Ōmine Okugakemichi

Yamabushi near Yoshino

Ōmine Okugakemichi ( Japanese. 大峯奥駈道 , roughly equivalent to "deep inner path of the grand peaks") is a pilgrimage route on the Japanese Kii peninsula . It begins in Yanagi-no-shuku, a former ferry station on the Yoshino River , leads through the Ōmine mountain region of Yoshino and Kumano and ends after about 170 kilometers at the Great Shrine of Kumano ( Kumano Hongū-Taisha ).

background

In this densely forested mountain region there are numerous sites that, according to tradition, were opened up by the ascetic En-no-Gyōja . The path is still used today by Shugendō followers as a pilgrimage and retreat route with a number of challenging sections including narrow paths on steep slopes and steep climbs on cliffs. A total of 75 spiritual places called nabiki ( genannte ) in caves, on and on rocks, at waterfalls, on mountain peaks etc. are used for devotion or for exercises. In addition to mighty rock faces and peaks up to 1900 m high, you will also find Veitch's fir trees (Abies veitchii) and magnolias , which have been protected for centuries , along the route . In earlier times the believers took either Kumano or Yoshino as their starting point, depending on their religious orientation. The latter direction has dominated since the Edo period .

In 1936 the "Yoshino-Kumano National Park" was created in this region. In 2002 the trail was registered as a national historical legacy "Ōmine Okugake-michi". Since 2004 it has been part of the “Holy Places and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountains ” registered as World Heritage by UNESCO .

Web links

Commons : Sanctuaries and pilgrimage routes in the Kii Mountains - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Ōmine Okugakemichi, Wakayama Prefecture Brief Overview, Youtube (Japanese)
Photos of the Okugakemichi by the Austrian Yamabushi Christian Grübl: Shugendo & Yamabushi in Austria
Suzuki Masataka: "Yoshino, Kumano Shinko" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , March 28, 2007 (English)

literature

Morisawa Yoshinobu: Ōmine Okugakemichi 75 nabiki [The 75 retreat sites of Ōmine Okugakemichi]. Nakanishiya Shuppan, 2006 ( 森沢義信『大峯奥駈道七十五靡』ナナカニシヤ出版 ) ISBN 4-779-50084-2
Shugendō shugyōtaikei hensaniinkai: Shugendō shugyōtaikei [outline of the Shugendō retreat]. Kokusho kankōkai, 1994 ( 修験道修行大系編纂委員会編『修験道修行大系』国書刊行会 ) ISBN 4-336-03411-7
Swanson, Paul L .: Shugendō and the Yoshino-Kumano Pilgrimage - An Example of Mountain Pilgrimage. In: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 55-84 (1981).

Remarks

↑ In the 12th century there were around 120 such spiritual sites. Their number was reduced to the 75 most important places in the course of the 17th century.

[1] In the 12th century there were around 120 such spiritual sites. Their number was reduced to the 75 most important places in the course of the 17th century.

Ōmine Okugakemichi

contents

background

The 75 spiritual retreat sites

Web links

literature

Remarks