A designated UNESCO World Heritage site, Kumano Kodo is a series of pilgrimage routes which stretches across the entire Kii Peninsula. Its geography is interpreted as a representation of the sacred cosmos; it is here that the divinities are said to reside and the spirits said to meet. To walk along these paths, which have been twinned with the Way of St James (Camino de Santiago de Compostela) since 1988, is to be immersed in the essence of Shinto spirituality, which is open to all pilgrims.