Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in the Kii mountain range is a UNESCO world heritage site and on this list, are all the sites that are part of it. This route goes through Mie, Nara and Wakayama prefectures. The route is full of beautiful forest trails and going over and next to waterfalls. shrines, Temples, streams and rivers. This religious pilgrimage has both Shinto and Buddhism religions mixed together with temples of both religions. The Pilgrimage was added to UNESCO world heritage sites on 2004 but some spots were added to the list along the years.

Jison-in

This is a Buddhist Temple that is the start for Koyasan pilgrimage route. It is located near the Mount Koya.

Address:

832 Jisonin, Kudoyama-cho, Ito-gun 648-0151, Wakayama Prefecture

Website http://jison-in.org/

Kōyasan chōishi-michi

This is one of the paths along the pilgrimage routes, it is a 24-kilometer trail that is marked by stone markers, The path starts from the bottom of mount Koya and leads over to Danjo Garan

Route: http://eng.shukubo.net/upfile/stupa-route.pdf

Niukanshōfu Shrine

This is a Shinto shrine that is a part of the sites. It has been pat of Sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in the Kii mountain range from 2004.

Address: 835 Jisonin, Kudoyama-chō, Ito-gun, Wakayama-ken 648-0151

Website http://niujinja.sakura.ne.jp/index.html

Niutsuhime Shrine

This is another Shinto shrine that is part of the Heritage sites.

Address:

230 Kamitenno, Katsuragi-cho, Ito-gun 649-7141, Wakayama Prefecture

Website: http://www.niutsuhime.or.jp/history.html

Fudarakusan-ji

This is another Buddhist Temple that is part of the list. It is said that the Temple was founded by a Buddhist monk from India around 4th century.

Address:

Hamanomiya, Nachikatsura-cho, Higashimuro-gun 649-5314, Wakayama Prefecture

Website: http://www.niutsuhime.or.jp/

Ōminesan-ji

This is a Temple of the Shugendo religion. Shugendo is a shaman kind of religion that mixes Buddhism and Shintoism with shamanistic believes like mountain worshipping. The Temple is considered sacred and the sactuary at the peak of the mountain the Temple resides at it is forbidden for women to enter. There is a mountain near by that the sacred area has been opened up for women as well.

Address:

638-0431 Nara Prefecture, Yoshino District, Tenkawa, Dorogawa