Michi-no-Eki Mushikui-iwa (Roadside Station)

Overview

Kozagawa is a town of river gorges and forest, inland from Wakayama's southern coast, and this small roadside station stands directly in front of Mushikui-iwa — a rock face so riddled with hollows that its name means 'insect-eaten rock'. It is a nationally designated natural monument, and because the station is run by the town's tourism association, it doubles as Kozagawa's information point.

Wind and rain cut those hollows into part of the Kozagawa arc-shaped dike, the underground remains of a caldera formed here some fifteen million years ago, and the formation is listed among Japan's hundred notable geological sites. Local tradition tells it differently: the pits are said to be the bite marks of the demon from the legend of the guardian dog of Ichimai-iwa, eating into the rock from the east. Thread a string through a pebble with a hole in it and make a wish, and ailments of the ear are said to heal — the pebbles gather at the Kannon hall below.

The shop keeps to what Kozagawa grows and hunts: yuzu juice and jelly, keema curry and bolognese made with local venison, and rose jam. The station is a registered Wakayama Cycle Station, so you can hire a bicycle for the Myojin low-water bridge nearby, or for the Kumano cherry trees that bloom around the town in spring. Tourist information opens at 9am and the shop at 10am, both until 5pm.