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May 20, 2012 The Japan Times
Tourists raft down the Kitayama River, a branch of the Kumano River, in Kitayama, Wakayama Prefecture,
as the year's rafting season kicked off Saturday. Long ago, rafts were used to transport lumber. Now they
draw some 8,000 visitors every year.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=detail005_01_img.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/detail005_01_img.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The Kumano River is part of the Kumano Kodo and is the only waterway on the planet that is registered as a
UNESCO World Heritage Pilgrimage route.
The Kitayama River is in the Yoshino Kumano national park, that is also an important water way where people
took log rafts down the river since long time ago.
This is the only place in Japan where tourists can experience logging rafts. Feel the soul-stirring paddling of
rafters as you go down the swift currents of the Kitayama River. Its origin is in lumber transportation in which
felled lumber was assembled into rafts and brought to the mouth of the river. This practice was done for over
600 years.
Tourists raft down the Kitayama River, a branch of the Kumano River, in Kitayama, Wakayama Prefecture,
as the year's rafting season kicked off Saturday. Long ago, rafts were used to transport lumber. Now they
draw some 8,000 visitors every year.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=detail005_01_img.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/detail005_01_img.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
The Kumano River is part of the Kumano Kodo and is the only waterway on the planet that is registered as a
UNESCO World Heritage Pilgrimage route.
The Kitayama River is in the Yoshino Kumano national park, that is also an important water way where people
took log rafts down the river since long time ago.
This is the only place in Japan where tourists can experience logging rafts. Feel the soul-stirring paddling of
rafters as you go down the swift currents of the Kitayama River. Its origin is in lumber transportation in which
felled lumber was assembled into rafts and brought to the mouth of the river. This practice was done for over
600 years.
