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Top Attractions in Wakayama Prefecture

Wakayama

Wakayama was founded on April 1, 1889. It is on the northern edge of Wakayama prefecture, nearest Osaka. Southern Wakayama Prefecture is largely rural. The city population rose from 382,155 in 2003 to 386,501 in 2004, a growth of 1.87%. The population density as of October 1, 2010, was 1,755.47 persons per km². The total area is 209.20 km². This population increase has occurred despite Wakayama's beleaguered economy, which has suffered since Sumitomo Steel moved much of its steel producing operations to China. The Wakayama steel mills have since been reduced and restructured, with part of the industry completely shutting in 2004. Wakayama is cleft in two by the Kinokawa River. The city is bordered at the north by mountains and Osaka Prefecture. In the city center is Wakayama Castle, built on Mt. Torafusu (the name means "a tiger leaning on his side") in a city central park. During the Edo period, the Kishū Tokugawa daimyo ruled from Wakayama Castle. Tokugawa Yoshimune, the fifth Kishū Tokugawa daimyo, became the eighth Tokugawa shogun. This castle is a concrete replica of the original, which was destroyed in World War II. Wakayama is home to one of Japan's three Melody Roads, which is made from grooves cut into the pavement, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body. Wakayama Prefecture is famous across Japan for its umeboshi, salty pickled plums, and mikan (tangerines). Wakayama has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot summers and cool winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year, and is greater in summer than in winter.

Nachi Falls

Nachi Falls in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, is one of the best-known waterfalls in Japan. With a drop of 133 meters, it is the countrys tallest water fall with single uninterrupted drop albeit the tallest waterfall with multiple drops in Japan is Hannoki Falls of 497 m, and Shomyo Falls of 350m . There are two rocks at the top of the falls that are the guardian kami of the falls and the Shinto shrine. There was also a Buddhist temple here that was destroyed during the Meiji Restoration . Many shugenja and star-crossed lovers have leaped from the top of the waterfall in the belief that they will be reborn into Kannon’s paradise. Early each morning the Shinto priest make offerings to waterfall in a beautiful and quietly dignified ritual. In 1918, a Sutra mound was excavated at the base of the waterfall and found to contain many important archaeological artifacts, including statues, mirrors, altar fittings and Sutra cylinders. These are now displayed in the Ryuhoden, located next to the Sanjūdō Pagoda . These Sutra mounds were created by priests in times of war to hide their treasures but also many items were buried in this way as a result of the belief that the end of the world was coming at the start of the 10th century. Believed to house a kami called Hiryū Gongen worshiped at Kumano Nachi Taisha, it is part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range" UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Jison-in

Jison-in is a Buddhist temple in the town of Kudoyama that marks the entrance to the pilgrimage route of Koyasan. It is part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range" UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Koyasan complex includes Kongobu-ji, built by Kūkai in 816 as the principal stage for esoteric Buddhism on an 800m high mountain basin, Jison-in, built as an administrative office to facilitate the construction and management of Kongobu-ji, Niukanshofu Jinja, constructed as a guardian shrine to protect the Niukanshofu estate of Kongobu-ji, and Niutsuhime Jinja, situated in the Amano basin between Kongobu-ji and Jison-in. Closely connected to Koyasan, it enshrines Koya Myōjin who, legend tells, gave land to Kūkai when he choose the compound of Kongobu-ji, and Niu Myōjin, who guided him, and all of them are connected by the pilgrimage route Koyasan Choishimichi.

Kongōbu-ji

Kongōbu-ji is the ecclesiastic head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, located on Mount Kōya, Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Its name means Temple of the Diamond Mountain. It is part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range" UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple was first constructed as Seigan-ji Temple in 1593 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the death of his mother, rebuilt in 1861, and given its present name in 1869. It contains many sliding screen doors painted by Kanō Tanyū and members of Kyotos Kanō school. The temples modern Banryūtei rock garden is Japans largest, with 140 granite stones arranged to suggest a pair of dragons emerging from clouds to protect the temple. As of 2013 the 412th abbot Yukei Matsunaga, who also acts as the supreme archbishop of the Koyasan Shingon sect, was incumbent.

Negoro-ji

The Negoro-ji complex of Buddhist temples stands on the side of, and is surrounded by, the sacred peaks of the Katsuragi Mountains which dominate the horizon at the northern end of the city of Iwade, Wakayama in Japan. In 1087, a man named En no Gyōja established this area as a center for promoting Buddhism. Hōfuku-ji, as it was originally called, was built with the contributions of a devotee known as Hōfuku-Chōja who lived in the vicinity. In 1132, the Ex-Emperor Toba donated this temple, along with nearby manors, to the famous high priest Kōgyō Daishi; this new estate was called Ichijō-zan Daidenpon Negoro-ji. Kōgyō-Daishi, widely renowned as the restorer of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, moved here with his pupils, from Mount Kōya. After settling at Negoro-ji, Kōgyō-Daishi laid out his far-sighted plans and initiated the construction of the Enmyō-ji and Jingū-ji within the Negoro-ji temple grounds. Even after his death, in 1143, the Negoro-ji complex was influential and prosperous as the head seminary for Shingi sect of Shingon Buddhism for another 200 years or so. During the height of its influence in the late Muromachi period, about 2700 temples stood on the mountainside in the spacious grounds of Negoro-ji. In 1585 however, every building except the main pagoda, and a few others, were burnt down during the Siege of Negoro-ji by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who feared the growing military power of the priesthood and the Negoro-gumi, warrior monks of the temple, who were skilled in the use of firearms. In 1623, the head of the Kii branch of the Tokugawa feudal clan, Tokugawa Yorinobu, initiated the reconstruction of the temple grounds, and through numerous re-buildings over many decades during the Edo period, the Negoro-ji was completely transformed.

Seiganto-ji

Seiganto-ji, Temple of the Blue Waves, is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2004, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other locations, under the name "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". According to a legend, it was founded by the priest Ragyō Shōnin, a monk from India. The temple was purposely built near Nachi Falls, where it may have previously been a site of nature worship. Seiganto-ji is part of the Kumano Sanzan shrine complex, and as such can be considered one of the few jingū-ji still in existence after the forcible separation of Shinto and Buddhism operated by the Japanese government during the Meiji restoration. It is Kansai Kannon Pilgrimages No.1 and an Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

Kumano Hongū Taisha

Kumano Hongū Taisha is a Shinto shrine located in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, deep in the rugged mountains of the Kii Peninsula of Japan. It is included as part of the Kumano Sanzan in the UNESCO World Heritage site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". The main deity enshrined is Kumano Gongen . All of the ancient Kumano Kodō Pilgrimage routes lead to this Grand Shrine. It was originally located at present Ōyunohara, on a sandbank at the confluence of the Kumano River and Otonashi River. In 1889 it was partially destroyed in a flood and the remaining shrine buildings were relocated at its present site. Of the original five main pavilions only three were rebuilt. Four deities were moved there and the other eight are still enshrined there in two stone monuments. In 2000, the largest Torii shrine gate in the world was erected at the entrance to the Oyunohara sandbank. It’s an official gateway that designates the entrance to a sacred area. It signifies the division of the secular and the spiritual worlds. This Torii is called Otorii, O means “big”, and is made of steel weighing 172 tons, which took about 6 months to make and another 6 months to assemble.

Kumano Nachi Taisha

Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Shinto shrine and part of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range of Japan. The Kumano Kodō route connects it to other sites under the same classification, which are primarily located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The four sites on the route, classified as pilgrimage destinations and World Heritage Sites, are: 1) Nachi Taisha; 2) Hongū Taisha; 3) Hayatama Taisha; 4) Koya-san. Kumano Nachi Taisha is also one of the three sacred Kumano Sanzan shrines: Nachi Taisha; Hongū Taisha; Hayatama Taisha. This classification is based mostly in Japanese history, as pilgrims would travel to all three sites to complete their pilgrimage. Kumano Nachi Taisha is an example of Buddhist and Shinto syncretism nestled in the Kii Mountains, near Kii Katsuura, Japan. Cedar forests surround the site. The Nachi Waterfall, worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha is believed to be inhabited by a kami called Hiryū Gongen. Also, there is a sacred tree at this site, Sacred Camphor Tree, which located between the Nachi Shrine and Seigantoji Temple. It is 850 years old and is said to have been planted by Taira-no-Shigemori . The straw rope and paper flags show that this tree has been sanctified as a kami. The tree is alive with moss and ferns and other small plants growing on its ancient limbs. It is possible to enter the tree where there is a small altar for making offerings – inside the tree you feel as though you actually hear the beating of its 800-year-old heart! Nachi-no-Hi Matsuri Fire Festival, performed on July 14 is the major festival of Kumano Nachi Taisha. It is a fire festival in which 6 meters high portable shrines symbolically representing that the waterfall are purified with the fires from over sized torches laboriously carried by men dressed in white.

Wakayama Castle

Wakayama Castle in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, sits at the mouth of the Kii River. Originally Ōta castle, home of the Saiga Ikki, it was captured by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585, during the Siege of Negoro-ji; many monks from Negoro-ji sought refuge in Ōta, which was soon destroyed by flood. Hideyoshi ordered the building of dams on three sides of the castle, focusing the rainwaters and diverting the river to ruin the castle. As hunger set in, the samurai, monks, and peasants inside Ōta surrendered, and fifty warrior monks led a final charge against Hideyoshis army, committing honorable suicide. Ōta was rebuilt as a temple for the Shushin branch of Japanese Buddhism, severed from its history as a home to warrior monks. Wakayama Castle was then built on the same site, under the supervision of Toyotomi Hidenaga, Hideyoshis brother, with Tōdō Takatoras participation. Asano Yoshinaga arrived in 1600 to serve as feudal lord, under Tokugawa Ieyasu. The castle was later attacked, in 1615, by forces loyal to Toyotomi Hideyori, who were trying to end the siege of Osaka. In the summer of 1615, parts of the Osaka garrison left the city, ambushing various elements of the Tokugawa forces. Ono Harunaga, Hanawa Naoyuki and Okabe Noritsuna led part of the garrison in attacking Wakayama Castle, held by Asano Nagaakira at the time. They had with them 3000 men, but the castle boasted 5000 in its garrison. Asanos men left the castle to meet the Western forces in what came to be known as the battle of Kashii. Hanawa and Okabe were killed, and Ono was forced to flee back to Osaka. The castles current appearance is the result of renovations made by Tokugawa Yorinobu, tenth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, in the early 17th century. At the end of the Edo period, in 1867, the feudal structure fell apart, and Wakayama Castle was opened to the public for the first time. The castle was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, but was rebuilt in 1958 out of concrete and is open to the public as a symbol of the city and historical site.

Mount Kōya

Mount Kōya is the name of mountains in Wakayama Prefecture to the south of Osaka. Also, Kōya-san is a modifying word for Kongōbu-ji . There is no mountain officially called Kōya-san in Japan. First settled in 819 by the monk Kūkai, Mt. Kōya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Kōyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located in an 800 m high valley amid the eight peaks of the mountain, the original monastery has grown into the town of Kōya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims. The mountain is home to the following famous sites: Okunoin, the mausoleum of Kūkai, surrounded by an immense graveyard Danjogaran, a heartland of Mt. Kōya. Konpon Daitō, a pagoda that according to Shingon doctrine represents the central point of a mandala covering not only Mt. Kōya but all of Japan Kongōbu-ji, the head temple of the Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism Kōyasan chōishi-michi, the traditional route up the mountain It also houses a replica of the Nestorian stele In 2004, UNESCO designated Mt. Kōya, along with two other locations on the Kii Peninsula, Yoshino and Omine; and Kumano Sanzan, as World Heritage Sites "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range". The complex includes a memorial hall and cemetery honoring Japanese who were imprisoned or executed for committing atrocities during World War II.

Hiro Hachiman-jinja

Hiro Hachiman-Jinjaformerly called “Hachimangū”, was famous as the shrine of Ubusuna-gami among those people who lived in the seven villages of the Hiro estate. It consists of four buildings: Honden, Wakamiya-sha, Kora-sha and Tenjin-sha. The main hall enshrines Hondawake-no-Mikoto, Tarashinakatsuhiko-no-Mikoto and Okinagatarashihime-no-Mikoto . Wakamiya-sha enshrines Ohsagi-no-Mikoto, Kora-sha enshrines Tekenouchi-no-Sukune. And Tenjin-sha Sugawara no Michizane, a great scholar, calligrapher, poet and politician in the Heian period. According to the Kii-Zoku-Fudoki, it was originally built during the reign of Emperor Kinmei. In 1585, its treasure house and other buildings were burnt down during the war caused by Toyotomi clan. It went through tough times until Asano Yukinaga took over Kishu in 1600 and made an offer to expand its land and additional property tax . Even after the Kishu Tokugawa started ruling Kishu, it was well protected financially over the years as Asano’s. It is dedicated to Shintoist and Buddhist deities and has massha, Tahōtō, Kagura-den, Shōrō and Kannon-dō along with the buildings in the premises today. However, those buildings were ordered removed when the Separation of Shintoism and Buddhism came into effect in the Meiji era. The current shrine buildings including the rōmon were restored and have regained the splendor of the past. Hiro Hachiman Jinja is unique because it includes the monument to the village’s hero: Goryo Hamaguchi. He is often called “Hamaguchi Daimyo-jin” by villagers and referred to as “A Living God” by Lafcadio Hearn in his Gleanings in Buddha Fields, because of his bravery acts when a big tsunami struck the area in 1854. Its inscription was made by Katsu Kaishu and the calligraphy was written by Iwaya Ichiroku.

Shingū

Shingū is a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on October 1, 1933. As of May 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 32,288, with 16,003 households and a population density of 126.41 persons per km². The total area is 255.43 km2 . Shingū literally means 'New Shrine' and refers to Hayatama Shrine, one of the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano . The 'old shrine' would be Kamikura Shrine. Shingū is the central commercial city of the Kumano Region in Japan where Shingū Station is situated, and is one of the largest cities in Wakayama Prefecture. It is a sister city to Santa Cruz, California. Each Spring, The City of Santa Cruz sends about 14 middle school/ high school delegates to visit Shingū and to interact with the Japanese society. On October 1, 2005 the town of Kumanogawa (from Higashimuro District) was merged with Shingū.

The Cove

The Cove is a 2009 documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos which analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills, change Japanese fishing practices, and to inform and educate the public about the risks, and increasing hazard, of mercury poisoning from dolphin meat. The film is told from an ocean conservationist's point of view. The film highlights the fact that the number of dolphins killed in the Taiji dolphin drive hunting is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and asserts that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year by the country's whaling industry. The migrating dolphins are herded into a cove where they are netted and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats. The film argues that dolphin hunting as practiced in Japan is unnecessary and cruel. Since the film's release, The Cove has drawn controversy over neutrality, secret filming, and its portrayal of the Japanese people. The film was directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos. Portions were filmed secretly in 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks. The documentary won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. It was selected out of the 879 submissions in the category.
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