Onigajo

Well knownIn most guidebooks for this region — but rarely with the practical detail.

Researched and written by Hinato

Onigajosea cliffsKumanoWorld HeritageShishiiwa

Photo: kizitora / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Mie has plenty of scenery; Onigajo is the kind that's worth planning a whole day around.

Onigajo is a kilometre and a half of sea cliff on the Kumano coast where volcanic rock laid down about fourteen million years ago has been lifted by earthquakes and then hollowed out by the Pacific into caves, terraces and honeycombed overhangs. The name means demon's castle, from a legend of a pirate who used the caves.

It is a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument and part of the UNESCO listing for the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. A walkway runs along the cliff face for about 1.2 kilometres, in and out of the hollows with the sea directly below, taking around thirty minutes one way. Parking is free. Two kilometres away stands Shishiiwa, a rock formation shaped like a roaring lion, designated with it.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Year-round | Spring for cherry blossom on the headland

How long to allow

60–90 minutes

Hours

Open access | Daylight only

Closed: Open year-round | Walkway closes in rough weather

Entry fee

Free | Free parking

Getting there

Access notes

Kinomoto-cho, Kumano, on the coast. About a short walk from JR Kumanoshi Station to the east entrance, or by car. Free to visit, with a free car park at the east entrance for 70 cars, 10 coaches and 2 accessible spaces, and a second free car park about a short walk at the Onigajo Center. The cliff walkway runs about 1.2 km and takes around 30 minutes one way from the west entrance to the east. Shishiiwa, the lion rock, is about 2 km away and covered by the same designation.

Local knowledge

**Walk it one way.** West entrance to east takes about thirty minutes and the two car parks make that practical without doubling back. **It is part of the Kumano World Heritage listing.** Not for the rock but as part of the pilgrimage landscape. The Kumano Kodo Iseji route passes here. **The path closes in rough weather.** It is a walkway on a sea cliff with waves breaking under it. Check conditions after storms. **Shishiiwa is two kilometres away.** The lion-shaped rock is part of the same designation and is best around sunrise, when the sun comes up through the arrangement. **Ten minutes from the station.** Kumanoshi is on the JR Kisei Line, which makes this one of the few Kumano coast sites reachable without a car.

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