On the road through Kansai

By Dennis Kawaharada
Special to The Advertiser

Hongu Shrine, "Original Shrine," on Route 168, embodies the simplicity, purity and natural harmony of the original Shinto architecture before continental influences introduced images and bright red paint. Photos by Dennis Kawaharada • Special to The Advertiser

Hashigue Iwa (rock columns) looks like long-forgotten posts from a giant bridge, on the way to Kushimoto.

Minerals in the hot springs at Kawayu are said to aid those with nervous disorders and internal diseases.

I wanted to visit some of these places, particularly sites famous for their scenic beauty and sacred sites associated with Shinto, Japan's still-active native religion. Such shrines are often surrounded by areas of natural beauty.

It seemed the best way to go was by car. Friends warned me about the challenges of driving in Japan (you drive on the left, and many signs are only in kanji characters); but the Lonely Planet guide assured me that "Driving in Japan is quite feasible, even for the just mildly adventurous."

The key is to choose your route carefully: All the major routes have spelled-out signs. However, stay out of the central cities where the roads can be very narrow and confusing.

I chose two routes, one that went east from Nara to Ise, then down to Kumano and Shingu, toward the southernmost tip of Honshu; the other went north from Kyoto to the northern end of the prefecture and the eastern end of the San-in Coast National Park on the Sea of Japan.

At Kansai International Airport, we caught a bus to Nara, where our car travel would begin. Feeling a little anxious about driving, I wanted to avoid the complex roadways around the airport and Osaka, and at the same time, check out road signs, layouts and toll booths from the safety of public transportation.

We spent a morning walking around Nara's Deer Park and viewing the 53-foot-high bronze Buddha at Todaiji, consecrated in A.D. 752, a couple of hundred years after Buddhism was introduced from China via Korea.

That afternoon, we headed east to Ise on Route 25 and the Ise Expressway. Once on these roads, the driving was fairly easy; the expressway was uncrowded, perhaps because of the tolls, which amounted to $16 for 43 miles.

Ise is the location of Shinto's most sacred site: Jingu, or Grand Shrine, established 2,000 years ago for Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess (kami), who heads the Shinto pantheon and from whom the emperor's family traces its genealogy. The ceremonies for Amaterasu (20 major ones per year) mirror the seasonal cycle of planting and harvesting rice. The prayers are for good weather, rains and a bountiful harvest.

Wedded Rocks

Before entering the grounds of the Inner Shrine, we washed our hands and rinsed our mouths at a stone water basin; there is also a place for ritual purification on the banks of the Isuzu River that runs past the shrine. Cleanliness and purity, inner and outer, is at the heart of Shinto. The immaculately-kept gravel pathways shaded by hinoki (Japanese cypress) led to wooden buildings associated with keeping Amaterasu happy and content — a house for food preparation and a house of sacred music and dance. Other structures enshrine deities associated with her, such as the kami of wind and weather.

Amaterasu lives in a house which can be approached, but not entered, by ordinary visitors. Worshippers stop at a gate to pay their respects or offer prayers. The gate had a white cloth hanging in front of it. The morning breeze lifted the cloth to reveal another gate.

The shrine of Amaterasu is behind four gates, its high crossbeams holding a central roof beam visible above a fence. Built on pillars of hinoki and thatched with kaya grass, the unpainted dwelling looks like a well-kept cottage rather than a palace. To keep it fresh, the shrine is rebuilt every 20 years in its original form.

After a quiet, reverential walk to the inner shrine, we decided to stop for lunch at Oharai-machi, a reconstructed Edo-style street lined with shops and restaurants just outside of the main torii gate. The lobster udon was excellent, and we bought from one of the shops a bottle of sake made with the waters of the Isuzu River.

Before leaving the Ise area, we took a short drive to Futami to see Meoto Iwa ("Wedded Rocks"), two rocks separated by water at high tide, but joined by a thick rope braided from ricestalk. These famous rocks are just offshore from a frog shrine dedicated to a kami of food. The rocks are named Izanagi and Izanami after the brother and sister who descended from Heaven and gave birth to the islands of Japan.

Land of Night

Ise was once the departure point for pilgrimages to Kumano San Zan, the three Great Shrines of Kumano ("Bear Wilds"), 90 miles to the south on the Kii Peninsula. Each shrine is dedicated to one of three major kami: Izanagi, Izanami, and Susano-o-no-Mikoto, the storm god, who like his sister Amaterasu, sprang from the eyes of Izanagi after the death of his sister Izanami.

We took Route 42, which winds through mountainous terrain down to the sea, then straightens out for 12 miles along Shichiri-mihama (the longest beach in Japan) before arriving at Shingu, at the mouth of the Kumano River.

The watershed of the Kumano is in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park, a region of mountains, rivers, waterfalls, gorges, hot springs and hiking trails. Some of the trails are stone-paved remnants of rugged mountain trails followed by pilgrims 10 centuries ago. In addition to the three great shrines, the area is known for its mysteriously-shaped rocks, which, like Meoto Iwa, are worshiped as spiritually alive and inhabited by kami.

At the north end of Shichiri-mihama is Onigajyo, or Ogre's Castle, an eroded volcanic headland full of caves and crevices, with a trail on its ocean front along a cliff. A little south, on the beach, is Shishi Iwa, a large rock shaped like a crouching, roaring lion. Just past Shishi Iwa near the side of the road is Hana no Iwaya, a 150-foot-high monolith, which marks Izanami's grave. Ropes suspended from the top are used in rites held to honor this kami who rules the Land of Night (the Shinto Afterworld).

At Shingu ("New Shrine"), nestled in a grove of trees along the Kumano river, is Hayatama Shrine, dedicated to Izanagi. More humble, but just as interesting, was a local shrine called Kamikura, on a cliff overlooking the city. At the top of a couple of steep stone staircases is a huge cylindrical rock called Gotobiki. Locals climb the stairs for exercise and prayer in the morning.

We spent three days touring the Kumano area. Up a mountain road a few miles south of Shingu is Nachi Shrine, founded in the fourth century and dedicated to Izanami. This shrine is near the largest waterfall in Japan — the 400-feet high, 43-feet wide Nachi no Taki.

At an izakaya (drink and food bar), a friendly patron recommended we go down to Kushimoto. "Sugoi!" he exclaimed ("Awesome!") We took his advice and drove there the next day. On the way, we passed Hashigui Iwa ("Bridge Post Rocks"), a impressive row of rock columns jutting up near shore like the remnants of a giant bridge.

Just south of Kushimoto is Shiono Cape, the southernmost point of Honshu, from which you get a spectacular view up the east and west coasts of the Kii Peninsula and ships entering and exiting Osaka Bay.

At this relatively warm southern site, the cherry blossoms were starting to open, a week before they did up north in Kyoto.

Steaming hot springs

The next day, we left Shingu and headed up Route 168 to Hongu ("Original Shrine") to visit the third Kumano shrine. On the way we stopped at Shiko and rode a jet boat to Doro Gorge, cut into forested slate and sandstone hills by a tributary of the Kumano River. The long, narrow flat-bottom boat skimmed up gentle rapids in the shallow, meandering riverbed to a scenic spot in the gorge. Along the way, we saw cranes, cormorants and hawks fishing the river.

Hongu Shrine, dedicated to Susano-o-no-Mikoto, is the most traditionally constructed of the three Kumano shrines, roofed with cedar bark and unpainted. It embodies the simplicity, purity and natural harmony of the original Shinto architecture before continental influences introduced images and bright red paint.

Nearby, we stayed at Fuchiya Ryokan in Kawayu ("Hot-water River"), a small hot-spring village. We arrived on a chilly March afternoon, ideal for soaking in a naturally heated pool of river water dug into the stone-and-pebble bank. The rising steam gave the river a feeling of mystery as evening fell. Like the mineral waters of numerous other hot springs in the mountains and along the coasts of the southern Kii Peninsula, Kawayu is said to have medicinal qualities, curative of nervous disorders and internal diseases.

The next morning, we continued on to Nara via Routes 168 and 24. On the map, Route 168 looks like a squiggly line drawn by a child. It has countless curves, twisting along deep river valleys and through one-lane mountain villages. Construction work is ongoing to prevent rocks from falling onto the roadway and to widen and straighten the road with tunnels and bridges. It was slow going at times, but the scenery was grand: green rivers reflecting mountain forests, and ridges fading one behind another in the misty spring rain.

From Nara we took a train to Kyoto, having dropped off our car. After a day of sightseeing by bus, we rented another car and headed 70 miles north via routes 9 and 176 to Amanohashidate ("Bridge of Heaven"). This two-mile-long sand spit lined with pine trees stretches across a small bay at the eastern base of the Tango Peninsula. The sand spit is said to be the remnant of a collapsed bridge to heaven, and is famous as one of three most scenic spots in Japan.

You can walk or bicycle across the spit. On the sunny but chilly day when we were there, it was peaceful and relaxing, though I heard the area can get quite crowded. The best view is via chair lift or cable car to an amusement park at the top of a hill. If you bend over and look between your legs at it, the sand spit appears to be suspended in the sky.

The 50-mile drive around the Tango Peninsula was the prettiest route of the trip. The road runs through rice fields and small towns, then along the coast past islands and offshore rocks and fishing villages. Ine was particularly picturesque, with boats parked beneath the shoreline houses.

At Kyoga Cape — the northernmost point of Kyoto prefecture — a 40-minute hike up to and down from the lighthouse was a welcome stop along the winding road. We spotted wild monkeys foraging on the way to the parking lot and the view of the coast from the lighthouse was breathtaking.

That night we stayed in Kaya, a town southwest of Amanohashidate. Refre Kayanosato is a small hotel with modest rooms and an herb garden, healing herb spa, a good restaurant and a gift shop selling herbs and herbal teas. Across the street is a fledgling arts and crafts colony. This rice-farming town is also known for its dyed silk.

A five-minute drive north of the hotel takes you to the site of a pre-Buddhist burial mound, or kofun, dating from 1,600 years ago. These tumuli for the elite were encircled with clay cylinders called haniwa, which suggests a continental influence, probably from settlers from Korea. A well-kept museum displays haniwa and burial artifacts found at the site.

Offshore tranquility

To return to Kyoto, I chose Routes 178 and 27 east to Kaminaka, then after a passage through mountains, south down Route 161 along the western shore of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. These routes are heavily traveled by trucks and pass through some not particularly attractive small cities and towns. But I wanted to see Lake Biwa because it is mentioned so often in Japanese history and literature, and depicted in artwork, like the woodblock prints of 19th century artist Ando Hiroshige.

We stopped on Route 161 near an offshore torii gate and gazed across the glassy lake to the distant shore, which seemed to float, then disappear in a mist.

Such scenes made the stress and challenge of driving in a foreign environment worth it. It took Internet research to select routes and stops. It was fairly easy to find our way between destinations, as the main roads have signs in both kanji and romaji (western alphabet), as well as route-number signs. The GPS navigation system in the rental cars displayed a map with route numbers and helped to confirm we were on the right roads.

All in all, I was glad we traveled by car, not tied to the schedule of tour buses or trains. We were able to get to off-the-beaten-track sites and to experience a Japan not frequented by foreigners. The temples and cherry blossoms of Kyoto, where we spent the last three days, were beautiful to behold, but just as impressive were the mountains and awe-inspiring rock formations of Kumano and Tango. The sakura spoke of the passing spring; the rocks of the enduring spirit of the land.

Dennis Kawaharada is dean of University College at Honolulu Community College. This was his third trip to Japan.

Shinto shrines with scenery along back roads of Kansai

Getting there: Our Panda Travel package was priced at $655 for a single round-trip airfare and three nights at the New Miyako Hotel in Kyoto, conveniently located across the street from Kyoto Station. Panda arranged other hotels and the rental cars for our 13-day stay.

If you drive: You can visit most of these sites by train or bus, but it would take longer. If you drive, you need to obtain an international driving permit before arrival ($5 at the AAA office on Nimitz Highway). Car rental was $58 per day for a subcompact, plus $10 per day for optional insurance. Gas was about $3.80 a gallon and expressway tolls about 25 cents for just over a half-mile. Maps of towns and prefectures in Kansai are available on the Internet. Bilingual books of maps are published by Kodansha. But the most detailed road maps we got free or for a nominal fee in Japan, from the rental car or tourist offices. (It helps to be able to recognize some kanji, as the best maps are only in Japanese.)

Lodging: Hotel rooms with private baths cost at least $80 to $100 a night. Anything less means you will probably be sharing a bathroom. Japanese-style inns, or ryokan, especially those around hot springs, are generally more expensive, from $200 and up. Fuchiya Ryokan in Kawayu was $300 a night for two, with a breakfast and a dinner of local delicacies served in your room and use of two private hot-spring baths, one indoors and one outdoors but enclosed. The service is excellent. The staffs at Fuchiya and Refre Kayanosato ($150 a night, double occupancy) sent hand-translated maps when I requested directions via e-mail.