Hama-oji is on the way to Koya-zaka from Asuka-jinja and is one of the 99 Oji-jinja shrines of Kumano. Oji-jinja in Kita-ku, Tokyo originated from the ceremonial transfer of the divided tutelary deity from this Hama-oji.

This shrine is located at the foot of Mt. Horai-san at the mouth of the Kumano-gawa River, and the main enshrined deity is Kotosakanoono-Mikoto. The deities of the Kumano Sanzan have been worshipped here since ancient times and Asuka-jinja was treated as Asuka oji shrine on the Kumano pilgrimage in the Heian Period.

At 415 m above sea level, this is the last path that pilgrims cross who have walked from Ise Jingu to Kumano Hongu Taisha. A long slope up continues from Shiko and after 5.8 km, the trail joins the Kogumotori-goe section of the Nakahechi route.

This is a pass on the Kitasando, which splits with the Hongudo at the hamlet of Ushiroji at the foot of Fuden-toge Pass and heads for Yoshino. The trail with cobblestones continues to Maruyama Senmaida. From the lookout point a little up from the pass, which is 390 m above sea level, you can get a bird’s eye view of Maruyama Senmaida.

At 257 m above sea level, Fuden-toge Pass goes through the mountains from Oroshi to Yanokawa. It is lined with cobblestones from the eastern side. It is the only place on the Iseji where a tea shop is operated at the pass.

From this pass at 305 m above sea level, you can have a panoramic view of the Kumanonada Sea. There is a legend that when Kukai, founder of the Shingon esoteric school of Buddhism, made a hole in the ground with his cane where the Mizutsubo Jizo statue stands on the way to the pass, water sprang up. The Oriyama Jizo statue stands at the western trailhead and mossy cobblestones remain in that area.

Hongudo is the mountain trail shortcut from Hana-no-Iwaya to Kumano Hongu Taisha, that joins up with the Nakahechi route after passing the Yokogaki-toge Pass, Fuden-toge Pass and Banzetoge pass.

At 133 meters high and 13 meters wide, Nachi-no-Otaki boasts the greatest drop of any one-tier waterfall in Japan. It has been worshipped since ancient times as a divine object of Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Hiro-jinja stands next to the waterfall basin. Also, the entire area surrounding the waterfall is protected as primeval forest of Nachi. The place for ascetic training by mountain monks who practice Shugendo, made up of large and small waterfalls known collectively as the 48 waterfalls of Nachi, is upstream.

Daimonzaka is the approach path to Kumano Nachi Taisha and Nachisan Seiganto-ji. It is about 640 m long and has 267 mossy stone steps. At the base of the staircase are two 800-year-old Japanese cedar trees called the Meoto-sugi or “married couple cedar trees.” The path is also surrounded by camphor and other trees and provides a representative image of the Kumano Kodo. Its name means “large gate slope” and has its origins in the large shrinegate that once stood at Kumano Nachi Taisha. At the teahouse partway up Daimonzaka, you can experience a pilgrimage dressed in a Heian Period costume.

After passing Ukui, the trail follows route 42 and crosses two small passes, Kokuji-toge Pass and Okuji-toge Pass. “Kuji” is said to mean kujira, or whale, and there are thought to be whalers’ lookouts on these passes.