World Heritage: Sacred sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range
Treasures from Yoshino, Kumano and Koya

In June 2004, the sacred places and pilgrimage roads of the Kii mountains were registered as a world heritage site. It includes Mt. Koya, the spiritual center of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism, Mt. Yoshino and Mt. Omine, the sacred mountains of Shugendo, an ascetic mountain sect of Buddhism unique to Japan, and the district of Kumano, an area sacred to both Buddhism and Shinto where nature is worshipped. This exhibition brings together treasures from temples and shrines in these three areas, the sacred sites of Shugendo in the Yoshino and Omine mountains, the sites related to the Kumano faith in Kumano, the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Buddhism founded by Kobo Daishi (Kukai) in Mt. Koya, and the pilgrimage roads of Kii and Ise that lead to these sites.