Wakayama Prefecture offers tourist attractions such as Kumano Kodo, Koyasan, and Momogen-go, tourist events such as Tenjin Festival, Tanabata Festival, and Aoba Festival, and local delicacies such as Wakayama Ramen, Kama-age Shirasu, and Sasa Sushi.
Wakayama Prefecture is located on the western side of the Kii Peninsula. Known as Kii no Kuni, the land was ruled by the Kishu Tokugawa family, one of the three great families of Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). It is also called "Ki no Kuni" (Land of Wood) because of the mountainous terrain in the southern part of the prefecture.
Wakayama Castle, the residence of the Kishu Tokugawa family, is located in Wakayama Castle Park, where the main and secondary castle towers, turrets, gates, and the Otemon Gate have been restored and are a popular tourist attraction.
Wakayama Prefecture is also home to Negoroji Temple, which was the center of a group of ninja called the Negoroshu. The monks and soldiers of Negoroji Temple during the Warring States period eventually became the Negoroshu and became famous throughout history, making the area interesting for fans of the history of the Warring States period.
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, consisting of Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan, Yoshino-Omine, Kumano Pilgrimage Route, Koyasan Machishimichi, and Omine Okugakemichi, are designated World Heritage sites and Wakayama Prefecture is included. Therefore, there are also Wakayama World Heritage Center exhibition facilities where visitors can learn about the history and nature of Kumano.
Koyasan, which is said to have been opened by Kobo Daishi Kukai in the Heian period (794-1185) as a place for ascetic practices, is a mountain of faith along with Hieizan in Kyoto. Today, temples and other structures are clustered around the Danjo Garan, and there are as many as 117 temples in Koyasan, including Kongobuji Temple, the head temple of the Koyasan Shingon sect.
Many of them are shukubo, where tourists can stay and enjoy vegetarian cuisine, guest rooms, baths, etc. Each shukubo has its own garden and other characteristics. Since each shukubo has its own garden and other unique features, visitors can enjoy choosing which shukubo they would like to stay at.
In addition to enjoying history and nature, a resort area called Wakayama Marina City was built on a man-made island in Wakayama Bay off the coast of Mekimi, Wakayama City, with facilities such as "Porto Europe" and "Royal Pines Hotel" and a yacht club, and has more than one million residents.
Wakayama has some products that were born in Wakayama Prefecture and spread throughout the country. One such product is koya-dofu, a preserved food made from freeze-dried tofu that is said to have spread throughout the country as a vegetarian food.
Dried plums are a specialty of Wakayama Prefecture, and the dried plums produced in Minabe-cho and Tanabe-shi are made from a variety of plum called Nanko-ume, which is recommended as a top quality product by the prefecture. If you like pickled plums, this is a good souvenir to bring back from your sightseeing trip.
This is a rare theme park in Japan that combines a zoo, an aquarium, and an amusement park.With the theme of interaction between humans, animals, and nature, visitors can see up close approximately 1,550 marine and land animals living in their natural habitat. Several giant pandas are bred here, and most of them were born in Adventure World. Visitors can see pandas spending their time freely in a...»
One of the three most famous waterfalls in Japan, this 133-meter-high waterfall breaks through a deep primeval forest. The drop is the highest in Japan. It is also called "San-suji-no-taki" (three-suji waterfall) because there are three cuts in the bedrock at the choshi (choshi mouth), and the waterfall begins to fall in three separate drops. The waterfall is revered as the sacred body of Tobitaki...»
Shirarahama is a beautiful beach with pure white, silky sand, emerald green sea, and a beautiful arc of sand in the shape of a bow that stretches 620 meters. It is one of the best beaches in the Kinki region, crowded with bathers during the summer, and the beach usually opens on May 3, the earliest day in Honshu (mainland Japan). The scenery of palm trees reminds one of Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, ...»
The shrine is dedicated to the Nachi Waterfall. There is no main shrine or hall of worship, but rather a place of worship located approximately 200 meters in front of the waterfall with a short roughly woven stone divider. Legend has it that touching the spray from the waterfall is said to have a miraculous power to prolong life and longevity. The grounds and Nachi Falls are part of the UNESCO W...»
Daimon-zaka is a particularly picturesque stone-stair and stone-paved path that retains the most colorful trace of the former Kumano Kodo (Kumano ancient pilgrimage route). As the approach to Kumano Nachi-taisha Shrine and part of the Kumano Kodo (Kumano Pilgrimage Route) Nakaheji, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for a "road" that pilgrims have walked for more than 1,000 years, which is rare i...»
The four islands of Jinojima, Torashima, Kamijima, and Okinoshima are collectively called Tomogashima. On clear days, Awaji Island and Rokko can be seen. The island was used as a military fortress from the Meiji Era until World War II. Even today, there are ruins of gun emplacements and other structures reminiscent of that history. The island is home to deer, squirrels, peacocks, and other animals...»
Koyasan is a training center for Shingon esoteric Buddhism, founded by Kobo Daishi about 1,200 years ago, and home to the head temple Kongobuji. Koya was registered as a World Heritage site as "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Various halls and pagodas stand in a mountain basin at an altitude of about 900 meters, and Buddhist statues and mandalas welcome worshippers. I...»
Kongobuji Temple is the head temple of the Koyasan Shingon sect. The building with a grand entrance was rebuilt in 1863. The main hall is a large structure with 30 east-west rooms and 35 north-south rooms. In the hall, there is a sliding door painting by Kano Tanyu, "Pine trees and cranes", and in the willow room, where Toyotomi Hidetsugu committed suicide, "Snowy willows and white eagle" by Kano ...»
It is one of the three oldest hot springs in Japan, and was called "Muro no Yu" in old documents. Hot spring facilities, hotels, and inns line the coast around Shirahama, a beach of pure white and silky sand. Nanki-Shirahama Onsen can be subdivided into Shirahama, Yuzaki, Oura, Koga-ura, Tsunafuji, and Shirahama hot spring resorts, and hot springs are scattered over a wide area. The surrounding...»
Seiganto-ji Temple was developed as an integral part of Kumano Nachi-taisha Shrine and is the first temple of the pilgrimage to the 33 sacred places of the Kannon Sacred Shrine in the western part of Japan. The name of the mountain is Mount Nachi. The principal deity is Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu.It is the first of the 33 temples in the western part of Japan. The main hall was rebuilt by Hideyoshi T...»
Along the Oto River, a tributary of the Kumano River, is a simple hot spring with a series of inns, restaurants, and public bathhouses on the north bank. The 500 meter section of the Oto River in this area is a rare spot where hot spring water springs from the bottom of the river. If you dig in the sand of the riverbed, hot spring water springs up instantly, and you can create your own original ...»
Kumano Nachi Taisha enshrines the Kumano Junisho Gongen, whose main deity is Kumano-Osumi no Mikoto (another name for Izanami-no-mikoto). The shrine is also home to the Karasu-ishi (crow stone), which is said to have been transformed into a stone by Yatagarasu (a three-legged crow), and an 850 year old camphor tree. The shrine is said to be blessed with good health, longevity, and the fulfillment ...»
Kumano Hongu Taisha is the head shrine of Kumano Shrines throughout Japan. Among the three mountains, Kumano Hongu Taisha has a particularly ancient atmosphere. Walking along the "Nakaheji Road," one of the most popular pilgrimage routes in Kumano, you will arrive at Kumano Hongu Taisha at the end of a difficult and arduous journey. In 1995, the shrine pavilions were designated as National Impor...»
This strangely shaped islet with a gaping hole in the center of the island is located in Rinkaiura, the symbol of Nanki-Shirahama. The sunset view is exceptionally beautiful, and the island is known as a famous place for its evening scenery. During the spring and autumnal equinoxes, the sunset can be seen through the hole in the center of the island. The island measures 130 meters from north to ...»
The large white bedrock has been eroded by the rough waves and has become sloped, giving the impression of a wide rock pavement, just as the name "Senjyojiki" implies. The blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the large white soft bedrock made of sandstone that juts out from the tip of Setozaki toward the Pacific Ocean create a magnificent view. The sunset from this spot is famous for its beauty,...»
The three cliffs are the most dramatic cliffs in Wakayama Prefecture, cutting off the hills of the flat prairie into the Pacific Ocean....»
This is a sea-eroded cave that stretches 36 meters underground in the scenic Sandanbei Cave in the Kumano Karekinada Coastal Prefectural Natural Park. Visitors can take an elevator from the ground to the cave to view the cave interior, which stretches 200 meters and includes a replica of a guardhouse based on historical documents, the largest Bensaiten (Sarasvati) in Japan, and the remains of the...»
Wakayama Castle was originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585 by his younger brother Hidenaga. The castle was rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu's tenth son, Yorinobu, and remained the residence of the three Tokugawa families for 250 years until the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912). The current castle tower was rebuilt in 1958, but the inner moat filled with still water and the stonewalls surrounding th...»
The deity is a huge rock on the mountain called Gotobiki Iwa, which is a regent shrine of Kumano Hayatama-taisha Shrine. Date of foundation: Yamato ...»
Kumano Hayatama-taisha is the head shrine of several thousand Kumano shrines enshrined throughout Japan as one of the Kumano Sanzan. The shrine enshrines two deities, Osumi and Hayatama, and has a hall of sacred treasures containing more than 1,000 treasures of the shrine and a giant tree of the nagi (Japanese cedar), a natural monument. The shrine is also home to a hall of sacred treasures cont...»
Yunomine Onsen is the oldest hot spring in Japan with a history of approximately 1,800 years, and has long been known as a place for travelers on pilgrimages to Kumano to purify themselves and rest. It was discovered around the 4th century, and later made its name known throughout Japan through the Kumano pilgrimages of successive emperors. There is a public bathhouse in the center of the spa to...»
The oldest hot spring in Japan with a history of about 1,800 years, Yunomine Onsen has long been known as a place of purification and rest for travelers on pilgrimages to Kumano. It was discovered around the 4th century, and later made its name known throughout Japan through the Kumano pilgrimages of successive emperors. The hot spring resort town, with its therapeutic hot spring atmosphere, is ...»
Kawayu Onsen is famous for its hot spring water that gushes out when the riverbank is dug.Hot water also gushes into the river, and bubbles can be seen rising from the bottom of the river. In winter, when the river's flow rate is low, a huge open-air bath is created by holding back the river.The temperature is adjusted to around 40°C by drawing in the clear water of the Oto River into the 73°C sp...»
A dish of deep-fried whale meats which are seasoned with shoyu and ginger juice, and coated with katakuriko (starch). Kujirano tatsutaage used to be a staple food as an important source of protein in the postwar period in Japan. It is said that the history of whaling in Japan started in Taiji town in Wakayama Prefecture back in the Edo period. However, there is a written record of whales exchanged...»
One of the local traditional foods of Wakayama Prefecture. It is said that Sabanonarezushi has a long history of over 800 years, and it has been a special dish for autumn festivals and local events in the Arita and Hidaka areas, and the cooking technique has been also passed down for generations. Saba is put on sushi rice, then wrapped with Ase leave, packed into sushioke, pressed with a weight, a...»
A specialty food "Sechiyaki" from Gobou City, Wakayama Prefecture, is a pan-fried yakisoba and eggs like okonomiyaki but without using flour. It was born in a small okonomiyaki restaurant in Gobou City "Sechiyaki Yamashita" 45 years ago, and the name "sechiyaki" came after a dialect "sechigau" meaning "mixing-up" or "teasing." The restaurant Yamashita was a mom-and-pop shop serving grilled foods. ...»
Nachikatsuura City is one of the biggest producers of tuna in Japan. The city is known for its number of the tunas caught, and the tuna has a reputation for its taste. Magurochutoro katsudon is made with chutoro finished up like katsudon. Inside the crunchy batter coating, you will find tender rare tuna. The flavor of tuna comes after the crunchy texture of batter coating, so you can enjoy this di...»