The Owase-Kumano area offers sightseeing spots such as Kumano Kodo, Shiroyama Park, and Nunobiki Falls; sightseeing events such as the Kumano Grand Fireworks Festival, Owase Yaya Festival, and Kihoku Lantern Festival; and local delicacies such as Akafuku, Ichigo Daifuku, and Aosasan.
Owase is known as the area with the highest rainfall in Japan and is located in the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nearby are "Nachi Falls" and various sightseeing spots along "National Route 42." Driving by car, you can see very beautiful scenery during the fall foliage season.
The Kumanonada Sea is mainly a fishing area along the rias coast, and marine products are the largest source of income for tourism. Local cuisine is also dominated by marine products. The offshore area of the Pacific Ocean is a good fishing ground for the Kuroshio Current, so all marine products are extremely delicious, making this area a must-see for gourmets.
Owase also has a thriving forestry industry, but while production has been declining recently, quality has been reviewed and efforts to create new products have begun.
The "Kumano Kodo" is so well-known for its historical exploration that it was used for the purpose of worship, but even these days there are many people who take a stroll along it in search of traces of the past. It is a famous story that this pilgrimage was compared to "ants' Kumano Pilgrimage. Pilgrimage to the three Kumano mountains, Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha, is called Kumano Pilgrimage.
Surprisingly few people know that Owase is home to many famous people, including Xufuku, who is said to have introduced rice cultivation to Japan, Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who promoted the Japan-Song trade, Izanami no Mikoto, the god who is said to have laid the foundation of Japan, and Tamuramaro Sakagami, who was known as a warrior. It is a fact.
There are many sightseeing spots related to these people and others, including the "Kumano Kodo Center," which tells the history of the entire Kumano Kodo, "Hana no Kutsu Shrine," which has a 70-meter-high sacred rock, and "Yangji Yakushido," which is associated with Emperor Goshirakawa.
Gourmet foods include Owase's specialty "Honkarasumi (dried mullet roe)" and fresh local fish, which are sold as souvenirs for travelers using the Kumano Kodo route. In particular, "sanma-zushi" is a rare delicacy, a unique gourmet dish that can only be made with fresh ingredients.
Kiji nabe (pheasant hotpot) is a dish of Kiwacho which uses pheasants raised in an outdoor farm of 1ha big. The light taste with little fat is the characteristic. The hotpot can be enjoyed in winter as its best, and when adding the pheasant meat and vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, spring onions or carrots in the soup made of bonito and kelp, the softness and fragrant of the pheasant meat make ...»
The local food transmitted to Higashi Kishu "saury sushi". The saury which can be passed in this area says that it's suitable for sushi and dried fish because there is little fat. A saury drops a head, takes having within down from a handle in three, does salty taste and pickles cutting into round slices of citron in the vinegar put in. It's a point to pickle and not to pickle time too much in abo...»