My trip to Japan was a juxtaposition of contrasts: of the modern bullet trains and ancient rituals, of concrete jungles and serene nature, of crowded onsens and peaceful villages. And yet, everyone of them was connected by an underlying thread of humanity in a cramped country, that, at times, didn't feel as cramped.

I experienced a part of this while hiking the sacred Kumano Kodo, an ancient pilgrimage route winding through the mountains of central Honshu. I passed through ancient Shinto shrines freshly decorated with incense and along forest paths that wound through bucolic villages and dense woods. The study in contrasts was very apparent in those three days that I hope to repeat in my future, if only to revisit those seeming contradictions once again.

Kii Peninsula

Japan