Michi-no-Eki Oku-Kumano Kodo Hongu (Roadside Station)

Overview

Five minutes by car from Kumano Hongu Taisha, on the bank of the Kumano River, this roadside station is run by the local agricultural co-operative, JA Mikumano. That shapes what it is: less a souvenir hall than a well-stocked country supermarket, where crates of fresh vegetables and fruit sit alongside the gift boxes. The river running below is reason enough to pull in.

Hongu is tea country, and the shelves are given over to Otonashi tea (音無茶) grown around the pilgrimage town: a clean-tasting sencha pressed from the first flush, soft steamed cakes made with the same leaf, and a hojicha soft serve that carries a strong roasted-tea aroma — the thing to order if you stop only briefly. The kinzanji miso from a local maker (九六本店) is sought after enough that it generally has to be reserved.

The eat-in counter keeps to Kumano home cooking: mehari-zushi, rice balls wrapped in lightly pickled takana leaves, served in sets with udon or soba, alongside sansai soba with mountain vegetables, kitsune udon and a Kumano beef bento. The shop opens 9am to 6.30pm; the rest area runs 10am to 2pm on weekdays and until 5pm at weekends and on public holidays, with irregular closing days. Reckon on about two hours' drive from the Wakayama interchange.