Fudarakusan-ji is a small temple on the coast of the Kii Peninsula, in the town of Nachikatsuura, and its odd history is a sea journey. In the old days some monks believed Fudaraku, the paradise of the bodhisattva Kannon, lay far across the ocean to the south, and from this beach they set off in boats nailed shut, with a little food and water, to sail toward it and not come back. The practice is called Fudaraku Tokai, and the temple remembers the monks who made the voyage, which gives the sea in front of it a haunting quality.
It is one stop on the great pilgrimage network of Kumano, where the old trails, the Kumano Kodō, link the three grand shrines of Hongū, Hayatama and Nachi. Nachi is the one here, with its famous waterfall, a hundred and thirty metres high, which is itself an object of worship, falling in a single thread beside a red pagoda against dark forest. Walk the stone steps from the road, and the air turns cool and damp and smells of cedar.
The town, a fishing harbour, is famous for tuna, and the market and restaurants serve it every way you can think of. Shingū, a few tens of kilometres to the east, is a town of about thirty thousand and the sensible place for fuel and a longer meal, but the coast has pumps at intervals as well, and the road is never remote.
For a rider the Kii coast is the quiet side of the Kansai region, a long, wavy road along rocky headlands and inlets. Route 42 follows the shore, with views of the Pacific, tunnels and small fishing villages, and the surface is generally good but the traffic includes trucks and slow campers. Rain is heavy here, one of the wettest parts of Japan, and typhoons in late summer and early autumn can close roads, so check the forecast. Spring and late autumn are the sweetest seasons, with mild air and clear light on the sea, and leaving early lets you have the waterfall steps to yourself before the tour buses arrive.