stairs of stone, and over moss that colours the line I see in front of me green. Echoes of pilgrims from the Edo period drifting through the woods, or from teahouses of old no longer existing. Views of mountains in the horizon with rice fields below from the pleasant village of Takahara.
Weathered and illuminated Jizo on the Nakahechi.
The section of the Nakahechi from Takijiri-oji to Hisohara-oji was one of the best walks so far on the Kumano Kodo, but the succeeding day to Kumano Hongu Taisha is a minor disappointment. The surface features more paved roads and when the path takes to the woods and mountains I feel it lacks the mysterious atmosphere from the day before. There are still highlights, though, returning to the viewpoint from where pilgrims can marvel at the size of the grand Otorii of Ōyunohara is one of them.
The entrance to Kumano Hongu Taisha in Hongu.
Certified dual pilgrim, picture taken from the dual pilgrim website.
Third time is a charm, Hongu and Kumano Hongu Taisha can be seen as a natural hub on the Kumano Kodo, as both the Nakahechi, Kohechi and Iseji routes are connecting here. In the evening I decide to walk over to Yunomine Onsen for a visit to the public onsen there, on the way I find myself looking up at two eyes staring down at me. In the dark I have no idea what kind of animal it is, but my guess is that it was a racoon.
View from the Hyakken-gura viewpoint with the 3000 mountains of the Kii peninsula under a layer of clouds, rain imminent.
If you have walked one of the Camino de Santiago routes in Spain before and was eligible to receive the Compostela, you might be eligible for getting the Dual Pilgrim certificate. For the Kumano Kodo, you can find the rules on the following website: https://dual-pilgrim.spiritual-pilgrimages.com/are-you-a-dual-pilgrim/. After receiving the Dual Pilgrim certificate, you can visit the grand shrine, perform a small drum ceremony and then receive your own gilded scallop with Yatagarasu on it, the three-legged crow that is the emblem of the routes.
A stone poem monument on the Kogumotori-goe section of the Nakahechi.
Kogumotori-goe is the name of the Nakahechi route between Hongu and Koguchi, loosely translated as passing over small clouds. I find it a little bit surprising that most of the hikers on the Kumano Kodo takes the bus from Hongu to the trailhead at Ukegawa. Main attraction on the way is the Hyakken-gura viewpoint, for over 1000 years pilgrims has stopped here and looked out over the 3000 mountains of the Kii peninsula.
Kotohira-jinja, reached on a detour from the descent towards Koguchi.
In Koguchi I stay at an old school turned into an inn, Koguchi Shizen-no-ie, where I spend a pleasant evening together with a group walking the Nakahechi that I met during the walk.
A revered Jizo watches over the pilgrims on the Ogumotori-goe.
In the midst of Ogumotori-goe where I am struggling along, short of breath, calmly standing is a Jizo Bodhisattva. These are not my words, but words or a poem found on a stone between the Hyakken-gura viewpoint and the Jizo-jaya teahouse. There are fourteen of these stone poem monuments, which was erected to celebrate a major trail mainenance project by the Kumanogawa village in 1984. Ascending the Kogumotori-goe, soft lights shimmer on the dead silver grass trembling in the mountain breeze.
Mist comes seeping in on a climb up between Koguchi and Kumano Nachi Taisha.
Ogumotori-goe is considered the hardest stage on the Nakahechi, connecting Koguchi with Kumano Nachi Taisha, and is the path passing over large clouds. It begins with a steep climb up to the Echizen-toge pass, with clouds lying low over the flagstones path and Jizo statues. Whisps of clouds also passes by me as I walks through a part of the path called Mojo-no-deai, meaning encounter with the deceased, a reminder that pilgrims did perish while walking on this route.
Enclosed in low clouds when I arrived, but after having my lunch the clouds lifted and revealed a view of the sea and Nachi-Katsuura.
At the remains of the Funami-chaya teahouse I have lunch with only clouds for view, but as I am about to leave a window opens up and I am able to look down towards the Pacific Ocean and Nachi-Katsuura. The sea seems just as grey as the weather. Nachi Kogen park appear like an abandoned amusement park, a somewhat surreal ending of the Nakahechi, just before the final walk down the steep moss covered steps to Kumano Nachi Taisha.
Nachi Kogen park, I was tempted to take the slide down. The park appeared to not have been in use for a time.
The grand shine is bustling, as it had been the last time I was there as well. I make my way down the many stony steps to the foot of the Nachi-no-taki waterfall, which is considered to be a deity in itself. When it is time to leave, the ancient Daimon-zaka awaits me once again. I loose count of the many steps on the way.
Seiganto-ji temple at Nachisan.
After finishing, I spend two nights at Minpako Kodo in the small village below Nachisan. There are no services there, but the host is very friendly and hospitable and will drive the guests to a nearby supermarket if needed. I eat dinner in Nachi-Katsuura before I sit down and relaxe at the public footbath looking out over the harbour.
Nachi-no-taki waterfall, the 133-meter high waterfall is the tallest in Japan.
Note: As written, I spent two nights at Minpako Kodo, on the second day I visited Kumano Nachi Taisha again and then went to Tonda to walk the section of the Ohechi that I had missed. The next day I hiked the Kakenuchimichi, visited the Kamikura Jinja and the floating island Ukishima in Shingu before taking the train to Ise.
