Kii Peninsula
Oku-no-in, whose name means 'inner sanctuary', is perhaps the most intensely spiritual place in Japan. At its farthest reaches is the Gobyō, the crypt…
Must-see attractions in Kii Peninsula
Kii Peninsula
At 133m, Nachi-no-taki is Japan's highest waterfall. It's the first of many still deeper in the Nachi mountains and has long been used in ascetic training.
Kii Peninsula
Kumano Hongū Taisha is one of the Kumano Sanzan (three great shrines of Kumano) and if you're following the traditional pilgrim route, it's the first one…
Kii Peninsula
The wooden, thatched roof gate here is as far as you can go in Oku-no-in. Beyond it lies the crypt Kōbō Daishi entered in 835, never to leave. Pilgrims in…
Kii Peninsula
The name of this temple, which is sometimes called Danjo Garan or Dai Garan, derives from the Sanskrit saṅghārāma, which means monastery. With eight…
Kii Peninsula
The most interesting structure at the Garan is the Konpon Daitō, a 50m-tall, bright-vermilion pagoda seated at what is considered to be the centre of the…
Kii Peninsula
This is the headquarters of the Shingon sect and the residence of Kōya-san's abbot. The main gate is the temple's oldest structure (1593); the present…
Kii Peninsula
Built on the side of a mountain, facing the waterfall Nachi-no-taki, this shrine is one of Kii's most spiritual places, a site of ancient nature worship…
Kii Peninsula
Located at the mouth of the Kumano-gawa, Kumano Hayatama Taisha is one of the Kumano Sanzan (three sacred shrines of Kumano), enshrining Hayatama-no-Okami…
Kii Peninsula
This amazing natural rock formation is a line of about a dozen spire-like boulders extending 900m into the water like the supports of a bridge. It's…
Kii Peninsula
In the town believed to be the first place in Japan to produce soy sauce (shōyu in Japanese) – some 750 years ago – this factory lets visitors in on both…
Kii Peninsula
This wooden temple, absent of colour and next to the Shintō shrine Kumano Nachi Taisha, was last rebuilt in 1590, making it the oldest building in Kii …
Kii Peninsula
Several important artworks from Kōya-san's temples are collected here, most notably some Heian-era wooden sculptures of the Buddha and Fudō Myō-ō…
Kii Peninsula
According to the Kumano faith, this large boulder, wedged on the side of Gongen-yama, was where the three principal gods descended to earth. It was the…
Kii Peninsula
This is the final bridge inside Oku-no-in before Kōbō Daishi's mausoleum. It crosses the Tama-gawa, which runs down from Yōryū-san, the mountain behind…
Kii Peninsula
Inside Oku-no-in and just past Gobyō-bashi is a wooden building the size of a large phone booth, which contains the Miroku-ishi – a stone said to weigh as…
Kii Peninsula
The Garan's kondō is the temple's main hall and enshrines Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of medicine and healing. First constructed in the early 9th century,…
Kii Peninsula
This large hall at the northern end of Oku-no-in is full of lanterns, which cover the walls and ceiling. Two of the large ones, at the back of the hall,…
Kii Peninsula
In 2000 this giant torii (entrance gate to a Shintō shrine) – 33.9m tall and 42m wide, made out of steel, painted dramatic black and the largest in Japan …
Kii Peninsula
For a close-up look at the falls, hike the 135 steps to this small shrine, which has a viewing platform (it's also the spot from which to worship the…
Kii Peninsula
Part museum, part visitor centre, this contemporary multimedia complex has exhibits about Kumano's culture and natural environment, plus English-speaking…
Kii Peninsula
Shirahama's main beach is famous for its white sand – though what's there now was imported from Perth in the '90s, as the original sand was lost to…
Kii Peninsula
This temple gate was renovated for Kōya-san's 1200th anniversary in 2015, after an 1843 fire. Two of the original statues of guardian kings enshrined in…
Kii Peninsula
In 1890 the Turkish ship Ertuğrul, returning from a diplomatic mission between the Ottoman and Japanese empires, sunk off the rocky coast of Kii – a…
Kii Peninsula
Though Japan was famously closed to most foreign traders for 200 years between the mid-17th and mid-19th centuries, that doesn't mean people didn't try to…
Kii Peninsula
The last of the five major ōji (smaller shrines along the Kumano Kodō) before Kumano Hongū Taisha, Hosshinmon-ōji marks the outer limits of the grand…
Kii Peninsula
Takijiri-ōji is one of five major ōji (smaller shrines along the Kumano Kodō). It marks the beginning of the passage into the mountains and today serves…
Kii Peninsula
These adjacent mausoleums were completed in 1643 at the behest of the third Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, for his grandfather, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and…
Kii Peninsula
This temple in the middle of Yunomine Onsen is just above Tsubo-yu Onsen, and like many hot springs adjacent to temples, is dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai,…
Kii Peninsula
Senjō-jiki is a wildly eroded point with layer after horizontal layer of stratified rock; this explains its name in Japanese, which translates to Thousand…
Kii Peninsula
This bridge marks the halfway point between Ichi-no-hashi and the inner sanctum of Oku-no-in.
Kii Peninsula
This simple stone bridge marks the entrance to the sacred Oku-no-in complex.
Kii Peninsula
Sandan-beki is a 50m cliff face that drops away vertiginously into the sea – a particularly awesome sight when the big rollers are pounding in from the…
Kii Peninsula
This small lighthouse (c 1870) was the first of eight modern lighthouses to be built after Japan opened up to foreign trade. The building itself isn't all…
