The Kumano Hongu Heritage Center is the focal point for visitor information in Hongu. There are two halls: North and South. In the South hall is the tourist information center and permanent exhibitions about the World Heritage property "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". The North hall features permanent exhibitions about the Hongu area, a multi-purpose hall and temporary exhibition space. Permanent exhibitions are bilingual Japanese and English. This center is a must visit for those interest in learning more about the region's unique cultural landscape.
Hours: 9:00~17:00 (Open year round)

This is a shrine located on Mt. Kamikurasan at the top of a steep stone staircase of 538 steps. It is said that the Kumano deities first descended from the heavens at Gotobiki-iwa, the object of worship of the shrine. Subsequently, they transferred to the current Kumano Hayatama Taisha in 128, and their new residence came to be known as Shingu, or new palace, in contrast to their original palace of Mt. Kamikurasan. The Oto Matsuri is held on February 6th each year, with men known as noboriko carrying torches racing down the mountain together.

This is one of the Kumano Sanzan and the main enshrined deity is Ketsumimiko-no-Okami. The majestic shrine buildings were spared being swept away in the flood of 1889 and were relocated from Oyunohara. It is known formally as Kumanonimasu-jinja after a deity who lived in Kumano.

In the past, this temple was unified with the adjacent Kumano Nachi Taisha as a place for BuddhistShinto syncretic mountain asceticism, but it became an independent Tendai sect temple in the Meiji Period under the impact of the government order separating Buddhism and Shintoism. Nachisan Seiganto-ji was also the first temple on the “Saikokujunrei,” or pilgrimage to the 33 Kannon images in Western Japan, which began in 1161. In the Edo Period, many pilgrims visited Ise Jingu and completed the Kumano Sanzan pilgrimage and Saigokujunrei pilgrimage at the same time.