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Wakayama is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, at the mouth of the Kinokawa River where the Kii Peninsula meets the Kii Channel. It lies about an hour by train south of Osaka, and is home to around 350,000 people.
The city grew as the castle town of the Kishū Tokugawa, one of the three senior branches of the shogun's family, who ruled from Wakayama Castle through the Edo period. The castle keep burned in the air raids of 1945 and was rebuilt in 1958, but its stone walls, moats and garden of autumn leaves still fill the center of the city.
South of the center, the bay of Waka-no-ura has been praised in poetry since the Man'yōshū anthology of the 8th century, with old shrines, a stone bridge and the hillside temple of Kimii-dera. To the north and west, the fishing town of Kada looks out to the wild Tomogashima islands, and the cliffs of Saikazaki offer some of the finest sunsets on the coast.
Wakayama Castle crowns the 49-meter Mount Torafusu in the center of Wakayama, first built in 1585 and later the seat of the Kishū branch of the Tokugawa. Its keep burned in the air raids of 1945 and was rebuilt in concrete in 1958, while its old stone walls and moats still ring the hill.
Momijidani Garden is the West Bailey garden of Wakayama Castle in Wakayama, built in the early Edo period by Tokugawa Yorinobu, first lord of the domain. Its ponds, waterfall and inner moat are framed by maples that turn red in autumn, and a covered bridge to it was rebuilt in 2006.
The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama stands just east of Wakayama Castle in Wakayama, in a building by Kurokawa Kishō opened in 1994 beside the Prefectural Museum. Its collection of more than 10,000 works is known for 13 oil paintings by Saeki Yūzō and for artists from the region.
Wakayama Prefectural Museum sits beside the Museum of Modern Art near the castle in Wakayama, in the same building by Kurokawa Kishō opened in 1994. Its exhibits trace the history of the province of Kii, from ancient life to Mount Kōya, the Kumano shrines and the treasures of the Kishū Tokugawa.
Kishū Tōshō-gū is the shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu on a hillside above the bay of Waka-no-ura in Wakayama, finished in 1621 by his son Yorinobu. A long flight of stone steps leads to its richly carved and lacquered halls, once called the Nikkō of Kansai, which look out over the bay.
Tamatsushima Shrine stands at the foot of a small hill on the bay of Waka-no-ura in Wakayama, honored since the time of Emperor Shōmu, who visited in 724. It was revered as one of the three gods of waka poetry, and the hill behind it gives a view over the bay praised in the Man'yōshū.
Furōbashi Bridge is a stone arch bridge over an inlet of Waka-no-ura in Wakayama, finished in 1851 on the road used by the Tokugawa lords in the festival of Kishū Tōshō-gū. Built by stonemasons from Higo in Kyushu, it has railings carved with cloud patterns and is rare outside Kyushu.
Kimii-dera is a hillside temple on Mount Nakusa above Waka-no-ura in Wakayama, the second stop on the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage of 33 temples. A steep stair climbs to its halls with a wide view of the bay, and its three springs and early cherry blossoms draw crowds each spring.
Awashima Shrine stands by the sea in the fishing town of Kada in northern Wakayama, the head shrine of about 1,000 Awashima shrines across Japan. Some 20,000 dolls given by people from all over the country crowd its grounds, and each March 3 old dolls are set adrift on the sea in boats.
Tomogashima is a group of four uninhabited islands in the strait off Kada in Wakayama, reached by ferry from Kada port and part of the Setonaikai National Park. Okinoshima, the largest, has a lighthouse from the early Meiji era and overgrown brick forts of the old army along its hiking trails.
Saikazaki is a fishing village of houses stacked on the hills around a harbor in southwest Wakayama, often called the Amalfi of Japan. On its western cape, Bandokoro Garden is a lawn on the site of a Kishū domain lookout, facing the small islands of the bay and known for its sunsets.
Wakayama Marina City is a resort on an artificial island in the bay south of central Wakayama, built for the World Resort Expo held here in 1994. It holds the European-style harbor town of Porto Europa, a hotel and spa, and the Kuroshio Market, where fresh tuna is cut up in shows for visitors.
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