What better time to consider the spiritual side of things than at the beginning of a new year?

Hiking the ancient Kumano kodo trail on the Kii peninsula in Wakayama prefecture in Japan, involves a spiritual quest where walking itself is part of the pilgrimage. And the views themselves represent a spiritual and dreamlike landscape.

Weather on the Kumano kodo

During a short break in the very wet weather, from Hyakken-gura—a lookout high on the trail—I shot this panorama of the Kumano Sanzen Roppyaku Po—which translates to “view of 3,600 peaks of Kumano.” When the wind gusted, rain splattered my face and my camera lens and tripod, so it was pretty hard to make notes to keep track of the positioning of the frames in the panorama. It was wet and cold. I had to work hard to keep myself—and more importantly—my camera dry. But I realized that the weather was a part of the spiritual scenery that makes the Kumano kodo so special. And as Ansel Adams put it, “You can’t capture a clearing storm without being out in the weather.”

Peaks and Panoramas

I don’t think there are actually 3,600 peaks—it’s important to remember the role of metaphor in life, particularly when you are on a pilgrimage—but as you can see there are certainly quite a few mountains. You can click here, or click on the image, to view it wider than it is shown here.

Panorama of the Kumano Sanzen Roppyaku Po © Harold Davis—Click here to view larger

This is a high-resolution panorama, shot in 10 separate sections with my 36MP Nikon D800. The final, full-size processed file measures 12,256 x 4,747 pixels at 300 ppi.

A Fusion of Old and New

This special edition panoramic archival pigment print is presented on the fantastic Kozo washi made by Awagami on Shikoku Island. The Awagami Mill has been making this paper for generations.

The print measures 24″ wide by 11 3/4″ high (the image size is 20″ X 7 3/4″) with generous 2″ margins. It is hand-signed and inscribed in pencil on the bottom margin. This is an elegant collectible print, handcrafted in my studio, that will add the spiritual essence of the Kumano kodo landscape to any environment.

For a limited time, we will ship one of these unique prints to you, packed flat and insured, for the special price of $675.00.

To order your Kumano Sanzen Roppyaku Po panoramic print, or for more information, please click here to contact my studio. Larger sizes are also available, please inquire.

When Kayoko at the Sakuraya Guesthouse in Nara had helped me figure out my transportation logistics, she saw the Nankai Ferry ticket in the folder from the travel agent, and exclaimed, “Oh, you’ll be riding the ‘Big Tuna’!”

The Nankai Ferry is indeed a very big boat. It carries cars as well as people. Steaming out of the port of Wayakama on my way to Shikoku Island, I was surprised not only at the size of the boat but also the size and extent of industry that seems to dominate much of the Japanese coast.

Leaving Wayakama Port © Harold Davis

The interior of the boat held a number of surprises for me as well. First, much of the lounge space was devoted to a tatami area. This is what Japanese people are used to in their homes, restaurants and hotels. You take your shoes off, and lie down on the floor, maybe to sleep or play with the kids. It was odd, but pleasant, to see everyone lounging on the floor inside the Big Tuna.

The other major inside space was devoted to game machines, and—thank the Internet deities—free wi-fi!

My approach with boats is always to try to find as high a place as possible on the outside with a frontal view. Alas, on the Big Tuna this was not possible. All the exterior space faced the back of the boat. The only place to get a forward view is inside—where you pay an extra fee to go into a special overheated lounge with reclining chairs and a forward-facing view.

Aya told me that before they built the Shikoku-Honshu series of bridges—connecting Shikoku to Honshu Island and the mainland across the Inland Sea, and completed in 1999—the way to get to Shikoku was by ferry. These days, a more common approach is by bus from Osaka (it is about a four hour ride from Osaka to Tokushima). So my approach to Shikoku was very traditional, as befits a pilgrim coming off the Kumano kodo.

At the long-sought end of the Kumano kodo lies Nachi-san, a sort of religious Shangri-la nestled in the mountains with—finally!—a view of the Pacific Ocean. While some pilgrims do it the hard way and walk the ancient stones of the Kumano kodo up to mountain passes and down through valleys to arrive in Nachi-san, most visitors arrive by scheduled bus, or by tour bus. Like Lourdes in France, or Mt Koya in Japan, Nachi-san is a destination for religious tourists, almost all of whom are Japanese. The constant construction on the temple complexes indicates what a booming business this religious tourism is.

Nachi-san © Harold Davis

Religious tourism or not, the site is beautiful, and there are still plenty of stairs to climb even if the destination was reached by bus. As I shouldered my tripod and paid my 500 Yen extra to get close to the holy waterfall (shown in the rear of the photo above) I couldn’t help feel sadness at leaving the Kii peninsula and the Kumano kodo pilgrimage area. The next day I would be taking a bus, train, taxi, ferry, another taxi, and a train—where Aya would meet me at the little Awa Yamakawa train station in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku, the least populous of Japan’s four major islands.