Kumano Hongu Taisha

Kumano Hongu Taisha is one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, together with Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha. It stands in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture and is a major destination on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage network. The shrine was formerly located at Oyunohara, a riverine site at the meeting of several waterways.

Over centuries, Kumano developed as a sacred landscape in which Shinto nature worship, esoteric Buddhism and Shugendo interacted closely. From the late Heian period onward, emperors, retired emperors, aristocrats, warriors and commoners undertook difficult pilgrimages to the Kumano shrines, and the routes became famous for continuous streams of pilgrims.

A major flood in 1889 destroyed much of the old Oyunohara complex; surviving principal shrine buildings were transferred to the present hillside site. Kumano Hongu Taisha is a component of UNESCO’s Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Its religious history includes honji-suijaku interpretations that linked Kumano kami with Buddhist figures such as Amida; these are historical theological traditions rather than factual identifications. Visitors may worship at the current sanctuary and also walk to Oyunohara, marked today by a very large torii.