Travel Guide Kumano

A Japanese phrase says that understanding Kumano is understanding Japan. The Kumano Kodo trails are a set of pilgrimage trails located south of the Kii Peninsula. For more than a millennium, they were driven by many pilgrims from all ranks, from the simple peasant to the first emperor who created Japanese unity. These paths offer three main routes, sometimes difficult in an isolated and mountainous region, on the peninsula coast that is irregular and rugged, in the temperate and humid forest. Celui is particularly Rich in testimony from the past. Carved stones and rocks, mountains and plains, rivers and waterfalls, hot springs and lush forests are déifiés and revered as deities, kami in Japanese… The paths of Nakahechi, Iseji, Omine and Ohechi connect the great sanctuaries, Kumano Hongu Taisha (considered the epicentre), Kumano Haytama Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha. That of Taisha taisha, with the contre of Japan's largest waterfall, No. Otaki (measuring 133 metres high), is a perfect example of syncretism, i. e. the combination of the two Japanese religions, Buddhism and shintoism. No Otaki has been revered since time immemorial as the divinity of Shinto and the surrounding virgin forest is protected in the national treasure. Since 2004, these pilgrimage paths have been registered as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage under the name of Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Paths in the Kii Mountains. They are paired with those of Santiago de Compostela.