I visited the remains of the Tankaku Castle located on the top of a hill next to the Kumano river in the morning before visiting the Kamikura Shrine and the floating island. I then visited the Kumano Hayatama Taisha inside the city before taking the one hour bus ride to the Kumano Hongu Taisha deep inside the mountains. It rained heavily when I visited the Kumano Hongu Taisha, which brought the memory of similarly bad weather when I visited Koyasan.

The stone walls and stairs were all what remained of the Tankaku Castle.

The opening on top of the hill inside the castle, where the keep should be.

View of the Kumano river from the Tankaku Castle.

The Kamikura Shrine located at the top of a hill.

The steep stairs leading to the shrine.

The huge rock commemorated at the Kamikura Shrine.

View of the city of Shingu from the shrine.

The floating island used to be floating on this small lake more than half a century ago. Its bottom has connected to earth these days.

The entrance of the Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

The gate of the Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

Quite corner inside the shrine ground.

The main hall of the Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

The Chinese gate of a local park in the city of Shingu honoring a Chinese explorer during the Qin dynasty.

The giant torii of Kumano Hongu Taisha.

The original site of the Kumano Hongu Taisha before it was destroyed by flood then relocated to the present location.

The entrance of the Kumano Hongu Taisha.

The stairs leading to the shrine.

The gate of the Kumano Hongu Taisha.

The main halls of the Kumano Hongu Taisha.

The modern wooden structure of the world heritage center.

Models of the original Kumano Hongu Taisha.

The hot spring hotel I stayed for the night located at the Katsuura bay, around twenty minutes from Shingu by train.

Entrance to the seaside open-air hot spring inside the hotel.

View of the Katsuura harbor from the restaurant of the hotel on top of the hill.

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