Kumanokodo 1 Day Walking Tour

Walk from Yunomineonsen to Kumano Hongu Taisha . Take about 8hours for all routs. ~ [Walking] Hashinnmon Oji - Mizunomi Oji - Fushiogami Oji ~ Sangenchayayaseki - Haraido Oji - Hongu Taisha ~ From Hongu Taisha to Yunomine Onsen

Mizunomi Oji is near the abandoned school grounds of Misato Elementary School. This oji has a long history.There is a legend about this area. The founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Kobo Daishi, traveled all over this part of Japan looking for a place to establish Shingon Buddhism. He went to the south of the country of Kii near Nachi Falls and founded a temple called Amida-jiTemple. But, he was not satisfied with the place to establish his seat of religion and continued to look for a perfect place. He must have traveled this path many times until he chose Mt. Koya.

Fushiogami-Oji Forest of Therapeutic Walk. This is also one of the 100 therapeutic walk spots in Japan. On the way along Kumano Kodo, ancient people got a first distant view of Kumano Hongu Taisha and knelt down in prayer and got moved to tears without knowing. The name “Fushiogami”, literally kneeling down in prayer, came from this episode. This spot commands the best view of the 6 Oji’s in town. A stone-made small shrine and a memorial service monument for poet Shikibu Izumi stand here. Her poem is engraved on the monument.

Haraido Oji is the final oji before arriving at Kumano Hongu Grand Shrine. Harau means " to purify," and do means "door." Pilgrims wanted to approach the gods with a pure heart and clean body, so ritual purifications took place here. The approach to Kumano Hongu Taisha (Grand Shrine) up until about a hundred years ago would continue past Haraido Oji over a steep downhill path of stones leading down to the delta where three rivers met. Along the path there were inns at which people could rest before making the final approach to the grand shrine. After the big flood of 1889, the grand shrine was relocated on the mountain near Haraido Oji. It is less than one hundred meters to the back of the relocated shrine.

Kumano Hongu Taisha (熊野本宮大社, Kumano Hongū Taisha) is one of the Kumano region's three famous shrines. As well as enshrining its own deity, Hongu Taisha also enshrines the deities of the other two Kumano shrines, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha, and the sun goddess Amaterasu. It serves as the head shrine of over 3000 Kumano shrines across Japan. Reference to Hongu Taisha was first documented in the 9th century, which the establishment of the shrine must have preceded substantially. Due to floods in 1889, the shrine was moved from its original location at Oyu no Hara to its present site one kilometer away. In front of Oyu no Hara stands the biggest torii gate in the world, which, at 33 meters tall, dwarfs visitors passing under it.