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| Wakayama-shi
is a small city (approx. 400,000 population) about an hour south
of Osaka. It's considered by most Japanese to be "hick"
country and the people here have their own intonation and accent
which are instantly recognizable by most Japanese. I was here for
all three years while I was on the JET
Program. Wakayama-ken is home to two very famous sites in Japan:
Nachi Falls and Koya-san.
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Nachi-noTaki
Falls is Japan's highest waterfall has a drop of 133m (436 feet).
Nachi Falls is actually a set of three waterfalls and here you can see
the
main falls with Nachi Taisha Shrine.
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Koya-san
is a cemetery and temple complex on a mountain. It is a "must-see"
on any trip to Japan. You can stay the night inside one of the
temples, have monks bring you vegetarian meals, join in their
morning prayers and meditations, and relax in the serenity of
the peaceful mountain environment.
Take
a couple days to fully explore the cemetery, the garan
(sacred precinct) and the woodland surroundings.
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Persimmons
or kaki
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Harvesting
bamboo shoots
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Wakayama
ume
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area surrounding most of Wakayama-shi is farmland. Rice, bamboo,
oranges, persimmons, and many others. Wakayama is particularly famous
for its ume, or plumb. Terribly bitter off the tree, it can
be pickled to make umeboshi, or fermented to make ume
juice. Every year I would help one of my JTEs bring in a crop of
bamboo shoots. I also went on a field trip to a local farm to pick
ume. A number of my teachers had small groves of oranges
or persimmons. But of course, acre for acre, there is more rice
growing than anything else. |
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with all Japanese towns and cities, Wakayama had many shrines. Here
is one shrine called Nichizengu, which was just a five minute bike
ride away from my apartment. |
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A
tori gate guards the entrance
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Before
entering the grounds it's necessary to cleanse one's hands at
the wash basin
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Wakayama-shi
also has its very own castle!
It is mostly a concrete reconstruction (because most of it got bombed
in WWII), but the grounds are very nice for hanami,
or Cherry Blossom parties. |
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A path in
the castle gardens
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Several
very interesting festivals take place around Wakyayama City.
Please
click on the above links to view details of these exciting festivals.
Another
small festival (that takes place in just about every town)
is an Autumn or Harvest Festival.
A re-enactment
of a battle between costumed warriors and a dragon
takes place after a procession of the townsfolk carrying a mikoshi.
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Many
people are dressed up for the occasion in colorful yukata
or hapi coats. After the procession and the battle, people
stroll between food and games stalls and pound mochi into mochi
cakes.
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And that's
about it for Wakayama! It's a small city and a very rural prefecture,
but I loved it there; the best of both worlds.
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