Magose pass and Matsumoto pass, the official radio guides for the Kumano Kodo and Ise Road, have been released by ONTHE TRIP, a company that produces official audio guides for temples, shrines, museums and art festivals in Japan, offering a new way to explore the Kumano Kodo, walking with a GPS-linked guide.
This guide provides an audio guide to the stories that have accumulated at Magose Pass and Matsumoto Pass, two of the most popular routes in the area.
The system automatically plays the audio when you visit the site on foot, making it a hiking guide that you can listen to with your smartphone in your pocket.
Learn about the 'story' of the Magoze mountain pass, which unfolds before your eyes.
＜Partial introduction to the recorded audio＞
Chapter 03｜Cobblestone pavement
The stone-paved road at Magose Pass was maintained by the Kishu clan at the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868) and is 400 years old. The 2 km stone-paved road from the beginning of the climb to the pass is still in its original state.
The width of the road was based on 2.7 m, considering that great men could be carried in palanquins. The paving stones are large, flat and laid in folds. These stones are made of granite from the surrounding mountains and valleys. They are laid to match the tread for easy, stress-free walking.
In this guide, you will walk along the beautiful pilgrimage route of Magoze mountain pass and experience the history that has been carefully linked to it by imagining the background to the birth of the landscape before you.
Stopping in the footsteps of history, Matsumoto Pass
Matsumoto Pass is the last pass from Ise Jingu Shrine to Kumano Hayatama Taisha, one of the three Kumano mountains, after crossing numerous passes. It is also a mountain pass where you can enjoy the cobblestones from different eras at the same time.
