This spiritual journey begins as soon as you step off the train at Amanohashidate Station. The first temple on your journey is only a 1-2 minute walk away. It’s called Chionji, a temple of wisdom that’s always open for worship. The temple also houses some interesting paintings, two of which are 300 years old.

From this temple, you will cross the rotating bridge over a canal that leads to the Amanohashidate land bridge. This will be the main portion of your pilgrimage walk. The naturally occurring land bridge is 3.6km long and not open to vehicular traffic. It's covered in more than 5,000 pine trees of a variety of species, with bays on both sides. On the seaside there is a beautiful sandy beach, popular for swimming during the warmer months. As you walk along the pine laden paths of the land bridge you will pass a small restaurant tucked in a pine grove and a monument to local poets Yosano Akiko and her husband Tekkan. Further along you can stop at Amanohashidate Shrine, where the Eight Great Dragon Gods are enshrined. The purifying font is a naturally occurring freshwater spring mysteriously located on the land bridge (sea water on both sides).

Once across the land bridge you will head for Moto Ise Kono Shrine. It is a Grand Shrine and the most important in the entire San’in (multi-prefecture) region. It shares its architectural style with the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie. These two are the holiest of shrines and are the only two in the country allowed to display the five colored stones representing the five elements.

Making your way to Kasamatsu Park, where a chair lift is waiting to take you up the mountain past about 100 cherry blossom trees to the park (130m) and some gorgeous views of the land bridge you have just walked across. There is a restaurant up here, an ice cream stand, and a store to buy souvenirs. But Nariaiji Temple waits above. From here you can take the mountain shuttle bus, or walk the 1.4km to Nariaiji Temple, one of the 33 temples along the Japanese western pilgrimage route.

This temple has spacious grounds with various types of flora and a pond that sits in front of a five storied pagoda. The bell of this temple also has a unique (and dark) story as to why it’s sealed off and never rung. Up at the temple, you can pay your respects, see some unique artifacts (including a dragon sculpture that is always watching you), and possibly get your temple book stamped/signed (if you carry one). There is one more potential stop, and that is at the very top of the mountain, where panoramic views and a café are located, 500m above the sea that you were just walking on.