"The sacred sites and the pilgrimage routes in the Kii Mountain Range (including Kumano Kodo)", is designated as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2004.
We visit Kumano Sanzan; the three main shrines of "Kumano Nachi Taisha," "Kumano Hayatama Taisha" and "Kumano Hongu Taisha."
Furthermore we visit Nachi waterfall.
at your hotel ( in Osaka )
Kumano Nachi Taisha is about 500 meters above sea level and you climb 467 stone steps to pass through the first and the second Torii Gate.
Nachi Waterfall (Nachi-no-Otaki) is the greatest waterfall in japan with a height of 133 meters, a width of 13 meters, and a depth of 10 meters in the water basin. Nachi Waterfall is one of the three famous waterfalls in Japan and also called "Ichi-no-Taki."
Kumano Hongu Taisha was situated on the sandbank of Kumano River known as Oyunohara. In front of Torii gate and Shrine you see flags with Three-legged crows called Yatagarasu. It has four shrine halls
The 4th main hall is dedicated to Izanagi(-no-mikoto) who is a male god and a husband of Izanami.
at your hotel ( in Osaka )
"The sacred sites and the pilgrimage routes in the Kii Mountain Range, including Kumano Kodo," is designated as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2004. Kumano Kodo, the ancient path, is a generic term of pilgrimage routes leading to "Kumano Sanzan," or the three main shrines of "Kumano Nachi Taisha," "Kumano Hayatama Taisha" and "Kumano Hongu Taisha." People from all levels of society including retired emperors and aristocrats came to pray for the marvels of nature in the Kumano sanctuary from Kyoto and Osaka, and it was described as "ant processions." There are over 3,000 Kumano Shrines across the country and the Kumano Sanzan is foremost among these shrines.
First I would like to take you to Nachi Waterfall (Nachi-no-Otaki). The waterfall is the greatest waterfall with a height of 133 meters, a width of 13 meters, and a depth of 10 meters in the water basin. Kumano represents a place deep in the mountain ranges and has been believed as abode of gods, especially Nachi Waterfall as the sacred body of the deity has been respected and worshipped.
Kumano Nachi Taisha is covered with a thick wooded mountain. It is Nachi Primeval Forest, and all the mountain is designated as a national treasure with a plenty of rare trees and plants.
Seigantoji, located next to Kumano Nachi Taisha, is the first temple of Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. The main hall is built in the hip gable roof style and faces south and east. The view of three-story pagoda and Nachi Waterfall from the foot of the temple is a must-see.
Kmano Hayatama Taisha has the greatest podocarpus nagi which is 20 meters high and 1,000 years old. The original shrine of Kumano Hayatama Taisha is Kamikura Shrine which is located nearly 100 meters up a precipitous cliff of the Gongenyama mountains.
Four deities are enshrined at Kami-yon-sha in Kumano Hongu Taisha while Naka-yon-sha and shimo-yon-sha have been still enshrined together at the small stone shrine in Oyunohara, where the greatest shrine gate with a height of 34 meters and a width of 42 meters stands. Three-legged crow called "Yatagarasu", the symbol mark of Japan Football Association, is printed on the flag in front of the main shrine and is carved on the top of the Oyunohara shrine gate. The crow is believed to be the divine messenger of Kumano.
Thank you.
guide fee
transportation fee (you and guide), lunch
I guide you Sapporo, Furano, Otaru, Hakodate in Hokkaido / Aomori in Hokuriku / Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Kagoshima in Kyushu / Kochi, Matsuyama in Shikoku / Tottori, Shimane, Kanazawa, Sakaiminato in Japan Sea side. Please get in touch with me!!
Thank you.
I'd like to show you two plans.
One (A) is we use JR train and sightseeing bus.
The other (B) is we use JR train and a private taxi.
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(A) JR train and sightseeing bus
7:30 Osaka station
12:00 Shingu station
We visit Kumano Hayatama Taisha (20min), Naci Waterfall (25 min)
Nachi Taisha andSeigantoji (60min) by sightseeing bus
15:50 Kii_Katsuura station
21:00 Osaka station
※we don't visit Kumano Hongu Taisha
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(B) JR train and private taxi
7:30 Osaka station
11:40 Kii_Katsuura station
We use private car (taxi or bus) to visit Kumano Hayatama Taisha (20min), Naci Waterfall (20 min)
Nachi Taisha and Seigantoji (50min), and Kumano Hongu Taisha (50 min).
17:44 Shingu station
22:00 Osaka station
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I'll show you the costs.
(A) plan : about 15,000yen per person.
The details are transportation fee -- about 20,000yen per person and the bus fee 3,200yen per person.
(B) plan : 15,000yen per person plus taxi fee.
The details are transportation fee -- about 20,000yen per person.
The private taxi fee depends on the number of people.
If you are less than 3 people, the cost will be about 32,000yen.
If you are 3 to 8 people, the cost will be about 46,000yen.
If you are more than 8 people, please ask me.
Thank you.
If you stay in Osaka, we go to Nachikatsuura half a day, using JR (Japan Railways). Transportation fee one way from Osaka to Nichikatsuura is about 7,200 yen per person. And we use a public sightseeing bus and the fee is 2,850yen per person except Kumano Hongu Taisha. Entrance fee is free.
If you visit Kumano Sanzan, all the three shrines, I would recommend you stay in Katsuura Onsen. One day you can visit Kumano Sanzan using a public sghtseeing bus. The transportation fee is 8,500 yen per person. Another day you can enjoy cruising Kii Matsushima, including whale and dolphin show at Kujirahama Park. The price is 1,650 yen per person.
We finalize our tour in Japan visiting Kobe with Mr. Hideo, who was very knowledgeable about that destination since he lived there for many years. Thanks for showing up the top spots and helping us finding after the tour the Pokémon toys for our grandchildren. Arigato Gosaimas.
Hello Alfonso I'm very happy to receive your message. I'm sure you enjoyed Kitano Ijinkan including Weather cock house, and sake tasting. I hope you come back to Japan again. Thank you, very much.
HIDEYOSHI is highly organized and timely. On the first day that we met him, he provided us with a daily time table of the planned itinerary as well as the expected transportation / food / admission costs. This was useful to get an idea of how much cash to have on hand each day. His English is quite good and he gave us valuable historical background on many Kyoto and Nara sites that we visited, which made us appreciate everything with a different perspective. We visited most of the famous sites as well as some off the beaten path locations. We ate tasty matcha tofu udon, kaiseki, yudofu, yuba, amazake, wagashi, daifuku, matcha and matcha sweets. We browsed around Nishiki market, the Nara shotengai, the Kiyomizu shops and slopes (be careful not to slip or lose either 3,2,1 years of your life - another fun fact we learned). We covered enormous ground in our couple of days, with tons of walking--definitely 10,000+ if not 20,000+ steps daily. HIDEYOSHI has no problem walking this much with you. It was a pleasure to walk the entire Philosopher's Path after seeing Ginkakuji. Of course in circumstances where it made more sense to take transportation we certainly did (bus, taxi, subway, Randen). Thank you HIDEYOSHI. We learned a lot.
Hi Kyle, I'm very happy to receive your message. I hope you enjoyed Kyoto tour. You liked matcha very much, especially sprinkled green tea that we had on Sannenzaka slope was the most delicious I've ever had. We walked on the philosopher's Path between Ginkakuji and Nanzenji. Next time I strongly recommend you visit Kyoto in Spring. I'm sure you can enjoy cherry blossom viewing on Philosopher's Path. Please imagine the looks that cherry blossom petals are floating on the Lake Biwa Canal. I live in Osaka, so when you visit Japan next time, I'd like to show you Osaka, different from Kyoto. Osaka is very interesting and unique city. I look forward to seeing you again. Thank you, Kyle.
We had an excellent day with HIDEo YOSHIda. From our wishes he planned a tour, took us around town and showed us different sights of Kyoto. He is very knowledgable in many different areas so we learned a lot about Japanese culture and history. We can warmly recommend a day with HIDEo YOSHIda.
Hello Brian. I'm very glad to receive your good review. Today we visited Japanese gardens such as moss garden in Saihoji, Sogenchi garden in Tenryuji and Ninomaru garden in Nijo Castle. They gave us peaceful and fresh atmosphere. I'm going to do my best on guide for many years to come. Thank you. Best HIDEo YOSHIda
He is so friendly and very knowledgeable about local history and japanese mythology. His itinerary was well preplanned. I would not have been able to explore all the places we did on my own. Thanks Hideo san!
Hello Pobparat I'm very happy to receive your message. Favored by good weather, we could enjoy visiting Kumano three Grand Shrines such as Kumano Nachi Taisha, Hongu Taisha, and Hayatama Taisha. Furthermore we watched Nachi Waterfalls with a height of 133 meters, the longest drop in Japan. I look forward to your activities and success in your life. Thank you, Tua.