Stand on the summit of Mount Hinodegatake and you can see a thousand peaks, crumpled earth, frozen roil, and razorback edges of rock and soil. All tones are quiet. You can see the jagged coast from the port of Nagoya down to Osaka Bay, which is shaped by the Black Current.
Before the National Route 42 was carved out alongside the coast, the highland paths were in use. Young and old people would walk and haul their goods, stopping at a teahouse at the top of a pass for some yomogi mochi, mugwort rice cakes, or dango rice balls with soy sauce and grilled over charcoal.
People could use boats to ply the coastal waters if they weren't walking. Imagine being young and in love with someone from Hadasu, maneuvering with the tide, meeting on sandy beaches, and placing your feet together in the spring of 200 years ago.
An ancient folk song says that a boatless carpenter fell in love with a girl from the town of Mikisato on the far side of a mountain range. If I had my way, I would flatten the mountain with a hoe and let her go.
The main Shingon Buddhism temple, Kongobuji, dates to A.D. 816, and I was invited to visit it 12 years ago.
The area's fertility astounded me. The graveyard is home to the remains of many lords from Japan's Warring States, but also to moss lush enough to lie down on.
I have lived in Japan for the last 22 years and moved to Japan when I was 19 for college. The place where I was raised was mostly tobacco and berry fields, and it was rumored to have high rates of dementia and violent impulses. I don't know what's in my blood.
After spending three days in the Koyasan temples, I felt my body change in a way that pure nature can't.
I have walked thousands of miles of old roads and paths across this spit of land in the intervening decade. The peninsula is 4,000 square miles. It is one of the wettest places in Japan and one of the wettest places in the world. There is a richness of history and ecology with that wet weather.
The area of Kii is called the Kumano area. The original character is the corner, recess. A small space. The second character is undeveloped or virgin. The wilds. A large geographical area endowed with all the qualities of a metaphysics is what Allan Grapard calls it.
You will find yourself floating between worlds if you walk the peninsula.
Despite being in the center of Japan, the language of the Kii Peninsula is informal and warbled. It reminds me of a drawl from North Carolina.
In the middle of a 30-day walk last June, I said hello to an old woman who was tending to her patch and she replied with the equivalent of "watch yerself."
The A.T.M.s say things that sound like this: Oh, thanks for using me, now you come again soon, y'know?
I always want to take out a few extra bucks just to hear more.
The Old Village is one of my favorite peninsula villages. It feels like a lost micro-Eden, suspended between low mountain passes and the ocean. I found hunched elderly women, wrapped in floral-print smocks, picking their way through small groves of Mikan oranges. There is a public hot-spring bath in the middle of town between shrubs and fields.
On a recent walk, a tipsy farmer in the locker room insisted that I put my robe on backwards. He said it was right over left. He said that women do it left over right.
Looking ahead. The travel industry hopes this will be the year that travel comes roaring back after governments loosen coronaviruses. What to expect.
There is lodging. Travelers discovered the privacy offered by rental residences. They hope to compete by offering stylish extended-stay properties, sustainable options, rooftop bars and co-working spaces.
Rental cars. Travelers can expect higher prices and older cars with high mileage since companies still haven't been able to expand their fleets. Are you looking for an alternative? Car-sharing platforms might be more affordable.
Cruises. Demand for cruises remains high despite a bumpy start to the year. Because they sail on smaller ships and steer away from crowded destinations, luxury expedition voyages are particularly appealing right now.
There are destinations. Travelers are eager to explore the sights and sounds of a city like Paris or New York. Some resorts in the U.S. are experimenting with an almost all-inclusive model that takes the guess work out of planning a vacation.
Experiences. Sexy travel options include couples retreats and beachfront sessions with intimacy coaches. Trips with an educational bent are becoming more popular with families with children.
I was not wearing pants.
I panicked for a second and thought I might have messed it up. A lot of people get things wrong. People are supposed to bow twice, clap twice, and then bow again when they flash cash at a Shinto shrine. The monks are sent into a tongue-clicking tizzy when some people clap at them. The guy with the ax was not trying to get me to do it the manly way, but the way of death.
I told the farmer I would do the same if he did right over left. He took me on a tour of the town with him.
Walking through villages and towns is a joy for me. Being able to cap a day of strenuous mountain routes with a bath is always interesting. The whole experience is very sad.
It is rare to see people under the age of 50 in the countryside of Japan. Many of the old coastal tea estates have been converted to solar farms.
There are abandoned homes and gardens. Part of the reason I walk Kii so much is because I can feel the fading of what used to be. In Odai, I missed having a cup of coffee at La Mer, a classic Japanese kissaten-style caf. The inn that has been in operation for hundreds of years in Tochihara is about to close.
These changes don't induce gloominess or sadness. They are part of the flow of contemporary life, which is aging of a population and the loss of employment opportunities in the countryside. We have made certain decisions about certain industries on a global scale and this is the result.
The gratitude I have for the energy of the peninsula itself, as well as the kindness of the people who are still there, is a result of the thousand-plus years of historical import.
I would like to take you on a long walk around one of the peninsula's towns on a Sunday morning, all blue skies. A few people left. Streets swept, shop gates lifted, and kissaten beacon flashing. The last of the summer festival shrines were carried on the shoulders of shirtless men in white-rag fundoshi underwear.
You would have to come now. Right now. This brightness and warmth isn't long for our world.
Craig Mod lives in Kamakura. You can follow his work on social media. He wrote a book about his walking along the Nakasendo highway from Tokyo to Kyoto. His next book is on the Kii Peninsula.
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