Kumano - Trek
Nakahechi Imperial Route

Kumano is a town in mountainous Kii Peninsular area of Honshu, the main island of Japan.

It is due south of the ancient imperial capitals of Kyoto and Nara.

Kuma-no means Bear-field;
Ko-do means Ancient-trail(s).

While not alpine in size, the region, in shimmering haze or mist, is best described as a continuing wave of mountains.

It generates mystical connotations of being "in harmony" with nature - Shintoism.

Objects such as trees, mountains, rocks and rivers are said to acquire life forces (kami) - Animism.

Yet, the foreground in the above photo is a Buddhist Jizo statue.

A Jizo is a Bodhisattva — a saint like being who has vowed to help others attain "enlightenment".

Hence walking any one of the Kumano Kodo Trails helps understand the plurality and multiplicity of Japan's syncretic religious traditions.

I chose the Nakahechi Imperial Route. It re-inforces a sense of universal spirituality ... a place to open up and interpret for oneself.

It is also just nice to "take a walk on the wild side" and test yourself.

Historically- the region is considered:

an Abode of the Gods
the Land of the Afterlife
the home of Japan's creation myth
an auspicious direction - south
a Buddhist paradise on earth
a source of healing, regeneration & salvation

"The roots of the Japanese Nation can be found in Kumano's mountains"

The Deal

I could not get any one to come with me - timing, illness, age, disinterest.

The compromise with Carmel was I would go for the first seven days, do the walk, and then join up with her for the next two weeks after I had extended myself.

(Afterwards did slow me down - I had to use a walking stick for the next two weeks.)

Getting There :

Day 1 Travel Brisbane - Japan (Narita)
Day 2 Narita - Tokyo - Osaka - Tanabe City
Day 3 Tanabe City - Takjiri-oji Start the Nakahechi Imperial Route (overnight: Chikasuyu Village)
Day 4 Chikasuyu - Tsugisakura oji - Hosshinmonoji - Kumano Hongu Taisha (overnight: Hongu/Kawayu Onsen)
Day 5 Rest - Hongu (overnight Kawayu Onsen)
Day 6 Kawayu Onsen- Kogucho - DaiMonZaka (overnight: NachiKatsuUra)
Day 7 NachiKatsuUra to Narita International airport to meet Carmel and escort her to experience the grandeur of this part of Japan (in comfort).

The west coast town of Tanabe City is a JR railway gateway to the region.

I stayed at a small guest house some 3 minutes from the bus station where at 0600 hrs the next morning, a bus would take me to Takijiri-oji.

I enquired as to why there were no other guests. . "Too cold - this time of month" was the answer. This was re-inforced when I was the single passenger on the hour long ride to the start point.

Below is a coloured lateral and altitudinal map of the various heights above sea level for Part One of the hike - 38.5km - as the crow flies. It was a good guide as to know when to "steel" yourself for whats ahead and plan accordingly. This includes availability of facilities such as Rest Rooms, Lodging, Potable Water, refreshments, Phone, Status/Information Boards

Milestones Part A - 38.5 km

Takijiri to Chikasuyu

Photos: Above - shop at the start of the Nakahachi Route (West to east). Here I purchased my trusty bamboo pole; Below Ready to set off. Big mistake about the amount of backpack luggage I had taken. ou can see I was top heavy.

At Taki-jiri, the local cafe was open.
It was 7:00am I opted for a second breakfast - in the hope that some other "fool" would turn up.
After an hour's lingering I decided to go. I thought I was prepared:

Thermal Long Johns/Top
Fleezy shirt
Woolen jumper and beanie
Thermal soxs
Gloves
Lined Jacket
Bamboo pole
Back pack
Snack food
Compass

After about 20 minutes, I was in a lather of sweat.

Sign Post No. 1

Signage and markers along the route were good. Blue and white surveyor pegs two metres apart were embedded at ground

level.(this was your lateral guide. They were visible every 10 metres (approx.)

Every 500 metres, a numbered post would indicate a progress marker that was on a map reference.

Some thoughts:

Number 1 Post. "Some 74 more to go ... Hmmm! and this is only Part A of the Walk"
Comforting that there is phone-internet reception. Hopeless - I do not have a phone -but I have internet.
Christ! this is steep and slippery.

...

Suddenly, I lost my footing.

As I was falling backwards and now very top heavy, I grabbed at a tree (the size you see in the above photo)

The sapling was as strong as wet cardboard...

The first reverse somersault (with twist) would have scored high in any competition ... not so the second and third.

My torch tumbled a further five metres.

"No Paul! you are not going back to fetch it." commanded some Bodhisattva.

Still on the steep slope (before Nezu-oji), two boulders joined to form a dark cave called Tainai-kuguri . Tainai means "birth canal" in Japanese, and kuguri means "to pass through."

The literature stated that passing through this cave would be a test of one's faith.

The literature also suggested that women who got though this passage would have an easy childbirth experience.

At the exit I understood (see photo below).

I pushed my back pack through first.

This made everything dark - because the light into the cave was now obscured.

Bloody hell! No torch.

My woolen beanie fell off.

I could not find it.

...

I manoeuvred on my stomach for a "passage" upwards and out.

But I was considerably cramped, becoming claustrophobic and now in panic mode.

The more I struggled, the more I became wedged and compromised.

Even if I had a phone in my pocket, I could not get to it.

Oh for a midwife - anybody!

...

Option B was clear: Retrieve the back pack; return to the entrance and skirt up and around the vertical terrain - on hands and knees.

(glimpses of daylight in the photo shows the slope)

Option C was to go back and take the next bus home.

The gods were testing me.

Yet, shortly after, at Lookout Point - see elevation map - I was rewarded with a vista of the valley far below.

Despite the going getting easier from Uwadawa-jaya, my toes were feeling the brunt of downward pressure when navigating downhill. I suffer from In-grown toenails.

...A selfie taken near Ji-jo-oji on the way from Takahara Village to Chikasuyu Village.

The trail was still arduous but now firm of foot.

I soon got into the knack of placing the bamboo pole into a point on the ground and levering my body thus taking the pressure off my thighs; knees and tootsies.

Going upwards - pole behind you -push
Going downwards - pole in front of you - push
- Going upwards - pole behind you - push
- Going downwards - pole in front of you ...

I was now becoming sensory and in a groove:

Solitude
Calmness
Non threatening
I am part of this

So far, I have not seen a soul.

Not even passing through Takahara village - where there was a coin operated energy drink machine.

Getting Lost

It was hard to get lost. But I succeded - twice. One occasion was on a tarred road.

I went down some steps ...

For some reason "the Bod" told me to walk down that road - as it was the general direction.

I did not see the brown post marker (located about 20 metres on the opposite side of the road) which indicated the the trail.

There was no other human to "watch out" for such mistakes.

I followed the road for about 3kms before I realised the Bod misinformed me and I had to back tack.

I had lost time and I was not sure as to how much daylight was left.

Learning Language and Culture Along the Way

Although the name sounds as if there is an oji included in it, this is not actually an oji shrine.
This stone statue is thought to be the figure of Kazan, a young emperor who was tricked into retirement by political maneuvering of powerful nobles at court

Kazzan was aged 19 when he made his first pilgrimage to Kumano.

He rides straddled on the backs of a horse and cow. The word Gyu-ba-doji is made of three parts (i) gyu which means "cow" (ii) ba which means"horse" (iii) do-ji, which means "child." These three words are joined together to make one word meaning a "child riding a horse and a cow".
Although I learnt these words before - I will never forget them - because of that single "association".

The site at Gyuba Doji also proved to be an ordeal. Fatigue (hence sense of balance) was setting in.

I knew the Village of Chikasuyu was not too far away.

The Oji (small shrine) was located on an offshoot track.

You had to come back to the trail - not go forward.

I went forward.

Up and up a ridge that got narrow and narrower and the terrain increasingly unstable.

Either side of me were deep ravines.

Yet there were these damn blue and white survey pegs erroneously pointing to where a mountain goat would not go.

(The pegs were what I saw. Nothing in the literature has ever referred to them)

Getting dark ... no smart phone ... no GPS ... a compass but no torch.

Go back! Said "the Bod"hisattva.

Ah ha! Found the brown marker post.

30 minutes later a beer at the only store in Chikasuyu Village.

"Joy!"

That day - a Saturday - I had meet one couple.

It was a triumph for the body and mind.

The 13.3+ Km trek took over 8 hours.

Overnight

Click here for two videos on the Home Stay at Chikasuyu.

Chikasuyu to HosshinMon-oji

Rear View

Hisohara ojiThis section followed the old highway through Chikatsuyu Village along the south side of Mt. Takao, gradually climbing over 200 meters in elevation. It was a tarred road.

In the shrine grove of Tsugizakura-oji were massive Nonaka-no-Ipposugi cedar trees - see photo.

The Nonaka-no-Shimizu spring, one of the 100 famous waters of Japan, was located just below this shrine.

They say drinking from this spring purifies the soul. It was too early a Morning Start to enjoy a beer - so water it was.

The Toga no ki-jaya Teahouse was located adjacent to the sanctuary.

No one home.

The scenery was magnificent. But you had to be careful.

Front View

Here, I opted to endure a wet bum for the rest of the day - rather than risk a fall.

Detour Pass

In 2011, a typhoon caused a landslide in the mountain next to the path.

So a permanent detour has been put in place - called Forestry Trail.

This was probably the most brutal part of the route. Lots of steep ups and downs.

...

Even spectacular views of mist shrouded mountains couldn’t make up for it. I think what made the whole detour particularly nasty was the lack of place markers. The actual Kumano trail has five hundred meter spaced markers and small shrines or teahouse remains that are all indicated on the map.

However, the detour had nothing so it was impossible to calculate one's progress - hence confusing.

Traversing the odd flat ground pine forestry clearing was a joy for the feet. The fallen needles provided a spongy layer - just like walking on a carpet.

But only for 5 minutes or so.

Hosshin-mon to Kuma-no Hongu Tai Sha

After Hosshinmon-oji, it was an easier down hill "shuffle" to the first of the three principal temples that were built a thousand years earlier - the Kumano Hongu Tai Sha.

I contemplated the words - a thousand years. Difficult!

It is said that pilgrims would drop to their knees at the panorama below - it was the first sighting of the place where they could venerate at the holy shrine.

I too dropped to my knees.

It was the next place I could get a beer.

I walked a further 5 km to the guest house located at Kawa-yu Onsen

Rest Day

The next day, I hired a push bike and toured the region:

Onsens at Kawayu
Heritage listed Yunomine Onsen
Oyunohara Shrine
Kumano Hongu Tai-sha; the town, and
Trail head for the next leg Udewara to Koguchi.

See Map and Photographs - below. I calculated that I rode for about 50 kms.

The bike had a battery assist. I used it all up on an ascent on the road to K?? then free wheeled to most locations thereafter.

Here, I missed Spring by about 10 days:

Kawayu Onsen

I stayed two nights in the village of Kawayu - along the Oto River.

The river itself is an Onsen. I chose the location because promotional brochures showed hordes of bathers using the river as a public onsen.

The guest house would provide a shovel and you could dig your own pit to dam up part of the river (see below).

It just seemed too exhaustive when a spa together with all the other clobber was in situ in the guest house.

The owner was a little old lady whose two storey lodge is in the foreground - see photo below.

It was amusing to chat with her. She repeated herself about the village over and over again to ensure I really understood.

Upon my departure she escorted me to the nearby bus stop.

She took a cloth/rag with her and wiped down the bus seat (which was not dirty).

So chuffed!

...

Milestones - Part B 12.6km.

The trek Ukegawa trailhead to Koguchi was easy.

But, my feet were too sore to attempt the last leg see elevation map below.

So I took the bus to the Nachi_San and walked the Dai Mon Saka Steps to mark the end of a very personal experience.

The three days of trekking took me over 60 kms of terrain - "as the crow flies". In addition I covered 100 km by bus and pedal assisted 50 km by bike.

...

I revisited Nachi_San with Carmel - 10 days later. See Top Menu