Oku Kumano Onsen; Megami no Yu

Insider tip — Megami no Yu, the goddess spring, serves the inner Kumano valley of Tanabe City where the Hiki River gorge creates one of the most dramatic natural corridors on the Kii Peninsula. The deep inner Kumano was considered the dwelling of Ketsumiko no Kami, the primordial Kumano deity who predates the arrival of Buddhism in Japan — a nature deity of forest and river whose sacred geography was later synthesized with Buddhist bodhisattva identities to create the unique shinbutsu-shugo fusion theology that characterizes Kumano religious tradition to this day.