The Imperial Family and nobles made the pilgrimage to Kumano by ship on the Kumano-gawa River after visiting Hongu Taisha Shrine. However, commoners crossed to Mie Prefecture by ferryboat from the Yoji-nowatashi Ferry and walked along the cliffs of the east bank of the Kumano-gawa River up to Otomono-watashi Ferry. The ancient trail must have been blessed with splendid scenery of the valley and views of stunning waterfalls, very different from the mountain path and coastline which remain today.
However the names of these places remind us of the perilous trail;“Denji-gaeri”which means “Messengers of the Emperor turned back.”and“Bikunikorobi” meaning“A Buddhist nun fell.”. With the development of the Obune-kiho-sen Prefectural Road, almost all of the trail was lost except for some parts made by cutting the cliff. Recently part of the trail was restored and hikers can enjoy walking there. (The roundtrip from Shingu to Yoji takes one hour by car.)
