Tranquil treat

Walking through the towering bamboo forest of the Matsumoto-toge Pass on the mountain side of Oniga-jo, we are treading along the ancient, though well-preserved, stone road that pilgrims and later samurai once used, according to our guide, a retired local man who volunteers to take tourists to ancient sites. A 15-minute climb to the crest of the hill sees us at the guardian deity stone statue. "Is that a bullet hole?" I ask, pointing to what appears to be a hole in the statue. "A hunter mistook the statue for a goblin and shot it," says our guide. "Not the best thing to happen to the children's guardian," I say. It was more than 300 years ago and makes for interesting conversation while heading to the vista point overlooking Shichirimihama Beach.

We are in Wakayama and Mie prefectures on a three-day tour. The region is home to stunning coastlines, Matsusaka beef and Japan's oldest shrine, but I was drawn to Mie because the Mikimoto Pearl Island is on the itinerary. Familiar with these pearls since childhood, I am unable to pass up a chance to visit the island and buy a few for myself on the final day.

This is day one, which starts with a four-hour train journey from Kyoto station at precisely 8.36am. We cannot be late as trains, like everything in Japan, are punctual. Our English-speaking guide, Yuko, has arranged the tickets and bento boxes - elegantly packed lunch boxes "bought from one of the best restaurants in Kyoto", she says. It is good. The two-layer box is filled with Chirashi sushi, seafood, sea bream, trout, various vegetables and noodles - and this is only lunch.

The train snakes around the coast to the small town of Kii Katsuura in Wakayama prefecture, where we take a minivan to our first destination, the Nachi Falls and Kumano Nachi Taisha Shinto shrine. Set in the Kii Mountain range, the site is part of the Unesco-designated World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes. The road up to the falls and shrine is narrow and steep, but the views are amazing. The falls are the second largest in Japan, dropping 133 metres down the mountainside. The shrine is built in the Gongen architectural style of Kumano. Yuko points to parts of the roof that point up, like swords. "They represent males," she says. "Where they are flat, that represents females - it's about balance." Gongen is a mix of Shinto and Buddhist beliefs, and there are several shrines dedicated to this form of Shinto such as the Seigantoji shrine, where we stop off next.