Spots in Wakayama

Each spot shows when its facts were last checked against official sources.

By prefecture:

HokkaidoHokkaido (60)

TohokuAomori (30)Iwate (30)Miyagi (40)Akita (30)Yamagata (30)Fukushima (30)

KantoIbaraki (30)Tochigi (30)Gunma (30)Tokyo (30)Kanagawa (30)

ChubuNiigata (30)Ishikawa (30)Yamanashi (30)Nagano (30)Gifu (30)Shizuoka (30)

KansaiMie (30)Kyoto (30)Osaka (30)Hyogo (30)Nara (30)Wakayama (30)

ChugokuHiroshima (30)

ShikokuKagawa (30)

Kyushu & OkinawaFukuoka (30)Nagasaki (30)Kumamoto (30)Oita (30)Okinawa (30)

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No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaAdventure WorldA theme park where you can meet many animals, with areas such as "Safari World" for land animals and "Marine World" for sea animals, and a "Play Zone" with a Ferris wheel, go-karts and a roller coaster. There are shows with dolphins and trainers and performances by sea lions, mini pigs and dogs, restaurants serving Wakayama ramen, and shops with panda-design sweets and Wakayama products.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKoya, WakayamaDanjo Garan (Koyasan)The first place Kobo Daishi Kukai developed when he opened Mt. Koya; built from 817 with his disciples, it took ten-odd to twenty years to complete. It is the centre of faith as "the place associated with Kobo Daishi" and symbolises the Womb Realm mandala. Visitors are advised to go round clockwise, past the Kondo (the main hall of Koyasan), the vermilion Konpon Daito pagoda and the Miedo where Kobo Daishi lived.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaEngetsu IslandA small island, about 130 m north-south, 35 m east-west and 25 m high, called "Engetsu-to" for the round moon-shaped hole in its middle and loved as the symbol of Shirahama. It is thought to have been shaped by waves over many years. Chosen as one of Japan's 100 best sunsets, in spring and autumn the setting sun can sometimes be seen framed in the hole.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKushimoto, WakayamaHashigui-iwa RocksAbout 40 large and small rock towers, about 15 m high, line up straight for about 850 m; sea erosion left only the hard parts, standing like the piles of a bridge. It is chosen among the "100 best sunrise spots in Japan", and the area is a breeding ground of the internationally rare Styan's grasshopper warbler. Legend says Kobo Daishi raced a demon to build a bridge overnight and set them up in one night.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKozagawa, WakayamaIchimai-iwa MonolithA single huge rock 100 m high and 500 m wide rising from the clear Koza River, a national natural monument and part of the "Kozagawa arc-shaped dike", the only one of Japan's 100 geological sites chosen in Wakayama. At the roadside station "Ichimaiiwa monolith" opposite you can eat game dishes and wild ayu from the Koza River while looking at the rock.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShingu, WakayamaKamikura ShrineA shrine halfway up Mt. Gongen (Mt. Kamikura), said to be where the Kumano deities first descended, and part of the World Heritage "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". Its sacred body is the huge "Gotobiki-iwa" rock, shaped like a frog, at the top of 538 steep stone steps said to have been donated by Minamoto no Yoritomo; from the top you look over the city and the Kumano Sea. It is the stage of the fire festival "Oto Matsuri" held on the night of February 6 every year.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKinokawa, WakayamaKokawa-dera TempleAn old temple known as the third of the 33 Saigoku Kannon temples, enshrining the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Kannon. Buildings such as the main hall, great gate, middle gate and Senju-do (Important Cultural Properties) dot the grounds; the main hall, of mid-Edo zelkova, is the largest of the 33 temples. A dry garden using the difference in ground levels is unusual, and the camphor tree of the Oo-jinja before the vermilion gate, over 1,000 years old, is a city natural monument.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKoya, WakayamaKongobu-ji TempleThe head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, near the centre of the mountain, overseeing all its affairs. It began as a temple Toyotomi Hideyoshi built for his mother and was renamed Kongobu-ji after merging with the neighbouring temple. There are the Great Hall with sliding-door paintings of pines and cranes and the "Willow Room" with willows and herons, also called the room where Toyotomi Hidetsugu took his own life; the "Banryutei" rock garden, about 2,340 m², is one of the largest in Japan.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShingu, WakayamaKumano Hayatama TaishaOne of the three Kumano shrines, with vivid vermilion buildings, registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". In the grounds is a 1,000-year-old nagi tree, a natural monument, and the Kumano Shinpokan holds about 1,000 National Treasures, such as Muromachi-period maki-e boxes and fans, some of which are on display.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetTanabe, WakayamaKumano Hongu TaishaOne of the three Kumano shrines, registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range"; in the past "the god of Kumano" meant Hongu. The shrine buildings of white wood with cypress-bark roofs are national Important Cultural Properties, and the treasure hall holds treasures such as the iron kettle, an Important Cultural Property. The Zuihoden, designed around the yatagarasu crow, symbol of Kumano faith, has a tea room, cafe and shop.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetNachikatsuura, WakayamaKumano Nachi TaishaTogether with Hayatama and Hongu, one of the three Kumano shrines, registered as part of the UNESCO World Heritage; the main halls are national Important Cultural Properties. The Kumano deities were once worshipped at the foot of Nachi Falls, and the shrine began when halls were built halfway up the mountain to welcome them and the god of the falls. Up 463 stone steps are six vermilion halls, and at the Miagatahiko-sha in the grounds the three-legged crow "yatagarasu" is enshrined. Weeping cherries bloom from late March to early April.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetWakayama, WakayamaKuroshio MarketA "tuna amusement market" in Wakayama Marina City, where a tuna-cutting show is held every day (twice a day on weekends) and you can eat freshly cut tuna. There are a shop of seafood landed in Wakayama, a hands-free BBQ with pre-cut ingredients, a food court with seafood bowls and sushi, and a Showa-retro interior.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKushimoto, WakayamaKushimoto Marine ParkWhere you can watch a coral sea mixing temperate and subtropical creatures. The aquarium, recreating Kushimoto's sea, shows about 4,000 creatures of about 400 species, with a 25 m underwater tunnel, and the Sea Turtle Park has turtles from hatchlings to giants over 100 kg. The semi-submersible boat "Stella Maris" and an underwater observation tower 6.3 m deep let you see into the sea.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaKyoto University Shirahama AquariumAn aquarium attached to Kyoto University's Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, with Japan's leading collection of invertebrates such as corals, shrimps, crabs and starfish; fish are also shown in a 250-tonne tank and a sunlit tank, and its academically rich content is popular.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetNachikatsuura, WakayamaNachi FallsRevered as the sacred body of Hiro Shrine, a separate shrine of Kumano Nachi Taisha. Also called "Ichi-no-taki", together with the second and third falls upstream it is known as "Nachi Otaki"; it is a national place of scenic beauty and one of Japan's three great waterfalls. It drops 133 m with about a tonne of water a second, 13 m wide, splitting into three streams, and from the "Otaki Haisho Butai" viewing stage you can see it head-on close up.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetIwade, WakayamaNegoro-ji TempleThe head temple of the Shingi Shingon school, with about 900 years of history, founded by Kakuban, a scholar-monk of Mt. Koya. Its "Daito", a National Treasure, is Japan's largest wooden pagoda, and the main image in the Daidenpodo, a Dainichi Nyorai, is an Important Cultural Property. The grounds cover about 3.5 million m², with cherry blossoms in spring and autumn leaves, and a garden designated a national place of scenic beauty with a natural waterfall and pond.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKimino, WakayamaOishi HighlandA prefectural natural park spanning Kimino and Aridagawa, with silver grass meadows and a great panorama from near the 870 m summit. The grass is at its best from early October to mid November - swaying silver in October and glowing gold in the morning and evening sun in November. The "Hiage-iwa" rock is a photo spot, and near the summit is the rest house "Yama no Ie Oishi" with a campground nearby.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKoya, WakayamaOkunoin (Koyasan)The site of the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi Kukai, one of Koyasan's two great sacred places with Danjo Garan and the centre of its faith. Kobo Daishi entered eternal meditation in 835 at the age of 62 and is believed to have continued it here for 1,200 years. The approach, lined with cedars over 700 years old, runs about 2 km from Ichi-no-hashi to the mausoleum past more than 200,000 memorial towers and gravestones of emperors' families, daimyo, writers and commoners; beyond the Gobyo-bashi bridge is the Toro-do lantern hall.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetTanabe, WakayamaOyunoharaThe former site of Kumano Hongu Taisha until the great flood of 1889 (Meiji 22), where gods are said to have descended.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKudoyama, WakayamaSanada-an TempleA temple associated with the Sanada warrior family. In the grounds are the Sanada Daigongen, where Sanada Masayuki is enshrined as a god, a stone with a Basho haiku about the Sanada, and the "lightning-sealing well" said to have been used by Yukimura; peonies, the town flower, bloom in May.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaSandanbeki CliffsA rock wall about 50 m high stretching about 2 km north-south on the coast south of Senjojiki, where waves crash spectacularly. Below is the "Sandanbeki Cave", reached by elevator, where you can watch the waves surge right in front of you.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetNachikatsuura, WakayamaSeiganto-ji TempleA Tendai temple known as the first of the 33 temples of the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage, Japan's oldest pilgrimage route, which flourished with Kumano Nachi Taisha as a place of combined Shinto and Buddhist worship; it became part of the World Heritage in 2004. The main hall, rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590 (Tensho 18), has Japan's largest waniguchi gong, donated by Hideyoshi. From behind the main hall, Nachi Falls and the vermilion three-storey pagoda can be seen together.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaSenjojikiA wide rock shelf said to be named because a thousand tatami mats could be laid on it. Sandstone deposited about 18 to 15 million years ago was eroded by waves over a long time into its unique landform, with white, soft rock spreading toward the Pacific. It is known for the sunset over the horizon.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaShirarahama BeachA beach where fine white sand continues for about 620 m, with emerald-green sea and palm trees along the shore; it is chosen as one of Japan's 100 best swimming beaches. Besides swimming there are events such as the summer fireworks with underwater star-mines, a seaside illumination from Halloween into winter, and beach yoga, and many day-trip hot springs nearby.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKozagawa, WakayamaTaki no HaiA 200 m rock bed pitted with countless holes made by the flowing water - "potholes", round hollows ground out by pebbles and currents. In the middle is the Taki no Hai waterfall, with a channel-like pool continuing downstream; in summer ayu crowd the basin, and fishing them with bare hooks ("ton-ton" fishing) is a summer tradition.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetKoya, WakayamaTokugawa Mausoleum (Koyasan)The mausoleum of the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and the second, Hidetada, built in 1643 by the third shogun Iemitsu. Two single-storey pyramid-roofed halls stand side by side - Ieyasu's on the right and Hidetada's on the left - decorated with carvings and maki-e, the carvings showing animals, plants and gods from myth.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetWakayama, WakayamaTomogashima IslandsFour small islands in the Kitan Strait - Jinoshima, Torajima, Kamishima and Okinoshima - together called "Tomogashima", with rich nature and brick ruins. On Okinoshima the former gun batteries remain as they were: the first battery near the summit has a fine view, near the white Western-style lighthouse; the second was blown up after the war; and you can go inside the third. It is 20 minutes by boat from Kada Port.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetShirahama, WakayamaToretore Ichiba MarketA seafood market where fish selected from Wakayama and around Japan arrive daily. Its tuna-cutting show is a highlight; restaurants and cafes serve seafood bowls and sashimi, and there is a BBQ corner where you can grill seafood, meat and vegetables sold in the market. It is inside the "Toretore Park" resort, with lodgings, hot springs and a fishing pond.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetWakayama, WakayamaWakayama CastleA castle on top of Mt. Torafusu in the centre of Wakayama, with a white three-tier main keep: the seat of the Kishu Tokugawa family, which produced the 8th shogun Yoshimune and the 14th shogun Iemochi. The present keep was rebuilt in 1958 (Showa 33) and looks over the city, the mountains and the Kii Channel. The Okaguchi gate is an Important Cultural Property, the Ohashi-roka corridor bridge slopes between two banks of different heights, and the Nishinomaru garden is fine with autumn leaves; there is also a zoo in the grounds.Official check: 26 Sept 2026
No photo yetWakayama, WakayamaWakayama Marina CityA resort island on the Wakayama coast, an artificial island full of attractions. Porto Europa, a free-entry theme park modelled on a medieval Mediterranean port, has 24 rides; Kuroshio Market is a tuna theme park with daily tuna-cutting shows; "Kinokuni Fruit Village" sells Wakayama fruit and produce; and "Kishu Kuroshio Onsen" has an open-air bath looking over the sea.Official check: 26 Sept 2026