Experience the best of Wakayama

Wakayama is the capital of Wakayama Prefecture, on the Kii Channel at the mouth of the Kino River, and was the seat of the Kishu branch of the Tokugawa family. Its castle, rebuilt in concrete after the Second World War, stands on a hill in the middle of town with a garden and views toward the sea. Kimiidera, a hillside temple above Wakaura Bay on the Saigoku pilgrimage, is reached by a long stone stairway.

Wakanoura, a sheltered bay with shrines around its shore, is a short ride from the centre. Mount Koya, the Shingon Buddhist headquarters with temple lodgings and a vast forest cemetery, lies inland to the east, and the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes run farther south toward Nachi Falls and the beach and hot-spring resort of Shirahama. Kansai airport sits on an island across the bay to the north.

Wakayama ramen has a soy and pork-bone broth, often eaten with pressed mackerel sushi on the side. The prefecture is Japan's leading grower of mikan mandarin oranges, picked from November, and its umeboshi come from the plum groves of Minabe, white with blossom in February.