Temples and Waterfalls: Wakayama Road Trip Part II

As I drove us out of Koya-san on March 20th, we went along even more exciting/treacherous roads. Unlike mountain passes in the US, large portions of these roads were built along the ridge-line of these mountains. I recall at one point driving on the single lane road with 70 degree slopes on either side of us. Throughout the drive there were some beautiful sights, We stopped along the way at a remote town for some snack food. We bought some baked sweet potatoes, which could very well become my next favorite snack.

The road ran along Totsukawa River, which was a strong jade color. We followed this striking river out towards the coast, still winding on narrow roads. Along the way we began to see massive construction projects building bigger roads, the kid in me had too much fun looking at them. The scale of the project was impressive, and the new roads completely ignored the geography, instead cutting through the valleys and mountains, suspended on pillars hundreds of feet in the air and burrowing through mountains for miles.

As we followed the river we arrived at Hongu Taisha shrine. This is one of the three Kumano shrines, and James bond fans will recognize it from the movie You Only Live Twice. This shrine is home to Japan’s God of War, and has two other shrines in the complex for his parents and daughter. They are the guardian deities of this region of Japan, representative of three famous mountain peaks. It was a bustling area, yet the crowd was very different from the main tourist sites in I have visited in Japan. It was mostly Japanese people, some were presumably locals, but there were quite a few biker gangs on the grounds. The weather was perfect for riding, so a following a pilgrimage route to shrines seems as good of a reason as any to take the bikes out. The shrine's 'mascot' is a black crow, which is a symbol of the regional gods. It is also the logo for the it's professional soccer team. They even had a black post office box with a crow, which apparently was quite a novel sight since there was a line to pose with it.

Japan's best taxi driver - unparalleled service

Down the hill in town, about 1km away, there is the biggest tori gate in Japan, and it is really ridiculous. Pictures don't accurately present the scale. The gate stands on the confluence of two major rivers. The area is called Oyu no Hara, and it was where the Hongu Taisha shrines used to be located until a flood in 1889. Now only the foundation remains, and even one hundred years later it is easy to see how the flood had changed the landscape. As we left we saw a taxi drive up on the walking path towards the gate. Baffled by this sight, we stopped to watch. We are still not entirely sure how the driver got the car onto the walking path in the first place. We spent our time joking about the situation. Clearly he must have been the best driver in Japan, for nothing could get between him and his destination.

Nearby we stopped at Yunomine Onsen, a remote onsen village and with the Tsuboyu bath - a designated world heritage site. The 'bath' is a small stone basin next to the river, which pilgrims bathed in long ago and were cured of various illnesses. Unfortunately the wait to bathe in this tiny bath was over three hours, so we hopped into the medical onsen right next door. It is probably sourced from the same water, without the myth and history of Tsuboyu.

After refreshing ourselves we drove towards the coastal city of Shingu. Within the nearby mountains is Japan's biggest waterfall Nachi no Taki, and the second of the three Kumano shrines, Nachi Taisha. This bustling religious complex resides on a steep hillside, sporting a great view of the waterfall, valley, and mountains. It contained both a Buddhist temple as well as a Shinto shrine side by side, a model presentation of the harmonious relationship of both religions in Japan.

A unique ritual within the grounds involved wandering under the roots and through an old tree with a wish on a stick. I appreciate that many of these shrines build in unique rituals for visitors, much like rock at the Tainai Meguri temple in Kyoto. The pagoda offers a stellar view of both the waterfall and the valley leading to the sea. The geography of this area is truly majestic.

After wandering around, we grabbed some much needed food in the area. Fun fact, egg and chicken rice bowls are called parent-child bowls in Japan, which is an amusing, abet a bit morbid, metaphor. I then stopped briefly at the waterfall. While viewing it from afar is impressive, seeing it up close gives a totally different sense of grandeur to the fall. After this quick detour we went back into Shingu.

Just off the main road through town sits the last of the three Kumano shrines, Hayatama Taisha. While it feels odd to have such a complex within the suburbs of the city, I have remind myself that this shrine has been for thousands of years, and the town has probably only recently expanded towards it. The shrine complex had a small armory on the grounds, which contained unusually elegant artifacts as well as some rather interesting ones, including an ancient boat! While the site itself is a fairly standard affair, it was notable on how tranquil and removed it was from its city surroundings in a completely unexpected way.

At this point we started our return trek to Osaka, a four hour drive away. Both the drive to Shingu and back were spectacular. The roads are fun, and the scenery is great. I keep going on about how much I enjoy the drives in Japan, and for good reason. I hope to one day be able return to Japan just to road trip around the country.




As we neared the sweet potato shop area, in the very middle of the mountains, we heard a clank. Stopping the car, we noticed that the muffler had snapped at a point, completely rusted through. Unfortunately the way it broke made the car impossible to drive without dragging metal across the road. So in the dark we sat looking to what to do.


I managed to flag down a Jeep, and thus began an interesting cultural experience. The young couple who stopped was unjustifiably friendly. While Maria's Japanese is amazing, the technical aspects of a car issue were somewhat difficult to convey over the phone. So the couple helped talk with the rental car company for us to explain the situation. The car is a long term rental, which is something many ALTs commonly use in Japan.

But since it was a Sunday night at 7:30pm, the insurance company was closed. I have noticed many things that Americans expect to have 24 hour access to, like ATMs, doctors, and (now) car insurance companies, only operate during standard business hours in Japan. The couple then offered to not only drive us to the nearby police station to inform the police about our stranded car, but also to drive us all the way to our hotel in Sakai two hours away. They said they lived in Sakai (the city our hotel was in) as well, which was a happy coincidence.

Unfortunately, the first two police boxes closed we passed were closed. Japan is an incredibly safe company, even more so in the rural areas, but I was still surprised. The second police box had the officer's cell phone number taped to the window to call in an emergency. And so we did. Over the phone he said it was fine to just leave the car and for us to keep the keys.

This whole situation had an odd contrast. The Japanese people who helped us through the whole process were incredibly gracious and nice. Yet the Japanese services were proving to be rather troublesome, creating this whole scenario in the first place. While this is a rather extreme example, it is representative of some cultural differences I have experienced in Japan. Specifically, how people I have interacted with go above and beyond out of consideration for others, a term called "omotenashi" in Japanese, as well as how beurocratic systems complicate many parts of life in Japan.  Thankfully the fomer picks up the slack for the latter, making the country a pleasant place to live.