Kumano Kodo Half Day Daimonzaka and Nachi Taisha Tour

※If you choose the From Shin-Osaka Station Plan. ※Please note that the assistant will not board the JR train with you. Your guide will be waiting for you at Kii Katsuura station.

Tour departure from Kii-Katsuura station (Meet to guide) Visit Daimon Zaka by local bus./

Daimon-zaka is an impressive cobblestone staircase slope which runs from the base of the valley to Kumano Nachi Taisha, Seiganto-ji Temple and Nachi waterfall. It is lined with centuries-old Japanese cedars (cryptomeria), cypress, camphor trees and bamboo groves. Daimon-zaka means “large gate slope” referring to a gate that once stood nearby. This is an excellent short walk on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route.

Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Shinto shrine located halfway up Nachi Mountain, about 350 meters above sea level. It has its religious origin in the ancient nature worship of Nachi-no-Otaki. This grand shrine is part of the Kumano Sanzan and major pilgrimage destination.

Seiganto-ji (青岸渡寺), Temple of Crossing the Blue Shore, is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2004, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other locations, under the name "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". According to a legend, it was founded by the priest Ragyō Shōnin, a monk from India. The temple was purposely built near Nachi Falls, where it may have previously been a site of nature worship. Seiganto-ji is part of the Kumano Sanzan shrine complex, and as such can be considered one of the few jingū-ji (shrine temples, see article Shinbutsu shūgō) still in existence after the forcible separation of Shinto and Buddhism operated by the Japanese government during the Meiji restoration.[1][2]

The actual stone staircase is about 600 meters long with 267 stairs. At the base of the slope is the impressive Meitosugi – “husband and wife cedar trees,” whose roots are entwined beneath the path. Close by is the Daimon-zaka-chaya where you can rent Heian period kimonos, great for some memorial photos. Near the top of the slope you can catch your first glimpse of the awe-inspiring Nachi falls.