16 November 2016
We took the Ryujin bus from Hongu with a group of other hikers and arrived at Hosshinmon-oji at 10.25 AM.
Hosshinmon-oji is one of the most important sites on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route. It marks the outermost entrance into the divine precincts of the grand shrine, Kumano Hongu Taisha.
“Hosshin” means “spiritual awakening” or “aspiration to enlightenment” and “mon” means gate.
“Hence walking through this gate was a transformational rite marking initiatory death and rebirth in the Pure Land paradise” was part of the information of this place written on a signboard. Part of the fun in visiting a foreign country is to experience the local customs and so we did what the locals did at the Oji.
Purification ritual at Hosshinmon-Oji.
Saying a little prayer at Hosshinmon-Oji before embarking on our journey.
The 7 km walk from Hosshinmon-oji to Kumano Hongu Taisha is supposed to be an excellent half-day walk on the Kumano Kodo, with a mixture of forest trails and isolated mountaintop villages and it certainly exceeded my expectations. The route was mostly downhill with only a few small climbs.
This is a popular walk and there were a few groups that came with us on the bus. We let them leave first before starting our walk.
There was bananas in the lunch pack that we had ordered from Minshuku Chikatsuyu and we ate them, plus a couple of Snickers bars, shortly after starting our walk as we were beginning to feel a little hungry.
Colourful autumn leaves could be seen as we started down a path towards Hosshinmon village. This is a farming community and it was lovely to walk through the rural areas on a bright but cool sunny day.
Silver flowers of the reeds are common in autumn.
Hosshinmon village on the Kumano Kodo Nakahechi Trail.
This village is also known for its folk art wood carvings and we came across an unmanned stall with these items and a visitor’s book.
This was what I wrote on the visitor’s book.
Our first check point was the Mizunomi Oji, about 1.5 m away from the start. This shrine is known as the shrine with a water source. There are small stone Jizo statues, clad in red cloth, to the left of the fountain. Jizo is a Bodhisattva, or a being that compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others, and is one of the most popular deities in Japan.
The small Jizo on the right is spit horizontally in the middle. People put coins in the crack and pray for relief from their backaches.
Can you believe this white building is an old school house?
It looked like a scene from “The Walking Dead” and a zombie or two could pop out at any moment.
Beautiful autumn leaves at its peak on a tree as we took a trail that enters the forest at Mizunomi-oji.
The trail exits the forest and we arrived at the west end of the Fushiogami settlement, with its numerous tea plantations and terraced fields. We saw an unmanned roadside stall hawking snacks on a “honesty” basis. Take what you want to buy and leave the money in a box.
I wonder if there was CCTV hidden somewhat to catch dishonest people. I guess not.
At Fushiogami settlement, with its numerous tea plantations and terraced fields.
A tree with amazing orange colour caught my eye. The colour was not from autumn leaves but oranges! A whole tree full of ripe oranges that is in season.
The walk through Fushiogami settlement with views of the tea farms, fruit trees and mountains in the backdrop was remarkably enjoyable.
Shortly after passing through the settlement, we arrived at the Fushiogami-oji. Fushiogami-oji is where pilgrims fell to their knees and prayed after catching their first glimpse of the Grand Shrine in the distant valley below.
We almost fell to our knees and prayed after catching a first glimpse of a teahouse as it was time for lunch. This tea house, ran by a few local ladies, sold coffee made with hot spring water for 200 yen a cup.
We bought some hot spring coffee from the vendor and asked if we could eat our packed lunch on the tables. The elderly lady replied with a smile and a “dozo”. In my home country, some vendors would put up signs forbidding customers from consuming food that was not bought from the establishment. Not here in friendly rural Japan.
We took out our packed lunch that was provided by Minshuku Chikatsuyu and it was much better than what we had on Day 2.
Onigiri rice balls, nicely packed with wooden chopsticks and paper towels, was our lunch, washed down with hot coffee made with hot spring water. The hot spring coffee were served in nice porcelain cups and saucers. It was not what I was expecting from a coffee shop in this remote area.
The stall also sold hand-made snacks and souvenirs. We bought a couple of Kumano Kodo T-shirts from the stall since they were so nice to us and also we wanted some souvenirs from this hike.
There were good toilet facilities here too.
The above photo shows the view that was supposed to bring pilgrims to their knees. Imagine their joy and relief to see their destination (in the distance) after toiling days and nights through the pilgrimage route across the Kii mountains.
Can you spot the Grand Shrine (Hongu Taisha Shrine) in the photo? It is the small white patch in the middle. Seems very far away and that was our destination.
From here the trail descended through the forest past to Sangen-jaya, an old tea house.
There is a junction shortly after the above bridge where the 78 km Kohechi route from Koyasan would intersect the Nakahechi Route. An old stone tablet on the ground marked the spot.
It was more of the similar walks through forested area, mostly descending. Birds could be heard through the forest and I swear I could hear the cawing of crows as well. I wonder if any of the crows were 3 legged crows, which seems to be an icon commonly seen on the rocks and signs associated with Kumano.
Somewhere near signpost 73, we took a detour to a lookout point that was not to be missed. We first get a view of the Kumano-kawa river and then shortly after, a view of a giant Torii gate at Oyuohara.
This O-Torii (giant torii gate) is Japan's largest Torii gate. This gate marked the entrance to the old Grand Shrine before it was washed away by a flood 120 years ago. The new shrine was reconstructed in its present location, on higher ground this time.
From the lookout point, we continued descending the trail and soon arrived at the rear entrance to the Kumano Hongu Taisha grand shrine. Like many pilgrims in the thousand years before us, we had finally arrived at the destination and end of the Kumano Kodo Nakahechi Pilgrimage Route after days of travel through the mountains of the Kii Peninsula.
More on our visit to the Hongu Taisha Shrine and the O-Torii in the next post.
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