Hiking the Kumano Kodo: Itinerary, Tips & Guide to Japan's Ancient Pilgrimage Trail
- tgandco2
- Dec 26, 2025
- 9 min read
Updated: Dec 28, 2025
As I mentioned in my overview post of our trip to India and Japan, Teresa and I had originally planned a five-week vacation in Japan. Since it was our third trip to Japan, we were determined to explore new parts of the country.
Teresa and I had previously completed the French route of the Camino de Santiago, a gruelling 33-day adventure that involves walking 25 km a day, managing all the logistics, and sometimes carrying all your belongings. The Camino de Santiago and Kumano Kodo are both ancient, UNESCO-listed pilgrimage routes that have been "twinned" for the "Dual Pilgrim" program. The Camino de Santiago is a Christian pilgrimage in Spain, while the Kumano Kodo is a Shinto-Buddhist pilgrimage in Japan. Completing both allows you to receive a Dual Pilgrim certificate, which involves walking one of the designated paths on each trail and getting your credentials stamped. This seemed like the perfect adventure to add to our Japan trip, and as a bonus, we would become dual pilgrims and get another certificate!
Given the logistics involved in planning the trek, you really need to use a tour company to book everything required. Although we planned to hike on our own, the accommodations are very limited, and meals need to be planned along with luggage transport. The first organization I found, and the one I ended up using, was Kumano Travel. This is the official reservation system managed by the Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau, providing a way to book lodging, luggage transfers, and other services, and offers model itineraries for self-guided trips. Kumano Travel is a community-based organization, not a large international tour company. As such, I found their website cumbersome at times and the booking process not always easy, but in the end, we were very happy with the self-guided tour and all the logistics they provided. At the end of this blog, I will list some of the services we used and accommodations, along with some tips if you are planning to hike this amazing trail.
The Kumano Kodo is a network of ancient pilgrimage trails in Japan's Kii Peninsula that connects three grand shrines: Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004, these routes have been used for over a thousand years and are known for their beautiful mountain scenery and cultural significance. The most popular route, the Nakahechi trail, can be completed in 4-5 days. We chose a 6-day self-guided itinerary that passed both the Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha shrines. We took a train on our last day to see the Kumano Hayatama Taisha shrine.
Although the Camino de Santiago and the Kumano Kodo have been "twinned" as UNESCO-listed pilgrimages, they are quite different. The Camino de Santiago is a 33+ day trek across Spain, where, particularly on the French route, there is a great deal of infrastructure. You are constantly entering and leaving small Spanish towns and villages where there are restaurants, cafes, and places to stay. Although there is some mountain hiking, particularly in the beginning, the majority of the pilgrimage involves hiking with some undulating ups and downs. The Kumano Kodo, on the other hand, is mountain hiking. The elevation gain over the 4 days is approximately 4200 meters. This elevation gain is actually greater than the Inca Trail. However, the significant challenge with the Inca Trail is that you start at over 3000 meters, which makes the hiking much more difficult. When hiking the Kumano Kodo, you are in the mountains for all the days of the hike. You are not passing small villages with cafes where you can stop and have a cappuccino and a pastry. When you leave in the morning, you are given a bento box, which is your lunch. You won't pass anywhere to stop or eat until you reach that day's destination.
Hiking in Japan is unique. Unlike other places, there are no switchbacks up the mountains; you hike straight up. On the days when we were hiking up over 1,000 meters, it felt like we were just hiking (struggling) up the whole day. It was never-ending. Of course, there were many "false summits," meaning it looked like you had reached the top, but no, you were not even close.
I won't give you a day-by-day detail of our hike. You can see the itinerary we chose here. I will say, however, Day 3 is the killer day of the hike (there is always at least one killer day on every multi-day hike). It is very difficult, long, and you end up arriving at your destination late in the evening. The good news is that the accommodations on the Kumano Kodo are spectacular. Unlike the Camino, where we stayed primarily in albergues (hostels), in Japan you stay in beautiful Japanese inns and ryokans, which have great food and most have onsens. Believe me when I say, after mountain hiking for 10-12 hours, it is very (very, very) nice to experience the relaxing hot waters of an onsen.
It is probably worth stopping here for a few words about onsens. First, they are amazing, and you cannot go to Japan without experiencing an onsen. Yes, you are in the onsen naked. No, you cannot wear a swimsuit. No one will be looking at you or care. You enter the onsen changing room, get undressed, leaving your clothes in a locker or basket. You must shower before entering the onsen. You will either be given or will purchase a small white towel for showering and taking into the onsen. Do not let your towel get into the onsen water; it is for showering. Oh, I should have mentioned that, of course, the onsens are separated into men's and women's areas. Also, traditionally, onsens have not allowed individuals with tattoos to enter. The history of this revolves around tattoos historically being associated with the yakuza and other criminal organizations in Japan. This is changing, and many onsens are now completely tattoo-friendly, estimated at 30% of all onsens. Many other onsens will not have an issue if the tattoos are small and unlikely to offend or intimidate other bathers. Others may ask to have the tattoos covered with tape. I have two tattoos, Teresa has one, and we did not have any issues in any of the onsens we visited. I often joke that at 68 and being from Canada, it is unlikely that Teresa and I are going to be mistaken for being members of the yakuza. We brought tattoo tape with us, but never needed to use it. Again, if you travel to Japan, visit an onsen.
Our typical day on the hike involved waking up early, visiting the onsen and showering, having breakfast at the inn, picking up our bento box for lunch, leaving our luggage for transport, and beginning our hike. As mentioned, the next time you see any infrastructure is when you reach your destination. The scenery is spectacular, and you pass many small shrines as well as the two major shrines on the route we chose.
Outside of the incredible scenery, the amazing food, and the beautiful inns we stayed in, receiving our dual certificate was a highlight of the hike. As I have mentioned, you can only qualify for the dual pilgrim certificate if you have a Camino de Santiago certificate (we did) and have walked a qualifying portion of the Kumano Kodo (we did). One of the amazing things about Japan is how hospitable the people are. When Teresa and I went to apply for and receive our dual certificate, the people at the shrine were so excited that we had completed the requirements. They are genuinely excited for you. They applaud your accomplishment, take pride in awarding you the certificate, and take your photo to be posted on their website. The highlight of this process is participating in the drum ceremony. You are taken into a restricted area of the shrine and shown how to complete the drum ceremony. Your instructor makes sure your partner is ready to videotape the experience. It was so much fun. Something we will always remember.
On our last day, we took the train to Shingu so we could see the Kumano Hayatama Taisha Grand Shrine, the last of the three main temples. After that, it was on to Osaka, where our next adventure was to begin.
Any questions or comments, please contact me at thethirdperiod.ca@gmail.com.
Here are some related posts, both from this vacation and our 2020 trip to Japan:
Japan 2020
India and Japan - 2025
Here are some tips when you are preparing for the hike, and some of the services we used. I hope they help.
First, most important tip - BOOK EARLY!!! I can't emphasize this enough. The accommodations along the pilgrimage are very limited and very spaced out. So if a spot is not available at the logical resting point, then it will mess up your whole itinerary. Some of the larger international tour companies ask you to provide a range of starting and end dates for your hike so they can manage the accommodation availability. Because we had booked other activities and places in Japan, this was not possible for us, so it was good that we started early. I would suggest that if you are planning to hike the Kumano Kodo as part of your Japanese vacation, you book it first and then plan your other travel around the dates you finalize.
Utilize the luggage transport. In our case, this was not optional. Because we were travelling for 7 weeks, we had lots of luggage and could not carry it with us. However, this trail is very steep and carrying a day pack is more than enough.
Think through what you carry in your day pack. Remember, you will not have an opportunity to stop and buy anything. There will likely not be shelter of any kind. As a result, you need to be prepared with what is in your day pack. It gets colder at higher altitudes and later in the day, but it can be hot while hiking. It may rain, so you need rain gear and a rain cover for your day pack. You will need water and the bento box for lunch.
As mentioned above, we used Kumano Travel. They are the most local, community-based organization that arranges self-guided tours on the Kumano Kodo. Their website is clumsy, and there is no one to speak with; everything is online (they do have responsive email support), but we were very happy with our tour and the logistics.
Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau - A great site to visit to get info on the area and hike. Also, make sure you visit the office before you start hiking.
Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. The three main temples of the pilgrimage, you need to ensure you see all three. There are also lots of smaller, beautiful temples and shrines along the trail.
Hotel - Tanabe - Hotel Hanaya - this is a 1-2 star hotel, nothing special, but it is close to the train station where you will be arriving and has a great breakfast. It was a good place to start our adventure.
Hotel - Chikatsuyu-oji - Happiness Chikatsuyu - 4 stars - Calling this a hotel is really misleading. It is a large, multi-room house that you have all to yourself. It was amazing. They deliver dinner to your room, and you can totally relax after a long day of hiking. They don't have an onsen, but it is so relaxing in the house looking out over the gardens that you (almost) don't need it (but it would have been nice).
Hotel - Rujiya Ryokan - 4-5 stars - This is the most luxurious place we stayed. They had an amazing onsen, incredible rooms, laundry facilities, but the highlight was the food. We had a delicious multi-course dinner and breakfast. A spectacular place. The only issue was that we arrived late from a long day of hiking to find out the hotel was not in the town at the end of our walk. There were no taxis, and the bus to the hotel was no longer running, so we had to take an alternative bus and then walk for 30 minutes. This is definitely something that the tour info should have highlighted, as it was very confusing at the end of a long day.
Hotel - Koguchi - Takada Green Land - 1 star - When you stay in hotels for 5 nights, one has to be your least favourite. This was it. Tired and old, their onsen was closed, and you had to take a 30-minute shuttle ride to get to a public onsen (which we did). The food and service were very average.
Hotel - Onsen Minshuku - 2-3 stars - Nice hotel, small onsen, and good (not great) food.
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