precious-postcards

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites – Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan – linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced from China and the Korean Peninsula. The sites (495.3 ha) and their surrounding forest landscape reflect a persistent and extraordinarily well-documented tradition of sacred mountains over 1,200 years. The area, with its abundance of streams, rivers and waterfalls, is still part of the living culture of Japan and is much visited for ritual purposes and hiking, with up to 15 million visitors annually. Each of the three sites contains shrines, some of which were founded as early as the 9th century.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1142

The Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range are testimony to the Shinto belief and its fusion into Shinto-Buddhism. The three sacred sites lie in the forests of the Kii Mountains. They have attracted pilgrims since the 11th or 12th century.

The included sites consist of:

- three main wooden shrines: Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan and Koyasan

- three main pilgrimage routes

- sacred natural objects (trees, forests, mountains)

- stone mausolea and stupas at Koyasan

Okuno-in 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/kiimountainrange.html