Visit Wakayama

The Shirahama-Kushimoto area, located in the south-west of Wakayama Prefecture, is famous as a resort area representative of western Japan. Visitors to this area can enjoy magnificent ocean scenery, including wonderful white-sand beaches and fantastically shaped rocks formed by stormy seas. It also appeals to more adventurous hearts, with a plethora of activities in the sea and rivers. You can even delight in meeting cute animals in a theme park that boasts the largest number of pandas reared in Japan. After making the most of this area’s natural world, recover in a historic hot spring and savor fresh seafood—visitors are almost certain to get lost in this area’s charms. This feature offers detailed information on how to make the most of the Shirahama-Kushimoto area!

The Shirahama-Kushimoto area is a place with extraordinary and beautiful seaside scenery, offering an expanse of thrilling views woven by its natural world. Here, you will find destinations where you can enjoy spectacles that are rare even in Japan. As this area reveals different facets of its appearance at different times and in different seasons, you’ll make new discoveries with each visit. For this article, we have selected some sightseeing spots that we particularly recommend to share with you!

<Seafood gourmet>

Savor fresh seafood cuisine in the Shirahama-Kushimoto area. There are various restaurants and markets where you can have your fill of fresh delights from the sea. For example, you will find an area selling fresh fish and shellfish in Toretore Market (Toretore Ichiba) and Fisherman’s Wharf in Shirahama Town, where you can enjoy kaisendon (seafood rice bowls) and barbeques. Depending on when you visit, you might see a dynamic event unique to Japan: a tuna cutting show. The specialty dish Ise-ebi tendon (spiny lobster tempura rice bowl) made using whole spiny lobster is a popular choice in Bentenmae Shokudo in Kushimoto Town. Extraordinary experiences of savoring local seafood delights await you in this area.

<Cafes>

The Shirahama-Kushimoto area (south Wakayama Prefecture) is well-known as a resort area in the Kansai region, and is the location of Shirarahama Beach. There are many stylish cafes where you can enjoy an indulgent moment of relaxation here. Cafes of various styles can be found in this area, including cafes where you can enjoy the sea, cafes overlooking Koibito-misaki Cape, and cafes with charming antique interiors. Find a cafe that you love and have a wonderful time there.

The Shirahama-Kushimoto area is located along a beautiful coastline, and is home to several unique aquariums where you can enjoy individual experiences. These include a facility specializing in displaying shrimp and crabs, an undersea tower from which you can see into the ocean waters (a facility that makes it feel like you are in the sea yourself), and a facility that focuses on displaying invertebrates. These aquariums offer valuable experiences, allowing you to actually touch and watch sea creatures as you learn about them. And this area has more than just sea creatures—you’ll also find a theme park in which around 1,600 animals (120 species) live on vast grounds, making this a great area for animal lovers.

Thanks to the effects of the Kuroshio Current, the Shirahama-Kushimoto area is a popular spot to see amazing coral reefs and colorful fish. There are plenty of different water activities here—you can enjoy diving or snorkeling, banana boats, canoeing, kayaking, and more. And it’s not just the sea, you can also have fun with activities on the clear-running rivers: have your fill of the natural world as you leisurely row a kayak on a wonderfully clear river surrounded by mountains. Make the most of activities both in the ocean and the river!

There are many hot springs that boast stunning locations in Wakayama. In the open-air bath Saki-no-yu Onsen by the sea, you can enjoy bathing where you can almost feel the spray from the waves. Michi-no-eki Susami’s attached Nozomi no Yu Onsen offers bathing from which you can see the wonderful Susami Hakkei, the eight views of Susami. Koubo Yu, where you can have the vast Pacific Ocean and sky all to yourself, is also popular. These hot springs enable you to enjoy magnificent ocean views. Then there’s Ebine Onsen, with a hot spring straight from the source, where you can make the most of river views of the splendid Hikigawa River. The beautiful scenery, so different to the ocean, is charming. Wakayama’s hot springs all boast excellent waters, and their gorgeous locations are also a major point of appeal. Emphasize the view when choosing a hot spring to enjoy a special experience.

As a place where much of the land faces the sea, the Shirahama-Kushimoto area holds a variety of events connected to the ocean. There are, for example, festivals where you can feel the history and culture of the area, including the Kouchi-matsuri Festival, a designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and the exciting Minato Matsuri Festival, where two boats race a distance of around 3.6 km. We also recommend these festivals to people with an interest in history. On top of this, the area has an abundance of events in each season. The summer sees firework displays on the coast, the magical Hashigui-iwa Rock light-up event takes place in the fall, and there is a large-scale fire festival, an event where the fields are burned, in the winter—a line-up of unmissable events. As you can enjoy these events all year round, you’ll have fun here whatever the season.

The Shirahama-Kushimoto area offers a large number of charms, including a magnificent natural world and relaxing hot springs. You’ll surely enjoy unforgettable experiences when you visit here. There are still plenty of sightseeing destinations that we haven't covered, so we have created several suggested itineraries. Use these to plan your trip!