The World Heritage Kumano Kodo has many sections: Kohechi, Nakahechi, Ohechi, and Iseji.
The most popular section is the climb up the stairs from the Daimon-zaka gate to the temple, ending at the Nachi Taisha.
But I went the opposite way, starting from the waterfall, walking to Seiganto-ji Temple and Nachi Taisha,
then began the Nakahechi section of the Kumano Kodo toward Daimon-zaka, plus a walk to Nachi Station.
Climbing up requires stamina, but going down takes caution.
The slope was easier compared to the one at Kumano Shrines I walked earlier, but going downhill is definitely more relaxing.
From the entrance to Daimon-zaka, the downhill walk takes about 30 minutes, and being surrounded by cedar trees feels amazing.
The Daimon-zaka fan-shaped signpost – the Nachi Fan Festival is the annual festival of Kumano Nachi Taisha, hence the fan as the symbol.
Near Daimon-zaka is a small village with fields full of daisies.
This is the hiking entrance to Daimon-zaka. Buses stop here, making it a good starting point to head up to the temple area.
But my Nakahechi journey isn’t over yet, so I continued on my own.
Unexpectedly, I met a cat right away—so cute!!
Here I ran into some road workers. He asked where I was headed, and I said Nachi Station.
Since my Japanese isn’t great, I quickly gave away my foreigner status, but the uncle was very kind and tried hard to explain in English.
He said it’s about 7–8 kilometers to the station. I said no problem, but he seemed worried.
A girl walking 8 kilometers alone seems almost impossible—Japan does have solo hikers, but they’re usually men.
There are many stereotypes in Japan. I’ve heard that it’s considered embarrassing for Japanese girls to travel alone, so they prefer to go in groups.
But I said it’s fine, and in rural areas you occasionally meet warm-hearted Japanese people, experiencing a different side of Japan.
The scenery of the village is beautiful, the wind is a bit chilly, but with the sunshine, it feels nice.
After not walking far, I arrived at Inoinoo Shrine, one of the Kumano Ninety-Nine Shrines.
At the end of the Inoino area, before entering the Iseki area, is the start (or end) of the Mandala Path.
There’s a bit of an uphill climb, but when you look back, the whole Inoino village is spread out beneath you.
Passing through Fudaraku-en Garden.
A very small signpost, not easy to spot. On the right side of the photo, there’s a tree in the grass—that’s the Kaki no Furuki (Ancient Persimmon Tree).
This is the entrance to the forested area.
About a five-minute walk brings you to the Monument for Nun General Hojo Masako.
The path is clear and not difficult.
Walking through a small bamboo grove, you can only hear the rustling of leaves in the wind and birdsong.
Along the way, you might occasionally come across half-fallen or completely fallen trees, but the path is still easy to follow and you can keep going.
Then we entered the towering cedar forest—it felt amazing!
We only met one elderly man while walking through the woods. Japanese hikers have good etiquette; they greet each other when passing by.
If you need to overtake someone ahead, you say “I’m going ahead, sorry.”
A simple greeting is “Konnichiwa” (こんにちは).
“I’m going ahead, sorry” is “Saki ni sumimasen” (先にすみません).
I didn’t know these phrases at first either, but I picked them up after a few hikes.
After exiting the cedar forest, we arrived here. Actually, I didn’t rely solely on signs to navigate this part of the trail.
DouDou had previously searched online for a hiking route. The bridge on the right side of the image below, all the way to the post,
was still marked as broken and unrepaired on the website at the time, and even the construction worker we met earlier said the same.
I hesitated before starting the Mandala Path, but if it really was broken, I’d just find another way—or turn back.
But when we got there, it had been fixed—what a relief!
Then we saw the sign for the Mandala Path. I’d rate the difficulty of the forest path as 1 out of 5 stars (with 5 being the hardest).
We had just passed through the forest area—we had only left the Inegi region—and then we entered the urban Kawanoseki area.
Next, we arrived at one of the World Heritage sites: Fudarakusan-ji Temple, a quiet and serene temple.
Next to Fudarakusan-ji Temple is one of the Ninety-Nine Kings, Hamanomiya King—but I didn’t manage to take a photo of it.
Three minutes further along, we returned to the station. We successfully completed a section of the Nakamichi Trail!
There are forested sections along the way, so it’s recommended to go with at least two people for safety.
A tip for hiking in Japan: aside from signs in urban areas, even website information isn’t always reliable.
Japanese hikers walk at a fairly fast pace, and rest time (including for taking photos, of course) is not included in estimates.
Distance markers are really just for reference. DouDou once walked for 10 minutes, and the marker still showed 300 meters to the end.
Sometimes 300 meters can mean the straight-line shortest distance to the endpoint.
I’ve even encountered cases where it was actually a vertical 300 meters—I walked for an hour and only covered 100 meters.
Later I realized it was a 100-meter elevation gain. So when hiking in Japan, always allow extra time.
Walking from the Nachi Bus Terminal intersection to Nachi Station, including time for photos, took about 2.5 hours.
Hiking map for the popular Daimon-zaka to Nachi-no-N route?
http://www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp/worldheritage/kumanokodo-course/plan3.html
Hiking map for Nachi Station to Kumano Nachi Taisha?
http://www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp/walk/022/map.html