Japan on foot — the old routes, one party at a time.
Six walking routes, five of them devotional and one an old highway. None of them can be sold as a coach departure, because what is being sold is a walk at your own pace with your own people. We build them that way.
What are the main pilgrimage routes in Japan?
The Shikoku 88-temple circuit, the Kumano Kodo, Dewa Sanzan, the Koyasan Choishimichi and the Saigoku Kannon circuit. The Nakasendo is a historic highway rather than a pilgrimage, but it is walked and sold alongside them.
Last updated: 6 July 2026
Six ways to walk into Japan.
The Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage
Around 1,200 km · 88 temples · 40–50 days on foot
The Kumano Kodo
Nakahechi route: about 38 km, 2–4 days walking
Dewa Sanzan
Three mountains · 2,446 stone steps to Haguro's summit
The Nakasendo
69 post towns Edo to Kyoto · the walked section is about 8 km
The Koyasan Choishimichi
About 24 km · 180 stone markers · one long day
The Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
33 temples · the oldest circuit in Japan
One party at a time.
There are no fixed departures here and no shared coaches. A pilgrimage itinerary is built for the people walking it — their pace, their fitness, the number of nights they can spend in a room with a futon and a shared bath — and the lodging on these routes takes six guests, not sixty. You keep the client and the margin; we run the ground.
That also means we will tell you when a route is wrong for a client. A party that needs a five-star bed every night should not be sold Shikoku, and it is cheaper to hear that at the quotation stage than on day three.
Say what it will do to them.
These are living religious practices, not scenery. We describe what a route is, what it asks of a walker, and what we arrange — and we brief the etiquette plainly, because an agent who does not know that Yudono-san is not to be described, or that osettai is a religious act rather than a tip, will get a client into difficulty.
What a walk does to the person walking it is theirs. We are the ground operator; we are not qualified to promise it.
Japanese pilgrimage — what agents ask.
What are the main pilgrimage routes in Japan?
The Shikoku 88-temple circuit, the Kumano Kodo on the Kii Peninsula, Dewa Sanzan in Yamagata, the Koyasan Choishimichi and the Saigoku Kannon circuit across Kansai. The Nakasendo is a historic highway rather than a pilgrimage, but agents sell it alongside them and clients rarely distinguish.
Which Japanese pilgrimage routes are UNESCO World Heritage?
The Kumano Kodo and the Koyasan Choishimichi, both inscribed in 2004 within the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Shikoku is not inscribed, despite being frequently described as though it were.
Can a client walk a Japanese pilgrimage without being religious?
Yes, and most do. These are public routes and visitors are welcome on them. What is asked is that the etiquette is respected — these are working religious sites, not attractions — which is why the briefing matters more here than on any other kind of itinerary.
Why sell pilgrimage as a private journey rather than a group departure?
Because the product is a walk at the party's own pace, with lodging that takes six guests rather than sixty. A fixed departure forces a schedule onto something whose value is the absence of one. We run one party at a time, at net rates, under your brand.
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