Regions & prefectures
JapanRegions & prefectures
Wakayama
The monks’ mountain, the Kumano pilgrimage trails and umeboshi plums.
- Capital
- Wakayama
- Status
- Prefecture
- Region
- Kansai
- Must-see
- Mount Kōya and the Okunoin cemetery
- Local specialty
- Umeboshi, mikan oranges, Wakayama ramen
Kūkai founded a monastery on Mount Kōya in 816 that now counts a hundred and seventeen temples, some fifty of which lodge visitors. The Kumano Kodō trails, walked for a thousand years by retired emperors and peasants alike, form with the Camino de Santiago one of only two pilgrimage networks on the World Heritage list. The peninsula also grows 60 % of Japan’s ume plums.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.