Author: david.caprara7

こうだこ・Kodako

Kodako’s shrine is worth a visit to anyone passing through the hamlet. It is located high up on a hill and requires a around five minutes of walking.

Down below, there is a small open roofed structure known as an azumaya that was constructed recently for locals to congregate at. Structures like give people a place to meet, can be built at a low cost, and are a fantastic investment that can really benefit communities. Without a place to gather, many communities simply don’t. In the warmer months you can find locals here sitting around drinking and snacking together until well into the night.

A taxi company is located conveniently walking distance away from this. Rates within the village are discounted at half price.

This hamlet is also a great place to jog and if you continue past the hamlet on towards Kodako you will run along a small tributary of the Yoshino river. In around 10 or 15 minutes you will be met by two enormous cedar trees, standing as sentinels for Kodako and Mt. Omine, which can be approached by taking the road to the right of the fork.

These trees are at least 200 years old and seem like entirely different creatures from the plantation cedars with stunted growth because they are packed to tight together. These natural beasts tower above and seem to speak to your heart in a way that words cannot. They’ve survived pandemics, world wars, economic crashes, and generations of humans coming and going. They are both apart from and beyond human affairs.

こうだに・Kodani

Located deep in the hills, Kodani has a more secluded feel than other hamlets that makes it feel cozy and secure. The hamlet gets a lot of sunlight and hosts some of the best gardeners in the village.

The garden above looks like it could be a nationally-designated park.

It is one of the few hamlets where people in Kawakami grow wasabi. Wasabi plants take years to cultivate and require a constant stream of fresh spring water to thrive.

きたわだ・Kitawada

This hamlet is located on the east side of the river across from Kashiwagi and is very rich in culture and history. There is a small tofu shop in Kitawada that is worth stopping at if you are in the area. A local favorite is their tofu burger patties.

If you’re into kendo, every year at the gym on top of the hill an international Kendo competition is held that draws hundreds from across the world. The local kendo teacher, Uegaki-sensei, holds the highest possible title attainable in kendo, hachidan danshi. He has students in France that make it out to this competition every year.

This is a former elementary school that is used for emergency evacuation and kendo. Throughout most of the year it is unused. If you have ideas or creative projects for how it can be put to use, it might be worth pitching these to the local town hall to see if they’re open to it.

Below this and visible from Rt. 169 is Kawakami Life, 川上村立ふれあいセンター、which functions as a hub for the 移動スーパー food truck and various other administrative functions. There is free public wife here and a cafe with tables inside.

Kitawada’s Kongoji Temple（金剛寺）is the home of one of Kawakami’s most important ceremonies, the Chohaishiki (朝拝式). A little-known history even by most Japanese, there was a time in Japan where there were two emperors. The throne was split into a Northern Court and a Southern Court. There had been an agreement to alternate back and forth, but the Northern court reneged on this deal and the Southern Court was forced into exile into the Yoshino region of Nara, where Kawakami is located. Still to this day, there are claims that the commonly recognized imperial lineage taught in textbooks and the emperor who was enthroned last year is illegitimate. For 563 years from the time of writing, representatives from various hamlets in Kawakami village have met together in secrecy once a year on a cold bitter day in February to pay respects to the Southern Court and to mourn the loss of those who tried to uphold it. In recent years, this ceremony has been opened to the public. It’s been centuries, yet the emotions are still powerful.

こうのたに・Konotani

This hamlet is situated just a short hike away from OpenCafe 秀. Head south and cross the red bridge. Head into the woods and continue on for about 10 minutes and you will find 若年神社（十二社神社）This shrine is not accessible by vehicle and is somewhat of a hidden treasure. Finding it feels like you have found something magical. Although the shrine feels like it has been lost, the murals on the side of the painting are still vibrant and are unlike anything you will find anywhere else in the village.

The shrine can be found on Google Maps but the road is not clear or maintained. It is only requires about 10 to 15 minutes of walking, however if accessing the shrine in warmer seasons be very careful of poisonous pit viper snakes （マムシ） and giant Japanese wasps( スズメバチ). Bites and stings from either of these can be lethal and it is not recommended that you ever venture far into the forests of Kawakami alone for these reasons.

かしわぎ・Kashiwagi

This hamlet is located on the west side of the Yoshino river about midway through the village. For multiple reasons, this hamlet regularly draws visitors from all across Kansai.

One of the biggest draws in a source of natural spring water that is said to have been created by the wandering monk, Kukai. It is common to see people from out of the prefecture filling up entire pickup trucks filled with empty 10L jugs with this water to be used in cooking and bathing.

The restaurant next to this spring, 秀（Hidé）makes use of this water in their coffee and all of their food. The owners of this restaurant manage this spring water and will gladly help you fill your jugs free of cost should you have any questions. The water does not flow on Thursdays and Fridays but is generally flowing nonstop every other day.

This photo was taken along the main strip of Kashiwagi, located above Rt. 169. This used to be one of the busiest locations in all of Kawakami and before Rt. 169 was build this was the main road running through Kawakami. Believe it or not, there was once a movie theatre located just at the end of where the road in this photo leads to.

The Asahikan Ryokan 朝日館　旅館 in the background is a fantastic place to stay if you are looking for a traditional ryokan experience. It has been opened for over 100 years and has helped facilitate pilgrims on their journeys along the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route.

There is a trailhead leading to Mt. Omine right across from the hotel, but it is a very dangerous route that is not used frequently. It is highly advised that you do not take this unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

No trip to Kawakami is complete without a trip to Hidé 秀 or the newly-opened Opencafe秀 mentioned above. Both of these are located right along Rt. 169.

The daily set meal 日変わり定食　(Higawari-Teishoku) and the Yakisoba Teishoku 焼きそば定食 are local favorites. The outdoor cafe is a great place to watch the world go by. The cafe is closed on Tuesdays and on the first Wednesday of every month. They also maintain an inn for cyclists and bikers where you can sleep in a room above the café for 2,000円. Inquire with the restaurant for more details.

おおさこ・Osako

A cave linked to Shugendo is also located in this hamlet and can be accessed by entering the cafe associated with the cave. The cave is very cool in summer months and an underground stream runs through it.

The village of Osako is located on the west side of the river above the most visually prominent feature of this subdivision: the Osako Dam. A dam this high upstream on the river provides control of the water during typhoons, but it also gives Kawakami powerful leverage over Wakayama Prefecture and other towns further downstream that are dependent on this water for agricultural irrigation. Unfortunately, one of the tradeoffs of damming any river is the disruption of natural breeding patterns for local fish. Most of the river fish in Kawakami are born in artificial fisheries and must be regularly released by humans into the river because the ecosystem has been blocked.

The dam is featured in Kawakami’s signature curry, “Dam Curry.”

しおのは・Shionoha

Shionoha is located on the east side of the Yoshino river, almost as south as Obatani. To get there, you will need to cross the Osako Dam. The geography of the hamlet itself is small, but it is huge in importance. Shionoha is the gateway for accessing the source of the Yoshino river, arguably the most important point in Kawakami or even the entire Kii Peninsula.

The source of the river is referred to in Kawakami as the 水源地（Sui-gen-chi) . This could perhaps be one of the most pristine spaces you will ever set eyes upon. Many visitors compare the experience of visiting here to entering the world of Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. Trapped within the surrounding porous mountains for years, it is here that spring water is released and the river begins.

You can access the trailhead on your own and hike up to a certain point on your own, but if you’d like to hike further than the common lunching area it is required that you do so with a guide from Kawakami village’s local ecological preservation group, the 森と水源流館　(Mori to Mizu Genryukan).

It is highly recommended that even for trips that do not venture into the protected area that you do so with a guide from the Genryukan. This area is very far from civilization and is beyond the reach of cell phone reception.

Aside from safety concerns, the staff of the Genryukan are highly knowledgable about local ecology. Venturing into the most pristine corners of Kawakami with their knowledge and guidance will transform your trip into an unforgettable learning experience that will spark new ideas to explore within your mind for years to come.

No trip to Shionoha is complete without a trip to the Shionoha Onsen, also referred to as “Yamabato-no-yu” 入之波温泉 山鳩湯. The name translates to “The Turtledove Hotspring” in English, and is one of the most unique hot springs in all of Japan. The water is very rich in sodium bicarbonate and other minerals, so much so that the water is murky. Mineral deposits several inches thick line the entire bath and need to be jackhammered off the walls every so often. Onsen like this are one in a million.

The water comes from 150 meters deep within the ground and the interesting cocktail of minerals naturally present in the water are believed to be very good for the health.

Be sure to wave hello to the taxidermied boar in the lobby.

おばたに・Obatani

We have a tendency around the world to set a higher priority to locations listed “higher up” (further north) on the map than others. Inhabiting a spherical planet where there is no true up or down, it is sometimes useful to to flip maps upside down to shake up our mental concepts of what is higher and lower.

It is interesting that in Kawakami where the 紀ノ川・吉野川　river is central to life, hamlets located further south where the river begins are referred to as higher and regions further north, downstream, are referred to as being lower.

A similar naming convention exists in communities along the Nile river in Egypt, which also flows South to North. Upper Egypt is located further South where the river begins, and Lower Egypt refers to the area where the river meets the ocean.

It is a good idea to dive into the deep end and begin your 26-hamlet tour of the village in Kawami start from “Upper Kawakami,” though the tour can be done either way. Obatani is situated just before a huge tunnel that leads to Mt. Odaigahara. Not many people remain there, but you might find a local or two waiting at the bus stop along 169 who might be able to swap a few stories with you if you do not see any farmers tending to their gardens above.