East Kumamoto · TakamoriNo.1200★★Open in map →

Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A shrine on the southeastern rim of the Aso caldera, reached by a stone path that climbs through planted cedar between two rows of mossy lanterns. Above the hall stands a huge rock with a wind hole driven right through it.

FromKumamoto Station
bus or taxi from TakamoriMinamiaso Railway, then a bus
Get off atTakamori Station (Minamiaso Railway)
From there
Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

The shrine is not a secret. Pictures of the lantern path spread widely on social media, and it now draws visitors from outside Japan as well. What the pictures leave out is the gradient. The way from the road to the rock is a continuous climb on wet stone, so what there is to see is strung along a slope rather than gathered at one viewpoint.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Torii on the approachAnn Lee / CC BY-SA 2.0

The torii on the approacha stone gate where the path leaves the road and the climb begins
The lantern rowstwo lines of moss-covered stone lanterns running the length of the path
The nagi treethe shrine's sacred tree, its tough leaves carried as a charm against a tie being broken
The worship halla small hall set into a hollow of the hillside at the head of the stair
Ugeto Rocka wind hole more than ten metres across, driven through the rock above the hall

How to actually get there

Kumamoto Station to Tateno on the JR Hohi Line, then the Minamiaso Railway to Takamori.
From the station front, take the town's Shikimi loop bus out to the foot of the approach, or a taxi.
Walk up through the lanterns to the hall in the hollow.
Carry on above the hall to the pierced rock, then come back down the same path.

JR to Tateno, then the Minamiaso Railway: From Kumamoto Station take the JR Hohi Line east to Tateno, where the line meets the Minamiaso Railway at the break in the caldera rim, and ride that to its terminus at Takamori. A couple of morning services run through from Higo-Ozu without a change. Fares are payable on board or at the counter.
Return from Takamori Station: The railway and the town bus both end their day early out here, so fix the return before you start up the path. If the last bus has gone, a taxi from the shrine back to the station is the way down.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Takamori lies at the southeastern corner of the Aso caldera, where the grassland runs out and the hills close in. The shrine stands above the hamlet of Kamishikimi, on the slope below a rock outcrop, and the only way to it is a single stone path through planted cedar. Close to a hundred stone lanterns line that path in two rows, green with moss for most of the year. Three deities are enshrined here, among them Ishikimi Daishogun, held to be the rough spirit of the Aso deity. The last stretch is a stair, and it keeps climbing past the hall rather than stopping there.

How to enjoy it

Allow more time than the distance suggests, because the stair above the hall is the slow part. Daylight is what makes the walk, since the cedars hold the shade and nothing on the path is lit. If you want the seal stamp, collect it at the tourist office by the station before you set out.

Background & history

The shrine took its present form between the end of the Kamakura period and the Muromachi years, when the Kumano faith carried in by mountain ascetics settled onto an older worship of the rock itself. It was known then as Ugeto Gongen, and later simply as a Kumano hall. The hole in the rock above is explained by a story rather than by geology: Kihachi Hoshi, servant of the Aso deity Takeiwatatsu, is said to have kicked it open.

Before you go

Cash: There is no admission to the shrine. The town bus charges a flat fare within Takamori, paid in cash, and the seal stamp is issued not at the shrine but at the tourist office near the station.
Good to know: The path is unlit and the cedars bring the dark on well before sunset, so this is a daylight walk. Stone steps and packed earth stay slick after rain, and the stretch above the hall is steeper than the one below it.
Another way: By car the shrine is about ten minutes from Takamori Station, and a small car park sits at the foot of the approach.
After you get off: From the front of Takamori Station the town's Shikimi loop bus runs out to the foot of the approach, which leaves only the path itself to walk. Runs are counted in ones and twos across the day, so read the timetable before you commit to the bus. A taxi covers the same ground directly.