Wakayama

Wakayama is a prefecture covering the western flank of the Kii Peninsula south of Osaka, where a castle city gives way to sacred mountains and Pacific beaches. Two of Japan's great spiritual journeys live here: the monastery lodgings of Koya-san and the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails.

Wakayama Castle rises on a hill in the capital, ringed by a strollable park, and the tuna market of Katsuura lands the Pacific fleet's catch at dawn. South along the coast, Shirahama pairs white sand with ancient hot springs, and Nachi Falls drops beside a pagoda in the sacred mountains.

Slurp Wakayama ramen in soy-pork broth and eat umeboshi plums from the orchards that supply the whole country. Limited express trains loop the peninsula's coast from Osaka, while buses climb inland to Koya-san. Give the prefecture three days if the pilgrimage trails are calling.