Kansai is the general area of central southwest Honshu Is. around Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and Nara cities, including Lake Biwa, and Himeji. A rural subset of Kansai is called Kinki (), and includes Nara and Wakayama Prefectures and the Kii and Ise Peninsulas. It was in this area that Japanese civilization first flourished into high court culture at the ancient imperial capitals of Asuka, Nara, and later Kyoto. By the way, the extended metropolitan area including Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe is known collectively as "Kei-Han-Shin" (), from the Chinese pronunciation of the first character in each city's name. The three cities are about a half-hour apart by train.

Although this guide is mainly about rural getaways, at the end of this section I have added some notes about a few interesting places in Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe cities. Nara city is definitely worth visiting, and most people do; I just don't have any unique information about it.

My section on "Riding the Trains" has a section on various Day Passes for Transport in Kyoto, Osaka, and throughout the Kansai area.

Asuka / Kashiwara Jingu    / 

Asuka (AH-suka) village and nearby Kashiwara Jingu (shrine) are in the heart of the ancient Yamato country, historically the birthplace of the Japanese Empire and its ancient imperial courts. Yamato () was probably the first name used by the Japanese for their country. The earliest emperors ruled from this area and from around Naniwa -- the present-day Osaka. Many of the sights here are legendary or archeological, but there are several places of interest.

Today the Asuka area, while conveniently close to Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto, is relatively quiet farming country with no cities to speak of; Asuka village itself is tiny. The sights are dispersed within an area of several square kilometers which can be explored easily and pleasantly by bicycle along country roads and dirt paths.

You can explore Asuka on a day trip from Osaka, Kyoto, or Nara, but it is worth staying over even if you come by car. This is not a big tourist destination but it is not unknown, and the modest tourist facilities and lodgings are easily overrun on holidays and school breaks. But on normal weekdays and slow weekends it remains pleasantly quiet and rural. The scenery is nice but not spectacular and the sights are mostly of historical interest, but it can be a nice place to get away from it all for a day or two.

History:

Legendarily, the first emperor, Jimmu, reigned from 660 BC, but historians now place the onset of the imperial dynasty around the beginning of the Christian era, and some would have it as late as the third or fourth century AD. Burial mounds and archeological artifacts of high culture from this area have so far been dated as early as 350 AD.

Sidelight:  One historical theory (much ignored by Japanese) is that the imperial line began with (or was at least taken over by) the Empress Jingo (sometimes called Jingu), who -- far from conquering Korea, as she is credited with -- was in fact an exiled Korean Princess whose armies conquered Japan (Yamato) around 372 AD. [A thorough historical analysis of this point of view can be found in Korean Impact on Japanese Culture, by Dr. Jon Covell and Alan Covell (Hollym International Corp., 1984 -- order), which is still in print but very unlikely to be found in Japanese bookstores.]  I have written up a summary of some of the more interesting aspects of this somewhat controversial theory in an Appendix:  Korean Connection to the Japanese Empire?

The first emperor, Jimmu -- whenever (or whether) he actually lived -- is reported in the ancient chronicles of Japan (the Nihongi, written in the early 700's) to have built his palace in the "Kashiwa-hara" (oak-plain) near Mt. Unebi. This is clearly meant to be the present Kashiwara Jingu area, just a couple of kilometers from Asuka village. A large burial mound, or tumulus, just outside of Kashiwara Jingu is reputed to be that of Jimmu. While this fact is in much doubt, it is clear that some of the earliest emperors lived, and were buried, in this area.

Asuka was first mentioned by name in the chronicles as being established as the seat of the new Emperor Kenzo, in 485 AD. The earliest historical period -- that which scholars can identify and associate with some historical evidence -- is called the Asuka Period, and runs from 552 to 645 AD. The chronicles were written soon enough after this period that some of their information can be taken as historically meaningful, if not always entirely accurate.

The name of Asuka was chosen for this period because so much historical and legendary evidence is found here, and certainly there were several imperial courts in and near present-day Asuka during this period. Like many place names that pre-date writing, the characters used for the name Asuka bear no relation to its pronunciation -- they mean "flying bird".

More History:

In these earliest times, it was the custom of each new emperor or empress to establish a new palace in a new location, a practice due largely to beliefs that the house was defiled by the death of the emperor. Often the new palace was built within a few miles, so this 'moving of the capital' caused limited disruption to the general populace. Up until the eighth century, the first 43 imperial palaces and their courts were almost entirely within the Yamato area, centered near Asuka; a few were just a bit west, toward Osaka.  It should be understood that in these early times, the 'palaces' were just rambling wood and thatch structures, perhaps in fenced compounds -- encompassing also a shrine and perhaps some ceremonial spaces. Little if any evidence remains of these earliest 'palaces'; they were likely burned as they were abandoned.

At the beginning of the 8th century, the capital was moved north to Nara, a new and ambitiously modern imperial city, laid out on Chinese designs and filled with Buddhist temples and official buildings. This modernization reflected the fact that Buddhism, as well as advanced Chinese cultures of architecture, writing, philosophy, learning, and bureaucracy had begun arriving in Japan -- via Korean-based scholars and artisans -- beginning in the late 5th or early 6th century AD, and accelerating through the 7th century with acceptance and encouragement by the Japanese Imperial court. No longer could the capital be moved by simply constructing a new palace, and here in Nara the court remained through several reigns from 710 to 784.

For reasons not completely understood, the emperor Kwammu (or more accurately, his Fujiwara regents) then had the capital removed to Nagaoka, farther again to the north.  Ten arduous years had been spent constructing this new city, when in 793 -- amid times of great intrigue and misfortune -- it was decided to abandon Nagaoka for a new site less than ten kilometers north and east.

This new site was on the Kamo River, near the previously existing Kamo Shrine and Koryu-ji Temple, and was renamed Heian-Kyo ('the capital of peace and tranquillity').  In 795, the emperor's new palace was occupied. Heian-Kyo later took its more familiar name of Kyoto, and the capital remained there until 1869.

To see:

The easiest plan is just to grab a tourist map of the Asuka area (from your lodging or at the station) and start off on your bicycle (or car) exploring. Despite the various hills mentioned, the terrain is mostly flat. From Asuka station you can make a round trip east to Oka-dera (temple), north to Asuka village and the Asuka Temple, then west to Kashiwara Jingu and back again. With a few short diversions, you pass most all of the interesting sights in the area. They are all marked with signs; even if you can't read them, you know there's something there, and the tourist maps have photos or drawings of each point of interest. The truth is, I first visited Asuka many years ago, and all my literature is in Japanese, which I can barely read. I'm sure today you will find some interesting historical and tourist information in English; check at the museum.  Now you can visit the Asuka Historical Museum's new web site, with numerous photos and up-to-date information about the Asuka area!

First I mention three of the more interesting sights. Southeast of Asuka station, on a side trail up the Nakao-yama hill, is a burial mound which was opened to the public only in the mid-1970's. This is the Takamatsu Tomb and it contains some beautiful paintings of court ladies, made on the native rock inside in the 6th or 7th century. (Korean influences are clear to some scholars.) The tomb is closed on Mondays and they tend to shut it off part of the year to preserve the paintings, but it is well worth seeing. (See the Asuka Historical Museum's Takamatsu-zuka Tomb page, with lots of photos).

South of the Oka-dera temple, at the southeast corner of the circuit, is a very unusual collection of huge rocks called the Ishi-butai, or "stone stage". This "phenomenon" is reminiscent of Stonehenge, in that numerous huge natural stones have been arranged and stacked to make an unusual structure that is both esthetically pleasing and mind-boggling. Who would have done this? Who could have done this? I'm not sure if they know, but it's nice to think that it was some tribe even older than the emperors. You have to go off the main route, just a bit south from the Oka-dera, but don't miss it.  (Visit the Asuka Historical Museum's Ishi-Butai Kofun Page for photos and more info!

Within the Asuka-dera Temple, in Asuka village, is a large bronze statue of a sitting Buddha which was cast in 606 AD, making it perhaps the oldest in Japan. It's black, it's been patched up quite a bit, and it is not the most beautiful of Buddhas, but it is quite a piece of very old Japanese history. Despite a replaced hand and numerous scars, I found it very appealing, but maybe that's just because of its historical significance. The temple is small and (when I was there) dilapidating. (Now you can visit the Asuka Historical Museum's Asuka Temple Page, with lots of photos!)   Those are my big three sights.

At the east edge of Asuka village is the Asuka-za Jinja (shrine), which is perched on a wooded hill. In fact, the hill itself is considered part of the sacred shrine, and it's a nice walk up with some fair views. Just west of the village, across the Asuka river, is another hill on the south ("ancient oak hill") which is also a pleasantly short walk for nice views.

All along the route you will see various carved stones such as the Turtle Stone, Elephant Stone, Two-Faced Stone, Devil's Altar, and the Devil's Toilet. These are all figures, or unfathomable designs, carved in ancient days. East off the road between Asuka village and Oka-dera is the "Sake Boat Platform", a flat stone with channels carved in it. It is very similar to those found in Korea, used in a game at imperial courts. A cup of liquor would be floated around the channels, and the recipient had to compose a poem before it arrived.

There are also numerous "sites" of ancient temples that no longer stand, as well as the several temples still extant. And finally you will see various burial mounds, most of which just look like hills. Several have been excavated and you may see some work going on; some are certainly those of emperors. There are three mounds behind the Asuka station. As mentioned, there is a burial mound just north of Kashiwara Jingu, fabled to be that of the first Emperor, Jimmu.

The burial mounds (or tumuli) are properly called 'misasagi' in Japanese, but are more commonly called 'kofun' (ko-FOON = 'old-grave'; KO-fun means sexual excitement). If you get excited about burial mounds, the (really) huge key-shaped and moated tumulus of Emperor Nintoku (4th century) is in Sakai city, southeast of Osaka (Mozu station on the JR Haniwa line from Tennoji); but don't expect to get in.

Also in Kashiwara Jingu is the moderately interesting Yamato Historical Museum (Yamato Rekishi-kan) where you can catch up on your ancient history (some English summaries). The Kashiwara Shrine itself is just behind the station; it is large and stately, in beautiful grounds which include a large lake in the rear; it is a very pleasant place to stroll around, so leave an hour or more to relax here.

You can also meet a few of the local people who still farm the land along your route. The slower your mode of conveyance, the more people will greet you. You might even see some hand-made buckwheat noodles out drying on their racks.

Getting there:

First get to Kashiwara Jingumae. "Jingu" means a large shrine, and "mae" means 'in front of'; the railway station is literally right in front of the Kashiwara Shrine grounds, and is a crossroads for several rail lines. (It is sometimes called Kashihara.) There is also a large suburb of Osaka called Kashiwara. This is not to be confused with Kashiwara Jingumae, which is out in the country of Nara Prefecture, just east of Osaka; some of the trains even pass through Kashiwara, so be careful.

From Kyoto take the Kintetsu Nara line south and change at Saidai-ji to the Kashiwara line going south to Yagi and Kashiwara-Jingumae.

From Nara go west to Saidai-ji on the Kintetsu Nara line, and change to the Kashiwara line. Alternately, you can take the JR Sakurai line south from Nara and change to the Kintetsu Osaka line at Sakurai (), then west to Yagi () and change to the Kashiwara line going south. (Omiwa Shrine is just north of Sakurai on the Sakurai line.) Kintetsu is a private railway company; the name is short for Kinki Nippon Railway.

From Osaka take the Kintetsu Osaka line from Namba station toward Sakurai and change at Yagi, south on the Kashiwara line, or take the JR line to Unebi, just north of Kashiwara Jingu and change to the Kintetsu line for one stop. There is also the small Kintetsu Minami (south) Osaka line that goes directly from Tenno-ji in southern Osaka to Kashiwara Jingumae. I'm not sure of the times, but you should be able to get there by train from Osaka or Nara in well under an hour; add 45 minutes from Kyoto.

At Kashiwara Jingumae, you usually change to a smaller rural train continuing south. Oka-dera is the first stop and Asuka is the second. The actual Asuka town, site of Asuka Temple, is a few kilometers east, and is reached as easily from Kashiwara Jingumae as from Asuka station, by car, bicycle, or on foot. (There is also a limited bus service between Kashiwara Jingumae, Asuka village, Oka-dera and the Ishi-Butai.) This rail line continues south to Yoshino-Guchi where you can either change to the Yoshino Line taking you to Yoshino-Yama (Mtn.), or continue on to Gojo, gateway to the Yamato mountains; see Kii Peninsula, below.

Highway 24 goes straight down from Nara to Yagi; from near there it heads west, and you turn onto the 169 to get to Kashiwara Jingu and Asuka.

Staying:

There is a collection of minshukus near the Asuka rail station (and not much else); this is the base for most people traveling by train, as more of the interesting sites are near this area. Here you can rent bicycles and cover all the sites, including Asuka Temple and Kashiwara Jingu, in a day. Two or more leisurely days would be even better.

Kashiwara Jingu is a larger town, and a few people even commute to Osaka from here, but it is still fairly small and quiet. This could also be a good place to stay. There are several lodgings and lots of tourist information, as well as bicycle rentals. There is an information and lodging referral office in the modern Kashiwara Jingu station; they can help you secure lodgings anywhere in the area.

Omiwa   

The only thing at Omiwa (o-MIwa) is the large shrine compound at the foot of Mt. Miwa, which is just a large forested hill. The shrine and its associated buildings are stately amid ancient cedar trees surrounded by farmland. What makes it interesting to me is its history, or rather the fact that it goes back much farther than history. This place is probably much older than the early imperial sites at Asuka, although the buildings themselves are rebuilt regularly.

History and Pre-history:

Miwa is first mentioned in the Nihongi (ancient chronicles of Japan), as the place where the Emperor Suijin went to worship one of the major ancient gods in 91 BC (by the timetable of the chronicles). By that time Omiwa was known as the head shrine in the Yamato district. Mt. Miwa was known by that time to be the dwelling site of the god O-mono-nushi-no-Kami, one of the original gods in the Shinto creation myths.

What impresses me about Omiwa is that it harkens back to times so much more ancient than this that we can barely comprehend them. The god was in the mountain, the mountain was sacred, the mountain was a shrine and the shrine was a god. The main Omiwa Shrine building has no inner sanctum as such. The innermost doorways of the sanctuary, behind which would normally be the Shinto 'holy of holies' -- the sacred object of veneration, kept locked away from sight -- are left open to reveal the mountain itself. The mountain is sacred; at least until recent times, no one ever set foot on it, much less cut any of its ancient cedar trees.

Today, the name of the village of Miwa is written with different characters than those used for Mt. Miwa and the Omiwa Shrine, which use the original single character, the character for god (which is never otherwise pronounced "miwa"). O-miwa is two characters meaning Great God. God, the mountain, the shrine, are all called by the same ancient name, Omiwa. This reminds me of Native American traditions. The natives near Mt. Rainier called the mountain Tahoma, which the settlers took for its name. But in fact, 'tahoma' meant both 'mountain' and 'god' in the local language.

Long, long ago, before there were emperors or perhaps even shrines, the people who lived here were the Omiwa Clan. They were successful and thrived, and they came to venerate their mountain, and to see it as holy. Who can say which name came first, the people, the mountain, the god? It was all Omiwa -- the Great Clan, the Great Mountain, the Great God. Eventually their little offerings and altars became a larger and larger shrine. Their shamans were as powerful as the clan and their worship of the divinity of their little corner of Nature was one of the early seeds of the Shinto religion.

In the imperial ages, when the creation myths had been formulated, the gods were given names, and Mt. Miwa became the home of O-mono-nushi-no-Kami. Perhaps the emperors brought this religious complexity to Omiwa, or perhaps the shamans of the Omiwa Clan were principals in the development of the original Shinto myths.

To see:

Well, you just see the shrine. It's a nice large old shrine with several outbuildings, numerous sub-shrines, and giant cedar trees; not all that different from some other nice old rural shrines. It is not uncommon to see several priests and miko girls on their way to or from some daily ceremonies. My attraction to the place is explained just above, under History. There are a couple of big festivals here, around April 9 and October 24, and several smaller ones during the year, including the annual lighting of fire (gift from the gods) on January 2. The rest of the time it's not crowded at all. The priests sometimes perform ancient ritual dances.

Getting there:

Miwa station is on the JR Sakurai line, just north of Sakurai city. You have to change to a local train; Miwa is a very small station -- in fact it's just a very short covered platform -- and the express trains won't stop. The JR Sakurai line runs north to Nara, connecting to Kyoto. It turns west at Sakurai and heads to Osaka. You can also take the Kintetsu Osaka line from Osaka to Sakurai and change to the JR Sakurai line to get to Miwa. The station is a short walk from the Omiwa Shrine. While you're in the area, you should visit Asuka and Kashiwara Jingu (see above).

Staying:

I'm not aware of any lodgings around Omiwa, but I wouldn't be surprised to find someone operating a minshuku in the nearby village. Usually Omiwa is just on the way to somewhere else, such as Asuka, Nara, or Wakayama.

Kii Peninsula   

The Kii Hanto (Peninsula) is a quite large mountainous area of Honshu Island that protrudes into the Pacific Ocean southeast of Osaka and due south of Nara and Kyoto. It includes Wakayama Prefecture and a large part of Nara Prefecture. The Ise Peninsula in Mie Prefecture is really just an extension of the east side of Kii Hanto, but is most often included in the Chubu region (along with Nagoya), instead of Kansai. Ise is covered in a separate section here, but is directly connected by land, rail, and road. The Kii Hanto is properly a part of the larger Kansai area, but is much more rural and much less visited, although easily reached in a few hours from Osaka or Nagoya.

The majority of the interior of the peninsula is ruggedly mountainous and served only by a few roads, but no rail lines. Much of this area is encompassed by the Yoshino-Kumano National Park and is sparsely populated. Rail lines and a road run all around the coast from Osaka and continue to Nagoya. There are a couple of cities near Osaka, but the area is otherwise rural, with a couple of beach resorts thrown in.

I have not found one specific place here that would rate as a top-notch get-away, but there are several places quite worth visiting, and the scenery all along the way is very nice. For this reason it would be a great advantage to travel by car, as you can stop at any interesting little places along the route without worrying about connections. By car, you could cover much of the peninsula in two or three days. By public transport, it would take several week-ends (from a Kansai base) to see as much, but that's how I did it.

Routes:

There is a circular route that covers the southern tip of the peninsula and most of the main points of interest. (Get out your map.) From Tanabe city on the western coast (just north of Shirahama), a twisting road leads into the mountains to Hongu, where a somewhat better road goes down to Shingu on the eastern coast. You can then come back all the way around the coast to Tanabe and on back to the Osaka area. From Shingu, you can also continue east to Ise, but then you would miss half the circuit. JR buses cover the mountain routes, and the train is faster around the coast. I'm going to mention several of the locations along this route. The ones I particularly recommend are Hongu, Kawa-yu On-Sen, Shingu, and Nachi.

There is also a mountain road that heads north from Hongu through the mountains, hitting civilization at Gojo, where you can get trains or better roads up to Nara or Osaka. This route could be time-consuming, and there are few buses. Other than the routes I've mentioned, there are few other roads at all on the peninsula, except in the northern part near Nara.

To see:

South from Osaka you pass through large Wakayama city (), with a refurbished castle. This is the gateway to the new Kansai International Airport -- on a man-made island offshore -- and there will now be plenty of traffic there and more development. At the next city, Gobo, a road takes off far into the mountains to the Ryujin Hot-Spring () area, beyond which the road ends. I have not been up there so I don't know how developed this "resort" is, but it would be a quite secluded place for hot-spring week-end.

Continuing along the coast you come to Tanabe city from where you can get the JR bus up into the mountains to Hongu. Just beyond Tanabe is the Shirahama ( White Beach) Hot Spring resort. You have to take a short bus ride to the beach from its rail station. I once stayed at Shirahama, and while it does have a white beach, it is a popular and well-developed tourist area with high-rise hotels and all the trappings of mass tourism. This is as far as many city dwellers get into the Kii Peninsula, and you don't get away from very much when you stay here.

Back at Tanabe, let's catch the bus up into the mountains. It is a beautiful drive of several hours with few stops. The bus also delivers goods to the few people who live up here. This is national park land; the forests are mostly undisturbed, and the views are good. Just before you get to Hongu, the bus stops at two hot-spring towns a few kilometers apart.

These are Kawa-yu ( ) and Yu-no-mine ( ) Hot-Springs. 'Kawa' is river, and 'yu' is hot water. Kawayu in particular has hot springs coming up in the river, and crude rock pools have been made to allow hot bathing in the river. Since this is right in the middle of the little town, it is not as exotic as it sounds, and most people stick to the baths in their hotels.

I stayed at Kawayu and enjoyed it. It's a small town along a wooded river, with several lodgings in varying price ranges, but nothing like a modern hotel in sight. In the evening you can stroll along the river, or cross a wooden bridge to wander in the forest. I can imagine it being overrun on holidays or summer weekends but it will be pretty quiet otherwise. It's the kind of place where everyone goes out at night in their yukata and wooden clogs after a hot bath to stroll under the stars. This is reason enough to stop over here.

The economical inn we stayed at had an ordinary bath, so maybe that's why I don't remember it as a really top-notch place. But there was one really fine-looking old wooden ryokan at the east end of town that looked great, with its own outdoor bath on the grounds. I suppose Yunomine would be similar (and has been recommended), but each little town has its own personality. They are only a few kilometers apart, and you could check them both out if you had a car. In any case, you need to stay somewhere, and a mountain hot-spring is not to be passed up.

Just beyond the hot-springs, in a wooded mountain valley at the crossroads is Hongu ('main-shrine'), a small town with the large and beautiful old Kumano Hongu Shrine set back in pleasant grounds. There has been a shrine on this site since ancient days; it is in traditional Japanese style and is worth much more than a few minutes to enjoy.

From Hongu, you can travel down the mountains to Shingu ( 'new-shrine') on the coast. Shingu is a small city with a quiet atmosphere. The large shrine here, in the older part of town, is also quite worth visiting. There would be plenty of lodgings here if you need to break your journey. You can make a day excursion from Shingu by bus and boat, up the Kitayama River to the Doro Gorge, considered perhaps the finest in Japan; I haven't seen it so I can't tell you. From Shingu you could continue east to Kumano and Ise in Mie Prefecture, (see Ise, below).

But let's turn back west along the coast. Just down the coast is Nachi-Katsura, () gateway to the Nachi-no-taki (waterfall). It is a 25 minute bus ride through beautiful woods up to the falls. There are several waterfalls and the main one is 430 feet high, one of the highest in Japan. There is another nice shrine here and also a good-sized Buddhist temple monastery, Seiganto-ji, founded in the 7th century. A pilgrimage trail starts here and wanders through the high mountains of Kii, via 33 temples, ending somewhere around Mt. Koya (). If you take the bus to the falls, you don't get much time to hang around, although I think you can wait for the next bus; I was running out of time. This is another place where a car would be very handy.

Also note that there is a shukubo (Temple Lodging) called Shukubo Sonsho-in attached to the Seiganto-ji Zen temple at the Nachi waterfall! There are nice private rooms, the cost is that of a reasonable inn, and you are not required to perform all the activities of the monks (as at Mt. Koya).  Telephone: (07355) 5-0331.

Back at the turn-off, and just a couple of minutes from the Kii-Katsura rail Station, is a fairly high-end hot-spring inn right on the shore.  The Koshi-no-Yu Inn is unique in having natural hot spring baths build around a rock face on the ocean.  These baths are reached only by boat (morning and evening from the Inn). There are other baths at the inn.  (Their Japanese Web Site) Telephone: (0735) 52-1414   Fax: (0735) 52-0605

Rounding the tip of the Kii Hanto, at Kushimoto, there is a side road out to the spit of Shiono-misaki (Point). If I had a car, I would have just wheeled out there for a look-see. Back up the coast the road and rail pass through numerous tunnels and past rugged coastline, back toward civilization.

Other:

In the northern part of the Kii Peninsula, towards Nara, are two famous and well-visited holy sites at the tops of mountains. Yoshino-Yama is famous for its spring blossoms and is packed at that time.  Mt. Koya has one of the oldest (861 AD) and largest (120 temples) Buddhist monasteries in the country. It is a famous pilgrimage site, you can stay in the temples, and it is easy to find out about.

There is a large mountain range down the east of the central part of the peninsula, variously called the Yoshino Range, the Yamato Alps, or the O-mine Range. Originally, this entire area was considered a holy site, and numerous monasteries dotted the isolated mountain peaks, many of which remain, on a smaller scale. It was also forbidden for women to enter this entire large section of the peninsula, and there are still a couple of mountains (O-mine-San is one) where signs are posted down below (photo, clickable, right), forbidding entrance to women.

Nevertheless, with some advance route research, several good hikes can be made in the very steep and rocky mountains, hopefully with stopovers at mountain-top temples. You might even get a hot bath. I've done a couple of hikes here, replete with crude wooden ladders and walkways scaling otherwise impassable rock formations. Climbing up to the temple at Sanjo-ga-dake mountain is a good start. On south down the ridge of the range there is lot of rugged up and down, a couple of shelters and a good mountaineering hut (yama-goya) that can be located on hiking maps. The buses from Gojo to Hongu meander through this area, passing several trailheads along the way; see Getting There.

Getting there:

It is two hours on the special express (tokkyu) train from Tenno-ji station in southern Osaka to Tanabe. From there the JR bus takes two and a half hours to Hongu (or the hot-springs), and there are only 5 buses a day, but probably more in summer. From Hongu to Shingu is only one hour by bus (5 or 6 a day), and the train all the way around from Shingu to Tanabe is under two hours. Buses south from Nara Prefecture down to Hongu leave from Gojo railway station. Don't expect to do it all on one bus. Gojo is somewhat south of Nara and is reached via JR rail lines heading south from Nara or east from Osaka to Ogi, then south via Yoshino-Guchi to Gojo. Segments of the Kintetsu Kashiwara Line also pass south from Kashiwara Jingumae, via Yoshino-Guchi to Gojo.

For those on longer adventures, there is a Nippon Kosoku Kisen ferry that sails every second day from Tokyo to Kochi city in southern Shikoku Island, stopping only at Nachi-Katsuura, near Shingu. It also takes autos.

Staying:

At Kawayu On-sen we stayed at the Kobuchi Minshuku, tel: (07354)(2)0104. It was reasonably priced and a newer building on the main street. There was one really fine-looking old wooden ryokan, the Sansui-Kan (tel. (2)1011), at the end of town that looked great, with its own outdoor bath on the grounds. That would probably be a richer experience. We only passed through Yunomine; it may have been a little more up-scale, but there will be various lodgings there as well.

If you're staying at the hot-springs, there's no reason to stay in Hongu. It's a real town, but not all that big. There will be several inns and maybe a hotel there.

There are a few lodgings at Nachi-Katsura, and see the notes above about a hot spring inn right on the sea near the turnoff to Nachi Falls.

If you're traveling by car, you can stop and explore any of the fishing towns along the coast. You're sure to find small inns in many of them, and if you find a place that suits your fancy, just put up for the night.

Ise and the Ise Peninsula   

Ise Jingu   

Ise Jingu, The Grand Shrine of Ise ('ee-say'), is the most sacred and venerated Shinto shrine in Japan, housing the sacred mirror passed down from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-mikami, to her earthly children. Ise is near the end of the Ise Peninsula, an eastern extension of the Kii Peninsula.

For the casual tourist, there are more exciting places to visit, but if you live in Japan or are interested in its culture, you should probably make your own pilgrimage to Ise at some time or another. You can combine a trip to Ise with visits to nearby Toba, or continue on to the various sights of the Kii Peninsula; see above.

While only two hours from Nagoya city, Ise is in a fairly quiet rural area near the coast and can be a relaxing place to visit in beautiful surroundings. There are actually two large shrine compounds, six kilometers apart, each full of dozens of shrines and other buildings amid acres of solemn and ancient cryptomeria forest. Although somewhat off of the main routes, Ise is naturally a popular destination of pilgrims and other tourists, and can get pretty crowded on holidays.

The grounds at Ise are huge, and can take several hours to walk around and enjoy at leisure. The Outer (Lesser) Shine grounds are within a ten minute walk of the Ise railway station, but the Inner (Main) Shrine compound is a ten minute bus ride from either the station or from the Outer Shine.

If you take the time to visit both, it can take up most of a day. If you are only passing through for a few hours, head to the Inner Shrine grounds (Naiku) and spend your time there; they are somewhat similar. If you are spending some time in the area, it is worthwhile staying over in Ise so you can enjoy the pleasant atmosphere of the shrines in the quieter early morning and early evening hours, especially on a week-day or in the low season.

You may be disappointed to find that, like several other sacred Shinto shrines, you are not allowed to enter the inner grounds of the Grand Shrine itself (Kotai-jingu); you can only view the top half of the buildings over their surrounding walls. Actually, the most interesting aspects of the shrine buildings are their traditional thatched roof structures. Ise shrines are built in the most purely traditional Shinmei style, with all straight lines and large cross-pieces (chigi) extending above the roof. "Balanced" on the roof ridge are several rounded logs called katsuo-gi. The Grand Shrine has ten of these and the Outer Shine has nine, while other shrines in the country using this traditional architectural style have only three, five, or seven.

History:

The Grand Shrine is reputed to have been originally built in 4 BC, by the counting of the ancient chronicles. Modern historians add several hundred years to these dates, but it was certainly long before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. In any case, it is certainly one of the first major shrines, built to honor the spirit of the Sun Goddess, the heavenly origin of the Japanese race, and to house her sacred mirror, which until that time was kept in shrines at the emperors' courts. The site at Ise was chosen for its serenity, and also because it was the home of some of the earliest Yamato Clans.

The sacred mirror (Yata-no-Kagami) was passed down from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-mikami, to her earthly children, via her grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto. In fact, she passed him the three sacred objects of Shinto, which include this mirror, the sacred sword (Ame-no-murakumo-no-Tsurugi, also called the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi or 'grass-cutting-sword'), which is kept at Atsuta Shrine just outside of Nagoya, and the sacred jewel, called Yasakani-no-Magatama which is kept at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. No one can actually view these objects, as they are kept in the "Holy-of-Holies", in the inner sanctum (Honden) of the shrines.

The Outer Shrine (Geku) at Ise was built some four to five hundred years later, as the shrine to Toyouke-o-mikami, the goddess of foodstuffs, clothing, and houses, reputedly at the special request of the Sun Goddess herself.

Both the Grand Shrine (Naiku, or Inner Shrine) and the Outer Shrine, as well as fourteen other buildings and some of the wooden bridges have been rebuilt from the ground up every twenty years over the centuries. You may imagine that much dilution and modification of the traditional designs may have crept in over the centuries, but this has been successfully guarded against. Next to each shrine compound is its companion, or alternate compound where the new shrine is constructed -- in exactly identical detail -- before the old one is torn down.

Construction is made without the use of nails or tiles, and the wood is mostly raw cedar and Japanese cypress (cryptomeria or sugi); no paint, no varnish, no metal, no whitewash. I was at the Grand Shrine just after its rebuilding in 1973, and was able to get (sneak) in to the old compound and walk around (and into!) the old shrine as it was beginning to be torn down. The last reconstruction was in 1993.

To see:

At the entrance to the Grand Shrine area, you cross the large and stately arched wooden Uji Bridge across the Isuzu River. My literature says that the bridge is reconstructed (every twenty years) on a different schedule, and the last would have been in 1989. Pick up an English brochure at one of the several shrine shops, and just wander around the grounds visiting the many shrines and other buildings.

Every shrine in Japan has a water purification basin outside, where all visitors (yes, you too) cleanse their hands and mouths before entering. At Ise, the Water Purification Grounds are the shores of the Isuzu River. There is a stable for the sacred horses, which are led in procession three times a month to the main sanctuary. In addition to the numerous shrines, there is also a sacred kitchen, a sacred sake warehouse and brewery, rice warehouse, the Hall of the Ritual Dances, a museum, and several administrative buildings in traditional architecture. There are also sacred rice fields, and a pond. The Outer Shrine grounds are almost as large, and have not quite as many auxiliary buildings, but the atmosphere here is just as nice among the trees.

As the most sacred shrine, there are a lot of ceremonies held here, including twice-daily offering processions, and you might just see a procession or two. You are, in any case, sure to see numerous Shinto priests and miko, unmarried girls who perform ceremonial functions as well as more mundane duties around larger shrines throughout the country. Ise is unique in also having a High Priestess, who was traditionally an imperial princess.

All in all, Ise Jingu is Shinto's 'Vatican', the repository and embodiment of the ancient Shinto religion and its traditions. During centuries of Buddhist political dominance, the fundamentals of true Shinto tradition and faith were kept pure and alive here, and at a few other sacred Shinto shrines. It's a good place to get a real feeling for those traditions, away from the hubbub of the cities. Yes, it does get crowded with visitors, and there are a few curio shops, but all tourists become pilgrims when they come to Ise, and everyone seems to take on an extra bit of reverence.

Getting there:

Both Kintetsu and JR rail lines come down from Nagoya (), via Matsuzaka city (), in a little over two hours, a little faster if you find a direct express train. From Osaka, you can take the JR line to Sakurai, then change to the Kintetsu line to Ise in about 3.5 hours. From Kyoto, take the JR Kusatsu line to the Kansai Main line, and change at Kameyama to Ise in under 3 hours. The station is Ise-shi (Ise City). The train continues to Toba, where you can visit the Mikimoto pearl island and pearl museum, and go down to Futami-ga-ura beach to see the "Wedded Rocks", two offshore rocks joined by a huge straw rope. Farther on is picturesque Ago Bay at the tip of the Ise Peninsula. From Ise you can take the JR line down to Owase, Kumano, Shingu, and around the Kii Peninsula back toward Osaka.

Staying:

The town of Ise is good sized and ready to put up plenty of pilgrims. It can get cramped on holidays, but at other times, just ask at the lodging referral office near the station. I spent the night there on one visit, but it was New Years and we stayed up all night watching processions.

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