Koguchi to Kumano Hayatama Taisha

October 2, 2024

We awoke to the sound of the rushing mountain river and the sounds of the forest. Alice and I got up and went for a little walk around the rural mountain property until 7:30 when breakfast was to be served. Just before breakfast, Seeichi could be heard getting his children ready and off for the school bus. Older and younger kids appeared in school uniforms The young child with Down’s syndrome also was ready with a very modern back pack with stainless steel details.

A beautiful vegetarian breakfast was prepared as well as coffee.l We wondered what happened to the man’s wife, seen in pictures up until a few years ago. Was she ill, was she blamed for a Down Syndrome child as might happen in Japan, did she leave? We will never know. We do know the care that the man, Seeichi has for his children.

Seeichi called a taxi for us due to the overlapping needs of family and guests. For only 200 yen the taxi took us to the nearest bus stop down the mountain. We wondered why the bus was late. Buses are super punctual in this place. Soon we learned why. It was filled almost to the max with tourists, mostly Chinese young people, but we were able to get on. As we continued on down river to the fishing town of Shingu, people gradually thinned out and were able to take a seat.

We got off the bus and headed by foot to the temple in Kumano Hayatama. We walked a few blocks and noted that the heat was already picking up, and was destined to be quite a warm day, up to 90 degrees F. We viewed the temple with it’s typical organge colors, and then walked over to the market area were Alice spied some fresh mandarin oranges. Then we noticed a little cafe next door and had a marvelous time with the proprieter and his elder mother, with the help of a cell phone translator.

The younger generation of the cafe owners

Then we climbed 500 steps to the famous temple at the top of the mountain

After descending the 500 stairs, we walked to the town center to catch a bus to the nearby town oaf Nachi, where an even more famous temple and shrines are located. This is one of the major destinations for walking the Kumano Kodo, but this last section would have been a killer. We could not have made it over this mountain given it being double the difficulty of our previous days

Again we would climb hundreds of steps to get to the top of the temple. The steps were flanked by Japanese cedars, some of which were hundreds of years old. The rocks were a bit too slippery as they are covered with a little slime.

We also stopped and admired the impressive temple near the watefall.

Alice burns a small piece of incense on the fire.

We walked back down the mountain about 4 miles to a little suburban area where our lodgin was located, a single modern structure with two bedrooms, and the resto of the home shared with shower , laundry and kitchen. Fortunately we had it to ourselves. What we didn’t count on was that none of the nearby restaurants were open and there were no grocery stores nearby.

As I sat outside working on my blog post, the owner saw me from her home next door, and came over to greet me. Alice came down from our room. She offered to take us into town 10 km away for groceries or a restaurant. It so happened she would be going there at 7 with her sister to the hot baths located there. We were relieved!

At 7 we joined her in a spotless new Prius and were soon in the fishing village of Kii-Temma. We walked to 3 restaurants, all full and requiring reservations, but finally came to the first place she recommended , a humble neighborhood ramen joint. I was worried it looked full from the outsid, but we stepped into the very tight entry and got a look from the host that she would be right with us. Jazz played in the background and a huge poster of Muhammed Ali boxing was on the wall. Couples and families filled the place except for 2 spots at the bar. I ordered pork curry ( which I could order in Japanese!) and she ordered a stir fry. We both had a large beer. ( bidu ). Both dishes were delicious and cheap. The jazz continued , now with Louie Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald knocking out a hit from the 1940s. It was delightful.

Afterwards we walked a couple of blocks to the train station where we found a taxi waiting, and got a ride back to our lodging. Despite it not being a Kumano hiking day we still had recorded 20,000 steps, and were tired. [restaurant picture to follow]