A curated travel journal from Japan's Kii Peninsula

Best things to do in Wakayama

Attractions, Itineraries & Day Trips

Wakayama occupies the Kii Peninsula, the mountainous thumb of land south of Osaka — close enough to reach in an hour, remote enough to keep its secrets. This is where Japan goes on pilgrimage: to Koyasan's monastery town, along the Kumano Kodo trails, to the great waterfall at Nachi. It is also where Japan holidays quietly — white-sand onsen resorts, tuna harbours, and the town that gave the country soy sauce. We gather the best local Japanese-language writing about all of it, so you can travel deeper than the guidebooks go.