Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
Two pilgrimage route networks on Earth carry UNESCO World Heritage status. One winds across northern Spain to the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. The other threads through the cedar forests and river gorges of the Kii Peninsula, the largest peninsula in Japan, connecting three sacred mountain complexes that have drawn pilgrims for over a millennium. The Kii routes are older than their Spanish counterparts. Retired emperors walked them. Wandering monks died on them. And they are still walked today -- by Buddhist priests, Shinto devotees, weekend hikers, and international trekkers -- on trails cut into mountainsides so steep that the forest canopy closes overhead like a tunnel. UNESCO inscribed 242 individual elements across these sites and routes in 2004, recognizing not just ancient stones and shrine buildings, but the living tradition of spiritual journeying that has continued here, unbroken, for 1,200 years.
Three Mountains, Two Faiths, One Landscape
The World Heritage designation encompasses three distinct sacred complexes. In the south, Kumano Sanzan -- the trio of grand shrines at Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha -- anchors the oldest pilgrimage tradition. To the northwest, Koyasan rises as an entire religious city on a mountaintop: 117 Buddhist temples clustered around the Kongobuji Head Temple, founded in 816 by the monk Kukai, the father of Shingon Buddhism. To the north, Yoshino and Omine developed as the heartland of Shugendo, a uniquely Japanese religion blending mountain worship, Tantric Buddhism, and Taoism, with roots reaching back to the eighth century. What makes this World Heritage site extraordinary is that these three traditions -- Shinto nature worship, esoteric Buddhism, and mountain asceticism -- evolved not in isolation but in constant dialogue, producing a fusion of beliefs found nowhere else on Earth.
The Trails That Bind Them
Connecting these three sacred sites are 307 kilometers of pilgrimage routes covering a total heritage area of 506.4 hectares. The Kumano Kodo alone comprises five main routes: the Nakahechi (the most-walked central route), the coastal Ohechi, the mountain Kohechi connecting Koyasan to Kumano, the Iseji approaching from Ise Grand Shrine to the east, and the Kiji running along the Kumano River. Additional routes include the Omine Okugakemichi, a demanding mountain ridge trail used by Shugendo practitioners, and the Koyasan Choishimichi, lined with stone markers every 109 meters guiding pilgrims uphill to Mount Koya. For over a thousand years, people from all levels of society made these journeys. The phrase "the ants' pilgrimage to Kumano" described the endless streams of travelers, from emperors to peasants, filing along the narrow mountain trails.
Where the Forest Is the Temple
UNESCO's selection criteria emphasized not just the built heritage but the natural landscape itself. The Kii Peninsula receives some of the heaviest rainfall in Japan, feeding dense forests of cryptomeria and cypress, countless streams and rivers, and powerful waterfalls. Nachi Falls, at 133 meters the tallest single-drop waterfall in Japan, is itself enshrined as a deity at Kumano Nachi Taisha -- a direct expression of the Shinto belief that the divine inhabits natural phenomena. The mountains, rivers, and ancient trees along the pilgrimage routes are not merely scenery. They are the reason the pilgrimage exists. The Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku -- forest bathing -- has its spiritual ancestor in these trails, where walking through primeval forest was understood as an act of purification. At Koyasan, visitors can stay overnight in temple lodgings called shukubo, sleeping on tatami floors and eating vegetarian shojin ryori cuisine prepared by monks.
A Living Heritage
What separates this World Heritage site from preserved ruins is that it remains vibrantly active. The area receives up to 15 million visitors annually. Shinto priests still conduct ceremonies at the Kumano Sanzan shrines. Buddhist monks maintain their monastic routines at Koyasan, where Kukai is believed to rest in eternal meditation in his mausoleum at Okunoin, attended by monks who bring him meals twice daily. Shugendo practitioners still undertake grueling mountain ascetic training on Mount Omine. The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes were twinned with the Camino de Santiago in 1998, and hikers who complete both can earn a Dual Pilgrim credential. A total of 242 individual elements -- specific shrine buildings, temple structures, trail sections, and sacred natural features -- were nominated for the designation. The heritage is not a museum piece. It breathes.
From the Air
The World Heritage area spans a vast region across the Kii Peninsula in the Mie, Nara, and Wakayama Prefectures of Japan, centered approximately at 33.84N, 135.78E. The terrain is heavily mountainous and forested, with dramatic river gorges and coastal cliffs. Key visual landmarks include Nachi Falls (133m single-drop waterfall) near the southeastern coast, and the mountaintop temple complex of Koyasan in the northwestern sector. Nearest airport is Nanki-Shirahama Airport (RJBD) on the southwestern coast. Kansai International Airport (RJBB) lies to the northwest. The pilgrimage routes are not visible from altitude but the mountain terrain, river valleys, and scattered shrine clearings define the landscape. Best appreciated at 5,000-8,000 feet AGL following the Kumano River from the coast inland toward the mountainous interior.