Kumano Nachi Taisha & the Kumano Sanzan (熊野那智大社・熊野三山)
Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Shinto shrine and part of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage site, Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range of Japan. Kumano Nachi Taisha is also one of the three Kumano shrines, located a few kilometers inland from the coastal hot spring resort of Katsuura.
The shrine belongs to a larger complex of neighboring religious sites that exemplifies the distinctive fusion of Buddhist and Shinto influences found in the Kumano region. The area is also home to Nachi Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Japan. Worship at the Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha centers on the belief that the falls are inhabited by a kami known as Hiryū Gongen.
Another highlight is a sacred tree on the grounds: the Sacred Camphor Tree, situated between the Nachi Shrine (heiden) and Seigantōji Temple. It is 850 years old and is said to have been planted by Taira-no-Shigemori (1). The straw rope (shimenawa) and paper streamers indicate that the tree has been sanctified as a kami. Moss, ferns, and other small plants grow across its ancient limbs. Visitors can enter the tree, where a small altar allows for offerings.
General Information
- Address: 1 Nachisan, Nachikatsuura, Higashimuro District, Wakayama, Japan
- Telephone:
- Opening Hours: 07:00–16:30
Location
Kumano Sanzan is located in the southeastern part of the Kii Mountain Range in Wakayama Prefecture. It is set amid beautiful mountains in the southeast of the Kii Peninsula, near the approximate center of Japan’s main island of Honshu. The Kiwahatenashi mountain range runs through the southern part of the peninsula, featuring the 3,600 ridges of the Kumano mountains. From the mountain valleys, many rivers—including the Kumano River, the Otonashi River, and the Iwata River—flow into the Pacific Ocean.
Nachi-no-Hi Matsuri Fire Festival
Nachi-no-Hi Matsuri Fire Festival is the major festival of Kumano Nachi Taisha, held annually on July 14. It is a fire festival in which six-meter-high portable shrines, symbolically representing the purification of the waterfall with the flames of oversized torches, are laboriously carried by men dressed in white.
Hiking to Nachi Taisha
There are four main hiking routes that lead to the Kumano Sanzan. Like Hongū Taisha and Hayatama Taisha, Nachi Taisha was one of the main destinations of the Kumano Kōdō pilgrimage routes. For travelers who want to experience the trails but are limited by time, hiking up the Daimon-zaka is an excellent option.
The route, paved with stone and lined with massive evergreens, climbs 600 meters up to the gates of Nachi Taisha. A short distance from Seigantōji and Nachi Taisha is the 133-meter waterfall Nachi no Taki. The tallest (single-tiered) waterfall in Japan, it was the original religious site in the area. Before organized religious doctrine developed, Nachi no Taki was venerated by Japan’s earliest people. Even today, visitors are struck by the natural power and beauty of the falls.
History of the Kumano Sanzan
The Kumano Sanzan shrine complexes were likely constructed between the sixth and ninth centuries as places of nature worship. While their locations have remained roughly intact since then, remodeling and reconstruction have been necessary over the years.
In the 11th century, the Kumano Sanzan became a pilgrimage destination for the Imperial family. By the late 15th century, however, most pilgrims to Kumano were civilians—monks traveling for religious purposes, artists seeking inspiration, and other common people. The pilgrimage became so popular that long processions came to be called the “Kumano ant pilgrimage.”
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Map
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