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1 day Kumano Kodo trekking, Japan

Kumano Kodo 3

Trekking with JMGA guide who is also Shugendo monk on ancient Japanese mountain worship route in Kumano Kodo.

Private

Kii Mountain Range

1 Day

All year

Occasional

Beginner


Highlights

  • Discover an ancient pilgrimage route in Japan.
  • Enjoy hiking in the route used by Shugendo monks.
  • Visit the ancestral natural forests of Kumano.

Description

What about trekking Japanese ancient sacred mountain pilgrimage route?

A thick bunch of trees or undeveloped sacred land is the original meaning of Kumano. When we walk this quiet and sacred trekking route, we can still feel the ancient mountain worship spirit. You will have a great experience walking on Kumano Kodo.

This 1 Day tour mainly focus on the core zone of Omine Okugake route, which is from Kongo-no-tawa to Kumano Hongu. You will be amazed to walk on the same route that Shugendo monks use for their training.

I am a JMGA guide and also Shugendo monk. I will take you to the ancestral natural forests of Kumano. Let’s enjoy a beautiful historical atmosphere trekking!

If you would like to have other routes like Kogumo-torigoe or Kohechi (over Hatenashi-touge), those are available as options. This tour is for small groups under 5 people, so it is good for relaxed moderate pace of trekking.

Send the request to book your place on this trip if you are interested.

You can also check out this 4-day trekking in Oomine Okugakemichi.

Price includes

- Guiding fee

- Transportation start and back


Itinerary

Day 1: Kumano Kodo Trekking

We will meet at B&B Cafe Hongu at 9:30 a.m. From there, we will go forward to the Kami-kiribara trail-head and start our tour. Our tour probably ends around 4:00 p.m., but it will depend on the course and our walking speed. The guide will tell detailed information about the meeting point to the participants after the tour reservation.

 

Details

Meeting point

B&B Cafe Hongu (Hongu Taisha mae bus stop)

Equipment you will need to bring

Backpack

Watter bottle

Other gear: Walking shoes, rainwear, towel, sunscreen, hat and personal medicine.


About the guide

I am a local guide in Kumano and also a certified JMGA mountain guide. Being in the mountains and in the nature has always been my passion - trekking in the hills and mountains of the Kansai region in my childhood, riding bikes around Australia for 3 years in my youth, and am very passionate about different activities related to the mountains such as kayaking, rafting, backcountry skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, mountaineering and rock climbing. I’ve done numerous white water river kayaking and sea kayaking in New Zealand and in the US, and have done some first descents too.

I started my mountain career at a Japanese outdoors gear company, Montbell, then started my own outdoors gear brand called Finetrack in 2004. But I then wanted to become the actual connection between people and the nature, and also through my experiences abroad, I wanted to be able to communicate the wonders of Japanese nature to the world directly and thus became a mountain guide myself.

Japan is bombarded by the rigor of the nature. We have volcanoes, are right in the middle of the paths of numerous hurricanes, and rugged mountains forming at the edges of tectonic plates. These have been treated as sacred places in Japanese ancient beliefs and religions.
I am also a practitioner of Buddhism “Shugendo” (ancient mountain worship) and am a certified “Sendatsu” - trainer of Shugendo (aka mountain priest). I’d like to be able to tell you these stories so that you can better understand and ‘feel' the Japanese nature through history and culture.
It interesting to me that these mountains, rivers and the sea is not just a part of the nature but has always been the subject of faith.

Contact me if you’re interested in learning more about the mountain worship culture and to join me on a trek of Kumano with a lot of background stories!

Languages

Japanese | English

Certificates

JMGA

Residence

Wakayama, Japan


What people are saying about Explore-Share

Kumari Selvakumar

5.00

Sept 14, 2022

I’m extremely happy with the ease with which I could book via your site reliable and experienced guide. Thank you so very much, and I’ve started to recommend your site to my friends. Dimitris is not only an awesome guide, but a wonderful person who was always looking out to give me the best experience I can have when he found out how much I love climbing! He is the Best!

Niklas Warren

5.00

Sept 6, 2022

I am very pleased with Explore-Share! This was my first international climb, and the communication and response time were great. Herbie is a very skilled guide and very efficient. The entire booking process & payment was smooth. I will definitely use Explore-Share again. Thank you.

Greg

5.00

Aug 23, 2022

I was looking for a local guide for a hike I was planning and came across Explore-Share. They seemed to have good reviews and so decided to give them a try. The experience was very positive and completely happy with their service. I will be using them again for next trip.

Colin Finnegan

5.00

Aug 17, 2022

Easy to set up and find the perfect trip. Informative site that is easy to use. Guides are all great to work with and communicate all arrangements needed. As simple as can be!

Lesley Weber

4.00

July 16th, 2022

Thank you explore-share for a wonderful via feratta experience. We have been wanting to learn for a long time but don't have the facilities in Scotland. The guide Mitja was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, answering all my many questions and providing advice. On the day head to take another group but he quickly arranged another guide Borut, who was brilliant. We had a fantastic morning learning via ferrata at Hvadnik in the gorge. It gave us the confidence to later hire our own equipment and go out in Mojstrana. Altogether a five star + experience. Thank you.

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5.00

July 20, 2022

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Yvonne Morrison

4.00

May 8, 2022

Our first time with Explore-Share. An absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish. Extremely good value, very well organised with attention to detail. We travel widely and this has by far been the best of experiences. Well done to all concerned. We are already looking at booking another trip!

Mark Stone

5.00

April 14, 2022

Great service by explore share. Our guide, Fred, gave us a fantastic day. Totally wild adventure that would be impossible on our own. I’m really impressed. Thank you very much.

James Dempster

5.00

March 9, 2022

I can’t recommend this enough. Great service, great price and the on the ground team was top notch. Top marks all round.

Leonardo Rodriguez

5.00

March 4, 2022

Everything went very well! Above our expectations! Thanks Explore-Share and Thanks Kiliholidays! Great support from all you! Thanks for the hard work and excellent level of commitment.

Daniel Martinez

5.00

Feb 2, 2022

Excellent job making your platform available to all mountain lovers. Our guide Gabrielle was an excellent companion

 

 

 

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