The city of Kumano is in the southern part of Mie Prefecture, with the Pacific Ocean to the southeast and the mountains to the northwest. Blessed with abundant nature, the city has numbers of spots to catch spectacular views of the sea and mountains, with the parts of “Yoshino-Kumano National Park” and the World Heritage Site “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”.
Citrus cultivation is thriving in the mild climate of Kumano, and the new fragrant citrus “Niihime” was found by chance, and are raised, produced, and products are made from them.
Kumano is also known for the only place mined in the world of rare “Nachiguroishi”, a black slate rock highly prized for its beauty and is also famous for the black stones for the traditional board game “Go”.
The “Kumano Kodo Iseji”, a part of the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”, is the “path of prayer” for the pilgrims, winding over several steep mountain pass that Japanese on pilgrimage traveled from Ise Jingu [Shrine] to the Kumano Sanzan. As the old proverb, “Seven times to Ise, three times to Kumano,” indicates, people in the past longed to visit these special places in their lifetime. Visitors today is still able to savor those traditional landscapes and their rich history and culture all along Iseji. Kumano is also home to many other sites of historical, cultural, natural, and aesthetic value, including the naturally-formed massive rock formations of “Onigajo” and “Shishi Iwa [The Lion Rock]”, which is also registered as World Heritage Sites, and Hananoiwaya Jinja [Shrine], which is said to be the oldest Shinto Shrine in Japan, and Maruyama Senmaida selected as one of the top 100 terraced rice paddles in Japan.
Kumano City is easily accessible by the JR or the Kintetsu Lines from Nagoya or Osaka.
From JR Nagoya Station: Take the JR Nanki Limited Express and disembark at Kumanoshi Station (approx. 3 hrs. 10 min.)
From JR Shin-Osaka Station:
-Take the Osaka City Subway Midosuji Line and disembark at Namba / Osaka Namba → Transfer to the Kintetsu Limited Express to Matsusaka Station (approx. 90 min.) → Transfer to the JR Nanki Limited Express to Kumanoshi Station (approx. 2 hrs.)
-Take the JR Limited Express Kuroshio and disembark at JR Shingu Station (approx. 4 hrs.) → Transfer to JR Kisei Line and disembark at Kumanoshi Station (approx. 40 min.)
Kumano, home to numerous scenic sites of natural splendor and various tourist attractions of historical and cultural value, such as the "Kumano Kodo Iseji" which is a part of the World Heritage "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". Other noteworthy tourist attractions are the World Heritage Sites of Onigajo, a curious rock formation of stunning shape created naturally by wave and wind, Shishi Iwa [The Lion Rock], a cliff face created naturally by coastal uplift and carved naturally by wave to the shape of a giant lion howling out to the sea, and the longest gravel beach in Japan Shichiri-mihama Beach.
Nagoya Travel Guide