Kumano Hayatama Taisha (Japanese: 熊野速玉大社) is a Shinto shrine located in Shingu (新宮), Wakayama (和歌山) Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is included as part of the Kumano Sanzan (熊野三山) in the UNESCO World Heritage site ‘Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range’.
Kumano Hayatama Taisha is a bit far from Shingu JR Station, it takes around 15 minutes to walk there.
Like the other Shinto shrine, there is also a big Shinboku (神木; sacred tree) in Kumano Hayatama Taisha, the tree is over 800 years old, looks grand and solemn.
The main hall of of Kumano Hayatama Taisha is painted with red and white, looks very vivid from the surrounding greenery.
Although Kumano Hayatama Taisha is a UNESCO World Heritage site, it is admission free.
There is a big wooden Benkei (弁慶) statue inside Kumano Hayatama Taisha. Benkei was a Japanese warrior monk who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185).
Kumano Sanzan shrines are the Sōhonsha (総本社; head shrines) of all Kumano shrines, lie at between 20 and 40 km of distance one from the other and are connected by the pilgrimage route known as Kumano Sankeimichi (熊野参詣道).
There is an old shopping street and some old buildings around Kumano Hayatama Taisha, a good place to enjoy the nostalgic atmosphere.
