Carpe Diem #1628 Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage ... by boat

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend full of inspiration. I had a very relaxed weekend and have new energy for a full new week.

This month we are on a pilgrimage straight through the Kii peninsula, the Kumano Kodo (ancient road) pilgrimage. The Kumano Kodo has five different routes and we have seen already two of those routes this month.

The Kumano river is an important part of this pilgrimage. 1000 yrs ago pilgrims had to cross Kumano river to reach their pilgrimage goal ... the Great Ise Shrine, but this Kumano river has also a deeper meaning in Shinto. The Kumano river was the last stage of someones life before he entered Paradise. This kind of idea we also see for example in the ancient history of Egypt. Pharaohs had to cross the river of death, the river to the stars, so in many religions we see the river also as being part of the last stage to Paradise.

Kumano Kodo ... by boat on the Kumano River

For over 1000 years pilgrims have been making the journey to Kumano. The Kumano-gawa River was a vital section of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route between Kumano Hongu Taisha in Hongu, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha in Shingu. The pilgrims used wooden flat-bottom boats. As I wrote above this part of Kumano Kodo was a deep spiritual experience and it gave the pilgrims the opportunity to meditate and contemplate before going on to Ise Grand Shrine.

Isn't it a wonderful pilgrimage? I like that deeper spiritual meaning in this part of the Kumano Kodo ... especially because of the deeper meaning of the river ... the last stage to Paradise.

at the horizon
faint impression of paradise
the sound of water

© Chèvrefeuille

Not a very strong one I think, but it fits the theme for today.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7:00 PM (CET) and will remain open until March 24th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... have fun!

Carpe Diem #1625 Kumano Kodo ... a new trail

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

What an awesome pilgrimage this Kumano Kodo (ancient road) is. We are on our way through the Kii peninsula and are close to nature ... The Kumano Kodo is one of the most important Shinto pilgrimages and it's not a one trail pilgrimage. As I told you in an earlier episode ... the Kumano Kodo is a pilgrimage created out of five different trails. Until today we walked the Nakahechi Route, and today we will go further on one of the other trails ... the Iseji Route. Let me tell you a little bit more about this Kumano Kodo trail.

Iseji connects Kumano with Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture. Like Ohechi, much of Iseji's coastal trail has been covered by paved roads and towns. Only short, isolated sections remain as stoned or earthen trails today. Among them, the Magose Pass in Owase City and Matsumoto Pass in Kumano City are some of the most picturesque.

Magose Pass

Magose-toge Pass forms the boundary between Miyamacho and Owase City. A moss covered stone path stretches about 2 Km into the beautiful cypress forest covered with ferns.
There are points of historical interest along the path which include a Haiku monument, 5-7-5 syllable poetry created by Karyoen Toitsu, Yonaki-jizo, a stone statue of the guardian deity of children and a Magose Milestone.
There is a hiking trail which leads to Tengura-san Mount overlooking Owase City on the east side of the pass. Magosekoen Park on the way down the pass is renowned for its cherry blossoms.

I ran through our rich history and surfed the WWW to find the haiku by Toitsu, but couldn't find it, but maybe one of you has more luck in finding that haiku. To give a haiku in the same sense I love to share one by myself:

on the mountain slopes
fragile cherry blossom petals fall
it seems to snow

© Chèvrefeuille

I think this one fits, because we are walking the Kumano Kodo straight through the Kii peninsula, a wonderful region in Japan with a lot of mountains.

cherry blossom on the mountain slope

Well ... a wonderful start of our new trail on the Kumano Kodo. I am looking forward to your responses.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 19th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on.

Carpe Diem #1619 Kumano Kodo ... Nakahechi route (aka the Imperial Route)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

We are on our way ... yesterday we started our Kumano Kodo pilgrimage ... and I think it will be awesome. I hope you all will enjoy this pilgrimage and I hope it will bring you Inner Peace, Spritual Balance ... and maybe more.

The Kumano Kodo or "ancient road" is one of Japan's most gorgeous pilgrims routes ... it's by the way not just one pilgriage. The Kumano Kodo is a collection of five routes all through the Kii Peninsula. Let me give you some background on this.

climbing the mountain
together with the smiling Buddha
embraced by nature

© Chèvrefeuille

Kii Peninsula

One of Japan's most remote and rewarding journeys, the Kumano Kodō hiking route weaves through the mountainous Kii Peninsula, south of Osaka. Once a sacred pilgrimage reserved for emperors and samurai, the ‘Kumano Old Road’ is today open to all modern-day seekers and wanderers.

Even before organised religion existed in Japan, locals worshipped nature in the mystical landscape of the Kii Peninsula. Towering trees, the nation's tallest waterfall, and the mountains in between were themselves considered kami (gods), and a walk among them became a sacred act. Emperors and samurai kept detailed diaries of their pilgrimages here; one of the earliest was by Fujiwara-no-Munetada (1062–1141), an aristocrat who travelled to Kumano in 1109.

Over the years Buddhist temples and shrines of Shintō, Japan's native religion, were built, making the route's iconography more familiar for the common folk.

Shinto Shrine along the Kumano Kodo

The Kumano Kodō is actually not one route but a network of trails through the deeply forested mountains, with no official start and end point and no prescribed order for approaching a hike. There are moderate to strenuous hiking options lasting a few hours to several days, taking in some of Japan’s top ‘power spots’ – temples, forests and waterfalls thought to enrich the soul.

Historically, pilgrims would visit the Kumano Sanzan – the three grand shrines of Kumano – which are the cornerstones of the Nakahechi route (aka the Imperial Route), the most action-packed route through the region.

This main trail traverses the peninsula from Takijiri-ōji in the west, 38.5km east through to the first of the three grand shrines, at Hongū. Here, the trails diverge toward the other two shrines, either southeast through the mountains toward the waterfall Nachi-no-taki or eastward along the river Kumano-gawa to the town of Shingū.

five sacred routes
in praise of nature's spirits
Kumano Kodo

© Chèvrefeuille

I can imagine the beauty of nature along this "ancient route" ... and nature is (as you all know) the main theme of our wonderful haiku.

thin mountain air

surrounds this old mountain cabin -

I hear the stream

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until March 11th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode later on. For now ... find your balnce and inspiration.