Spirituality in Nature with AI Agents at Kumano Kodo: The Impact of AI Workcation in a Sacred Land

At the end of May 2025, while walking along the Kumano Kodo — a UNESCO World Heritage pilgrimage route in the mountains of Wakayama, Japan — Kouji Miki discovered an unprecedented possibility for a new way of working. It was a completely new style: working while walking in sacred nature with an AI agent as a partner. Using the AI agent "Manus" on his smartphone, Miki wrote event proposals and press releases while climbing ancient mountain paths.

What would normally take hours at a desk was completed between rest stops, with the AI working while he walked through deep forests filled with birdsong and the sound of wind through trees. The results were remarkable. Not only was productivity two to three times higher than normal desk work, but the quality of creative output was dramatically better.

Walking in nature activated the brain, fresh air and phytoncide cleared thinking, and the rhythm of walking synchronized with the rhythm of thought — producing clearer instructions and more essential ideas. This experience is backed by data. The Japan Brand Image Research, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, revealed that what foreigners seek most in Japan today is "Spirituality in Nature" — not temples, not technology, but the spiritual connection with the natural world that Japan has cultivated for millennia.

The article also recounts a mystical encounter: after dedicating a Shinobue flute performance to the Dragon God at Takahara Kumano Shrine, a massive dragon-shaped cloud appeared at dawn the next morning — as if in response. And during the same trip, an AI solved an international payment problem that had been unresolved for over a year, simply by reading a Swedish receipt and identifying a reversed bank number. From this experience, Miki introduces "Anbling" — a new concept of opening the mind through walking together in nature, where invisible walls between people naturally break down and creative connections emerge.

Technology and the sacred can coexist. Japan's rich natural spirituality, combined with cutting-edge AI, offers a new model for working and living that the world has never seen.