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/.

Kumano Kodo: Kohechi

Kumano Kodo Kohechi: the mountain route, from Hongu to Koyasan. Choisimichi: from Koyasan to Kudoyama.
5th of October to 10th of October 2024.
Distance: 84.4km. 6 days.

I then moved from a route that has passed into history to a route that still lives in it, Kohechi. One of the reasons for this is quite clear. Since the majority of the route is going up into the forested mountains in the middle of the Kii Peninsula, it has continued to exist, unlike Kiiji. For this very same reason, Kohechi is named the mountain route.

Map of the Kumano Kodo routes with Kohechi outlined.

This route originated from the purpose of connecting Koyasan to Kumano Sanzan. Koyasan is considered to be the sacred center of the Shingon school of Buddhism in Japan, where Kobo Daishi (the founder of the school) is said to be meditating in eternal sleep. Koyasan is for that reason also connected to the Shikoku 88 temples pilgrimage. It is normal to start from Koyasan and going south to Kumano Hongu Taisha, but I was going to walk it in the opposite direction.

The huge Otorii gate outside Ōyunohara was illuminated in the evening before I started on the Kohechi.

Kohechi is relatively short at 60 kilometers, but is still usually considered to be the hardest of the routes, if you exclude the Omine Okugakemichi. Each day on the route is characterized by a rather steep climb up to and over a pass followed by an equally steep descent. Which makes the stages more or less self-explanatory, it is normal to spend four days to walk it.

Kumano Hongu Taisha in Hongu.

View of the Otorii and surrounding mountains from a viewpoint found on a short detour from the trail.

The popularity of this route, as well as the fact that there is a somewhat limited amount of places to stay available, means that you have to book accommodation a good time in advance. Kohechi is also well waymarked in both Japanese and English, which also makes it more accessible to hikers from abroad. Make sure to have a plan for your lunch, as there are limited services available along the route.

A view through the woods from Kohechi.

A path in the mist, on the way towards the Hatenashi-toge pass.

When I start out from Hongu, it is under a grey sky bearing indications of imminent rain. Clouds besieges the mountains surrounding the old sacred site of Ōyunohara and its huge Otorii, which is looking even more impressive from a great viewpoint one can reach by walking a short detour from the official path. The two most popular Kumano Kodo routes are sharing the same path on the last steps to or first steps from Kumano Hongu Taisha, depending on the perspective.

Above Hatenashi, the village in the sky.

As the route is for the most part going up into the forested hills and mountains between Hongu and Koyasan, I mostly find myself walking on natural paths underneath the cover of the trees. The paths ranges from going on good tracks to uneven surfaces over gnarled roots or natural looking stairs of stones covered in moss, which can be slippery when wet. Down in the valleys between the mountain passes, however, walking on a hard surface cannot be escaped. The longest stretch of road walk is the about 8 kilometres between the Miura-toge and Hatenashi-toge trailheads.

Private onsen at the Gyoja Minshuku Taiyo-no-Yu in Totsukawa Onsen.

The Tanise valley between the Miura-toge and Hatenashi-toge trailheads.

The passes were often thick with fog when I hiked the Kohechi. As was the first one, the Hatenashi-toge pass, with a stupa and other ornaments enclosed in mist creating a mysterious aura. However, when I arrive at the quaint Hatenashi settlement, known as ‘village in the sky’, views opened up to a mountain scenery beneath dramatic clouds, shortly followed by heavy rain. Hiking in Japan can be a wet experience, but after the hike, it is a pleasure to be able to immerse oneself in a hot bath. The best wet experience is what you get if you stay at a place with an onsen (hot spring, bathhouse).

A Jizo statue covered in moss.

View from the Miura-toge pass.

Then to a little piece of Camino or Kumano magic, maybe just pilgrimage magic. In the small hamlet of Miura-guchi, I stay at a small accommodation that is also on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Minshuku Mandokoro. Pay heed to the wooden wall between the two guest rooms, it is over 300 years old. There were only one other guest. I walk north in the direction of Koyasan, the other one south in the direction of Hongu. At dinner we sit and look at each other, there is something familiar. Finally he ask me: ‘Have we met before?’, and then ‘Are you a Norwegian who walks with a camera?’. It definitely sounds like me.

The wind breaking cedar trees near the remains of Yoshimura's house.

Joe and me in Minshuku Mandokoro, we also met on the Camino Primitivo back in 2015.

Which indeed is the case, I met Joe on the Camino Primitivo when I walked it in 2015. One can only wonder what the probability is of that. Of all places, we meet again in a tiny place seemingly in the middle of nowhere in Japan walking in the opposite directions. It lead to a very pleasant evening with a lot of reminiscing. Joe lives in Japan with his wife (whom I also met in Spain) and their two children, and studies pilgrimage on a daily basis. We kept in touch afterwards.

A typical winding path of the Kumano Kodo, on the way up towards the Obako-toge pass.

At 1344 meters above sea level, Obako-dake is not only the highest point on the Kohechi, but also on the Kumano Kodo in general. In good weather it can offer a panoramic view of the Kii mountains. I was up on the summit both enshrouded by clouds and with a view of the surrounding mountains, having a lunch break in the basic hut below during a rain shower in between.

The first view of Obako-dake, covered in low clouds with no views to be had.

The second view of Obako-dake, now with views after some of the clouds has dispersed.

In terms of difficulty, the stage between Omata and Koyasan is probably the easiest one on the Kohechi. I walk most of it together with an American couple that I met at the Obako-toge pass, which I appreciate given the otherwise solitary walk so far, they are a pleasant company. On the way they show me a scenic spot with a waterfall, Koya Otaki.

Koya Otaki, a scenic spot with a waterfall on a short detour from the Kohechi.

There are around 120 temples in Koyasan, where about half of them offer accommodation. If you stay overnight at a temple, you will be served tasty vegetarian food (shojin ryori) and have the opportunity to participate in the morning prayer, as well as a meditation in the afternoon. I had booked a stay for two nights at the Koyasan Sanadabo Rengejoin temple.

Danjo Garan in Koyasan.

Old tombstones and stupas in the Okunoin at Koyasan.

In addition to the large temple complex in the center of the town, Danjo Garan, it is the ancient cemetery, Okunoin, which requires a visit. I wander among moss-covered old stupas, both large and small, on the outskirts I find graves that are slowly disappearing into nature, while in the evening lamps light up the darkness.

Niutsuhime jinja, which is normally on a detour from the original Choisimichi path.

I leave Koyasan by walking the Choisi-michi down to Kudoyama, which I had previously walked up when I did the Shikoku 88 Temples Pilgrimage, passing by the same ancient signposts of stone. A part of the trail was closed, probably due to erosion, which forced me to take a detour that took me to Niutsuhime-jinja on the way. I was not discontent about the detour at all, as I had planned to visit the famous shrine anyway. As dusk settles on the sky, I arrive at the Jison-in temple marking the finish of the Kohechi for my part.

On the Choisimich on the way down to the Jison-in temple and Kudoyama, in the eyes of the ancient stone signpost I would only be a person passing by in the blink of an eye due to its age.

< Kiiji | Ohechi >

Note: At this point I had in the end decided to skip doing the Omine Okugakemichi. I spent the night in Hashimoto, as planned, but there I rearranged my plan trying to make it fit with the accommodations that I had already booked for the Nakahechi route. From Hashimoto I first took a train to Wakayama and from there a train to Tanabe to start walking the Ohechi. In Tanabe, I had time to walk a short section of the Nakahechi to Inabane-ōji, but that I will cover in a later section.

Kumano Kodo: Kiiji

Kumano Kodo Kiiji: the access route, from Osaka to Tanabe.
28th of September to 2th of October 2024.
Distance: 195.1km. 5 days.

Kyoto and Osaka where the two most common places to start from when pilgrims in the old times embarked on the journey to one of the shrines of the Kumano Sanzan. Osaka was also from where I started my hike on the Kumano Kodo. I stood at the Kumano Kodo monument next to the Okawa river that runs through Osaka, and with no waymarks there were no way for me to know where I should go.

Map of the Kumano Kodo routes with Kiiji outlined.

The route that went from Osaka and led the pilgrims southwards to Tanabe, went by the name of Kiiji. This was the access route to the Kumano Kodo. Today, this is a route that barely exists. If you look at the map, it is as if a continuous line of cities from Osaka and south of it have merged into a huge one. Where the route once went, modern civilization with its roads, railways and not at least high densities of buildings has taken over.

At the start of the Kumano Kodo Kiiji in Osaka, the Kumano Kodo monument next to the Okawa river.

Enoki-Daimyojin shrine in the streets of Osaka.

In order to find where the Kiiji is going, or rather where it once went, it is necessary to download the route on your phone or a GPS decive as only fragments of the original route remains. These remaining sections are partly waymarked and described in the officially published guides, but the waymarks are not consistent or coherent.

The Kiyomizu-dera temple in Osaka, a friendly Japanese man insisted on showing me this nice and tranquil temple bringing back memories from my Shikoku 88 Temples Pilgrimage.

Walking past the Bandai pond, the route does not go through the island, but I had to do it.

Before I traveled to Japan, I had come into contact with Masako Iwamoto Vierstraete, a Japanese woman who has hiked and tracked all the Kumano Kodo routes over several years together with her husband, Erik, which she has shared on her Wikiloc profile: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/kumano-kodo-and-koyasan-routes-xiong-ye-gu-dao-togao-ye-shan-can-yi-dao-192526587. This was an invaluable resource for me in terms of finding the way, both on this route and some of the others.

A short detour to the Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine is worth the visit.

This is what the Kumano Kodo Kiiji is all about on the first days of the walk, walking on streets through Osaka and out of it.

If you want to try to follow the Kiiji route from Osaka to Tanabe as it exists today, the distance is about 185 kilometres. This is one of the distances that I had got down wrong when I did my estimations, planning for about 120 kilometres and four days of walking. The result was that I had to start walking straight away the day after I had arrived in Osaka, losing the day I had wanted to explore the city and adjusting to the different time zone from home.

Yamanakadani, a pleasant village walkers on the Kiiji arrives at once having left most of the city behind.

Walking through fields after the remains of the Kawanabe-oji shrine.

When I started walking, there was city as far as the eye could see, although I obviously could not see very far. With a few exceptions, most of the Kiiji goes on a hard surface. Navigating through the cities also meant that I had to continuously check that I was still on the route as I had no waymarks to guide me, sometimes finding out that I had passed by where I should have left the current street that I was walking on. Despite that, walking the Kiiji still felt like an adventure in itself. I had no idea where the route would bring me, did not know what I would see and where I would end up each day.

At the beautiful Itakiso Jinja shrine.

On the first days, it was the shrines and temples that provided me with the change of scenery. I met a Japanese man who wanted to show me the Kiyomizu-dera temple with its small waterfall in the midst of a big city, a visit that brought back memories of the Shikoku 88 Temples Pilgrimage. Enoki-Daimyōjin, a shrine built around a tree in one of the streets. And of tourist attractions like the Tennoji temple and Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine. The favourite of all of those that I passed by was the Itakiso jinja shrine dedicated to the god of wood, with its wooden idols, pond and several subsidiary shrines. I was also fascinated by the decaying state of the Susa jinja, where I was lured up its broken stairs by its whispers of a forgotten past.

Jizo statues lining up next to the path leading up to where the Haraedo-oji shrine once stood.

On the third day, the path had changed to include more natural paths, although still with the majority going on paved roads. This from a section through bamboo woods up towards Fujishiro-toge.

Gradually the city slipped into more rural surroundings and the route surprised me by offering some short but steep climbs. There were bamboo forests and views, but at the same time descents on overgrown and cumbersome paths. Crossing over one of the passes on the way, I spotted a tiger keelback slithering away from underneath the leaves on the ground.

View from above the Fujishiro-toge pass.

And then the plot thickened, the descent from Fujishiro-toge became rather overgrown.

Here and there I passed by signposts and small information boards indicating that this was where the old route once had run. Here and there I passed by the remains of the old oji shrines, which are subsidiary shrines of the Kuman Sanzan and houses the child deities of Kumano Gongen, protecting and guiding the pilgrims.

View from the walk over Itoga-toge pass on the fourth day.

An old street in Yuasa.

With the exception of the last night before Tanabe, I ended up adopting a routine of walking as far as I could before it got dark, and then taking a train to a city where I could find a place to stay for the night. When it comes to Tanabe, I had booked a hotel in advance when I planned for the Nakahechi and Kohechi routes.

The Kiiji crossing over the Shikagase-toge pass.

Not directly on the route, but near Gobo, I took the time to make a detour to the Dōjō-ji temple, with memories from Shikoku flashing by again. This temple has famous legend attached to it, conserning a very cute monk from the north of Japan and the daughter of a family who let him stay while he was walking the Nakahechi. She fell in love with him and he gave her false promises, but in the end he left to return to his monk aspirations. In her anger she followed him to the Dōjō-ji temple, turning into a snake on the way. The monk hid inside the big temple bell, but the snake woman became furious and like a dragon melted the bell with fire coming from her mouth. When she afterwards saw the dead monk, she regretted her actions and threw herself into a nearby bay to kill herself.

Back to memories from Shikoku. A short detour off the route took me to the Dōjō-ji temple.

Whereas finding the route can be an issue on the Kiiji, finding necessary amenities like food and drinks are not. There are some sections of the route where there are longer distances between places to find it, but it should never pose a problem. The route goes through too much city for that.

The Motoshima Jinja Torii. A literal translation of torii is bird perch, which fit perfectly in this picture.

The last day of Kiiji brought me to the coast. A long day that had me walking through a variety of small towns, over tiny passes, overgrown paths and even on the sandy surface of a beach. Although still mostly going on a hard surface, it was a significant change from the first days on the trail. Monoshima jinja with its torii out in the water was a great ending of the Kiiji route, with the evening sun on its way down into the ocean.

A fisher lady on the walkway to Motoshima island.

After five relatively long days on Kiiji, I arrived in Tanabe. Here the Kumano Kodo splits into the Nakahechi and Ohechi routes, but those two routes I were to tackle later in my journey. As I was enjoying my dinner in the evening, I looked back at a walk that felt a little bit like pioneering an old and non-existing route, at the same time wondering what it must have been to walk it back in the days the route did exist.

Walking through the streets of Tanabe.

< Kumano Kodo | Kohechi >

Note: To get to trailhead for the next route, Kohechi, I took a bus to Chikatsuyu from Tanabe on the first day due to miserable weather. The next day, I then took the bus to Hosshimon-oji and walked a short section of the Nakahechi in reverse to do the Akagi-goe and Dainichi-goe sections to Hongu. The original plan was to walk all the way from Tanabe, but here I had done another miscalculation that made it not possible to reach my destination without the use of public transportation, I skipped the first day entirely due to the bad weather. It did not matter as I would walk it at later time.