(The following is the English translation of the e-mail sent to our Japanese customers.)

This is Kanako Yoshida from YOUYOUANG.
How have you been?

The long spell of rain has finally given way to clear autumn skies. Waves of golden rice, tiny white buckwheat flowers spreading along the foothills, and orange persimmons in gardens by homes are coloring the countryside in simple, beautiful hues. I imagine this scenery has remained much the same for more than a hundred years. Another beautiful autumn is here.

Today, I’ll start with a little grumble. Please bear with me…

We’ve only just updated our catalog, but the wave of rising material costs that began last year is still rolling in. There’s certainly no shortage of discouraging news in the world these days. And we’ve only just finished our new catalog! 

For the time being, we’ll do our best to hold our prices steady!

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and support.

Now, the other day, I once again attended the Gokenkō-shiki, a ceremony in which fragrant wood is offered to the deities at Ise Jingu. It is conducted by the head of Oie-ryu, a traditional school of Kodo, (the Japanese art of incense appreciation) under which I study. As usual, I had tucked my sportswear into my suitcase, just in case!

After the formal visit to the Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu, we received a purification blessing at the Kagura-den. The head of the school then offered fragrant wood, accompanied by prayers recited by Shinto priests and the sounds of traditional court music. The ceremony has a sacred atmosphere, and includes an elegant dance that has been performed as part of court rituals since the reign of Emperor Seiwa.

As a newcomer, I simply follow in the footsteps of my more experienced fellow practitioners. Yet this is a truly precious occasion, giving me the opportunity to look afresh at incense—something I handle in my everyday work—as something sacred.

YOUYOUANG is, of course, a company that deals in incense as a business and a livelihood. But each time I attend this ceremony, I am reminded of something fundamental: we are delivering something precious and sacred to our customers.

After the ceremony, I set off by rental car toward another kind of sacred place: the Kumano Kodo, just as I had done last year. After about two hours of driving, I arrived in Shingu City, our base for exploring the Kumano Kodo from the following day.

When I first visited the Kumano Kodo last year, I walked the most well-known route, the Nakahechi Route, in the reverse direction. Over two days, I covered about 40 kilometers on foot, jogging some sections and taking a bus for part of the way.

About 90% of the people I passed along the trail were from overseas, and they all seemed to be carrying something like a stamp book. It turned out to be a pilgrimage passport for becoming a Dual Pilgrim.

A Dual Pilgrim is someone who has completed designated pilgrimage routes on both the Kumano Kodo in Japan and the Camino de Santiago in Spain. To qualify, pilgrims collect stamps at designated points along each route and record the distances they have traveled.

I have absolutely no idea when I’ll be able to visit Spain, but I decided to start by completing one of the designated routes on the Kumano Kodo. This year, I obtained the Dual Pilgrim Credential, the stamp book used for the pilgrimage.

There are five routes to choose from when exploring the Kumano Kodo. The Nakahechi Route I walked last year is one of them. This time, I chose a route that combined walking part of the Kumano Kodo with visits to all three of the great Kumano shrines—Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. I walked designated part of the route and used public transportation where necessary., so I could take things at a comfortable pace. I made it safely back to Maebashi on Sunday evening.

Kumano Hongu Taisha. The shrine was immense, and simply being there left me feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

Here, Shinto and Buddhism have traditionally coexisted, with people worshipping both Shinto deities and Buddhist figures. There is a wonderfully open and accepting feeling about it.

This enormous torii gate stands at the original site of Kumano Hongu Taisha, before the shrine was relocated following a major flood. At its center shines the Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow that is also the symbol of Japan’s national soccer teams.

I also stopped by Kamikura Shrine, which local people had recommended to me.

“Kamikura Shrine is the very origin of Kumano worship,” I was told.

And those stone steps…! I was truly grateful that there were steps at all, but they were just as uneven as they looked. After centuries of wear, they had become slippery, and the slope was incredibly steep. I ended up using my hands as well as my feet to climb them! (laughs)

Kamikura Shrine is a sacred place said to be where the deities of Kumano first descended to earth, and is regarded as the birthplace of Kumano worship. Its sacred object is a gigantic rock towering on the mountainside, known as Gotobiki-iwa. Apparently, gotobiki means “toad” in the local Kumano dialect.

This is a place where people in ancient times sensed the presence of the divine in this enormous rock and offered their prayers.

According to tradition, the deities of Kumano later moved to what is now Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

The rock really did look a little like a toad! I heard that there are 538 stone steps in total, but I lost count partway up because I was too scared to keep track.

The following day, with a little more time in our schedule, I was able to take photographs while thinking about the composition.

The scenery was so beautiful it looked like a picture postcard. In this one view, I could feel the history of Kumano, where the ancient reverence for nature—embodied by Nachi Falls and the surrounding mountains—has intertwined with Buddhist faith, represented here by the three-storied pagoda of Seiganto-ji Temple.

Nachi Falls was absolutely enormous. As I descended the stone steps and approached it, I could hear the thunderous roar of the falling water.

Along the way, I even came across an adorable young deer. That little encounter warmed my heart and helped me relax.

Today's Tanka

If I immerse this body

in the forests of Kumano,

I will drink so deeply of them

that I may never return

to the person I was before.

There are so many things in life, so many things to worry about. But I imagine people in the past also struggled with their own concerns, searching for answers in their own ways as they went through life.

That was one of the thoughts I took home from this little journey.

I think I’ll always keep a place for the Kumano Kodo in my heart.