Wakayama · Tanabe / NakahechiNo.882★★Open in map →
Kumano Kodo Nakahechi
— the mountain gateway at Takijiri-oji
The Nakahechi is the mountain road pilgrims took to the three Kumano shrines, and Takijiri-oji is where it leaves the valley and starts to climb. Buses from Kii-Tanabe stop at the gate, so the first stretch is a half-day walk.
- FromKii-Tanabe Station
- ~30 minRyujin Bus from Kii-Tanabe
- Get off atTakijiri bus stop (Ryujin Bus, Kumano Hongu line)
- On foot
- Kumano Kodo Nakahechi
The sweet spot
This is a World Heritage route, not a hidden one, and the shrines at its end are busy. What stays quiet is the gate: nearly everyone stays on the bus as far as Hongu, so the trailhead and its first climb carry a fraction of the traffic the shrines do.
Where it is
21 more notes in Wakayama · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kumano Kodo-kanthe city visitor centre across the river, with route maps and exhibits on the pilgrimage
- Takijiri-ojithe wayside shrine at the foot of the ridge, taken as the entrance to the Kumano sacred precinct
- Chichi-iwa and Tainai-kuguriboulders behind the shrine, tied to a legend of Fujiwara no Hidehira and a child left in the rock
- The first climbroot-and-stone steps rising steeply out of the valley, the hardest stretch above Takijiri
- Takaharaa hillside hamlet above the mist line, the usual first stop on the walk from the gate
How to actually get there
- Kii-Tanabe Station → Takijiri bus stop (Ryujin Bus, Kumano Hongu line, roughly 30 min).
- Takijiri bus stop → Kumano Kodo-kan → Takijiri-oji (1–2 min on foot, crossing the river).
- Takijiri-oji → the climb to Takahara, then back to the same stop or on along the Nakahechi.
- JR to Kii-Tanabe, then Ryujin Bus
- Take the JR Kisei Line to Kii-Tanabe Station, then the Ryujin Bus on the Kumano Hongu line and get off at Takijiri, roughly 30 minutes from the station. The line is timed around walkers rather than commuters, so read the operator's timetable before you travel.
- Return from Takijiri to Kii-Tanabe
- Buses back run on the same Kumano Hongu line and are infrequent. Note the departure on the pole at Takijiri when you arrive. If you walk on to Takahara there is no station there, so you either continue along the route or come back down to the same stop.
About the place
Takijiri-oji stands where the Ishibune river meets the valley floor, at the foot of the ridge the Nakahechi climbs. Below the shrine the route follows the road; above it, the way turns to forest path, exposed roots and stone steps. Pilgrims of the court treated this spot as the boundary of the Kumano sacred precinct, and the shrine was counted among the principal oji, the wayside shrines strung along the road. The Tanabe City Kumano Kodo-kan sits across the water with maps, exhibits and somewhere to sit. Most travellers ride the bus past this gate on their way to the shrines, though it is the point the whole route is measured from.
How to enjoy it
Take an early bus. The climb out of Takijiri is steep and the return services are few, so plan the walk around the timetable rather than the other way round. Turning back at Takahara makes half a day of it; going on toward Chikatsuyu commits you to a full one.
Background & history
Pilgrimage to Kumano was organised around the oji, subsidiary shrines strung along the road, and retired emperors travelled the Nakahechi with their retinues from the Heian period onward. Takijiri marked the entry into the sacred mountains; a courtier's diary describes arriving here as stepping inside the holy precinct for the first time. The routes and the shrines they serve were inscribed by UNESCO in July 2004 as the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, and further stretches of the pilgrimage roads were added to the listing in October 2016.
Before you go
- Cash
- The shrine and the trail cost nothing to enter. Ryujin Bus fares are paid on board and cash is the safe assumption; current fares and timetables are published by the operator.
- Before you go
- This is a mountain trail: steps, exposed roots, no lighting and no shelter once you leave the road. Typhoon damage has closed sections of the Nakahechi in the past and detours are signed, so check the posted trail status before setting out.
- Another way
- The same bus line also runs from Shirahama Station, so you can join it from the Shirahama side instead of Kii-Tanabe.
- After you get off
- Takijiri bus stop is on Route 311 beside the river. The Kumano Kodo-kan is on the near side and the shrine almost opposite, a minute or two on foot.