Michi-no-Eki Ichimai-iwa monolith (Roadside Station)

Overview

Kozagawa, inland from Wakayama's southern coast, is a town of outsized rocks, and Ichimai-iwa is the largest of them: a single wall of stone roughly 100 metres high and 500 metres wide, counted among the biggest continuous rock faces in Japan and designated a national natural monument. The roadside station stands directly across the water from it, and reopened under the name monolith in June 2020.

The kitchen cooks what the town produces. Game is the speciality: the monolith burger is built on a patty of Kozagawa venison blended with minced beef and pork, dressed with a house sauce of tomato and local yuzu juice, thick-cut fried onion, cheese and lettuce. Ayu caught in the river are grilled with salt — the Kozagawa runs some 60 kilometres and is clear enough to see the bed. Seasonal dishes come and go, so check the station's own channels for what is on.

The station also lends out what you would otherwise have to carry. A barbecue set arrives with all the gear and the food, and staff will light the fire, set it up and clear away if you arrange it around ten days ahead; the rates quoted are ¥3,500 an adult and ¥2,500 a child, plus ¥1,000 per car, booked by telephone. Tent saunas and portable saunas can be hired in front of the rock, and there is canoeing and river tubing. Open 9.30am to 5pm on weekdays and from 8.30am at weekends and on holidays, with irregular closing days.