Kumano Hayatama Taisha

Before Kumano Hayatama Taisha became a stop on any list, it was — and still is — a working place of worship in Wakayama.

The third of the Kumano grand shrines, at the mouth of the Kumano river in Shingu, and the most compact — vermilion halls on flat ground a short walk from the station rather than up a mountain. The name means swift and the deity is Hayatama, worshipped alongside Fusumi, and the shrine is the head of several thousand Kumano shrines across Japan.

In the courtyard stands a nagi tree said to be about a thousand years old, the largest of its kind in Japan and a natural monument. Nagi leaves do not tear along their length, which is why pilgrims carried them as charms and why people still pick up fallen ones for matchmaking. The treasure hall holds over a thousand objects including a set of Muromachi ceremonial goods designated National Treasures. It is the easiest of the three to reach and the one most people skip.