Wakayama, on the Kii Peninsula south of Osaka, is Japan's spiritual heartland: it holds the Buddhist monastery town of Koyasan and the ancient Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails, both part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range." Its rugged coastline adds hot-spring resorts, white-sand beaches, and Nachi Falls, Japan's tallest waterfall at 133 meters.
Wakayama (和歌山) is sacred ground: Kōbō Daishi founded the Kōyasan (高野山) monastery in 816, and the Kumano (熊野) shrines anchor pilgrimage routes walked for over a millennium — both UNESCO-listed.
Photos: Koyasan — speedoflife via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes — T-KIMURA via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Nachi Falls — Big Ben in Japan via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shukubo temple stay at Koyasan — DocChewbacca via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Kōyasan is ~2h from Osaka by train and cablecar.
Top pick
Top pick
Wakayama Ramen (Chuka Soba)
Wakayama City's signature ramen with a rich pork-bone and soy sauce (tonkotsu-shoyu) broth and thin off-white noodles; locals call it chuka soba. Often eaten…
Umeboshi (Nanko-ume pickled plums)
Wakayama produces about 60% of Japan's ume; the prized Nanko variety makes the country's best-known umeboshi and umeshu plum wine. A core local souvenir and…
Must-eatShojin-ryori (Buddhist cuisine at Koyasan)
Vegetarian temple cuisine free of meat, fish, onion and garlic, served at Mount Koya temple lodgings; uses goma-dofu (sesame tofu) and seasonal mountain…
Wakayama at a glance
Next door
Links marked PR are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Photos: Kōyasan temple town — Yudai_photography via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Koyasan — speedoflife via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes — T-KIMURA via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Nachi Falls — Big Ben in Japan via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shukubo temple stay at Koyasan — DocChewbacca via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Koyasan — Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Global Photo Archive via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes — panpanzupan via FIND/47, CC BY 4.0 · Nachi Falls — Big Ben in Japan via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Shojin-ryori — Charles Haynes from Jizo Cafe at the San Francisco Zen Center via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Map: Geolonia (MIT).
