Visit Wakayama

 When the tide comes in at Wakanoura,
 the flats disappear beneath the sea.
 Toward the reed beds,
 the cranes cry as they fly.

So wrote Yamabe no Akahito, one of the great poets of the Man’yoshū collections. Appearing and disappearing with the rise and fall of the tide, the tidal flats of Wakanoura change from moment to moment. The scenery captivated Akahito and other influencers of the age (from poets to court nobles), and became the subject of countless popular songs in the form of waka poetry. Today, these same flats attract a very different kind of vocalist.

“Look, over there! That’s a Japanese rock thrush. And beside it, a white wagtail. Listen closely. Such a delicate voice, isn’t it? The bird perched on those blocks over there is a buff-bellied pipit. And beyond that, on the sandbar, there’s a grey heron.”

Walking leisurely through the Japanese garden along the beach, binoculars in hand, Mamoru Nakagawa, who has been birdwatching for over 40 years, begins identifying the birds around us one after another.

Where? The brown one? While we are still trying to catch up, Nakagawa’s binoculars have already found another species. Sound creator Nagipan, holding a microphone and recorder in one hand and binoculars in the other, is just as absorbed, peering through the lenses.

Binoculars from West Coast brand" Nocs Provisions" are designed to double as a telephoto lens for smartphones, making them ideal for Birding.　

We begin at Kagamiyama, within the grounds of Tamatsushima Shrine, and Tenkuyama, just behind the shrine. From these small hills, where emperors are said to have stopped without fail on their pilgrimages to Kumano since the Man’yo era, the tidal flats of Wakanoura and the surrounding mountains open into view.

The flats before us are among the largest in the Kinki region, a richly diverse environment where around 300 species live side by side.

Tamatsushima Shrine, where emperors and court nobles are said to have prayed for skill in waka poetry.

Our guest, Nagipan, moved from Hyogo to a village on the outskirts of Wakayama City two years ago, drawn by the idea of living in an old folk house. One of the best things about his current home, he says, is being able to play music as loudly as he likes without worrying about the neighbors. But that also means living in a place where he can fully enjoy the sounds and rhythms of nature: birds and animals calling nearby, trees rustling in the wind.

As we look out over Wakanoura with Nagipan from Tenkuyama, all kinds of songs begin to rise from the trees around us.

“The clear, hii-yo, hii-yo that carries far is the brown-eared bulbul. The song with that flowing feel is the Japanese white-eye. And that small bii-bii call is the varied tit,” Nakagawa explains.

“I’ve recorded birdsong before, but I never really thought about what the birds behind those voices actually looked like,” Nagipan says. Once he has a pair of binoculars in hand, he seems completely mesmerized by the birds in the lenses.

We leave the small hill and walk toward the Kankai-kaku pavilion to observe the birds that come to the tidal flats. Though we are only a few hundred meters from Tamatsushima Shrine, the cast of birds changes completely: a pure white great egret, a grey heron, mallards, and a Japanese rock thrush along the shore.

As the tide rises and falls, the flats appearing and disappearing, constantly shifting in form, so do the birds that show themselves and the calls that reach our ears. This is part of what makes Wakanoura so fascinating: visit at low tide and high tide, and you encounter a different world of birds.

“If you want to observe birds closely, the best thing you can do is understand their behavior and the environment around them. The climate, the geology, the wind, what they eat, how they live, and how they have adapted to this kind of setting. You can find clues to the birds within the nature they inhabit,” says Nakagawa.

“By listening to birdsong and then seeing the birds themselves, I feel like I was able to understand the natural environment around us a little more deeply,” says Nagipan.

The lives of birds are far richer than expected, full of small discoveries and new ways of seeing. Follow us as our birding journey continues across Wakayama, watching, listening, feeling, and describing the charm of birds. 

After a walk around Wakanoura, take a short drive to  Takada Kozo Shoten, a shop specializing in tawashi scrub brushes. Craftsmen hand-make each brush using carefully selected palm fibers from Japan and abroad.

Little Egret

Sandpiper

Osprey

Wakanoura offers tidal flats, shallows, and rocky reefs in one compact area, making it a prime place to spot sandpipers and other shorebirds. Dunlins move in flocks along the water’s edge, while common sandpipers can be seen on rocks and seawalls, bobbing their tails up and down as they go. Grey-tailed tattlers stand out on the rocks with their yellow legs, and whimbrels with their long, curved bills. From small species to large ones, a wide variety of shorebirds make their home here. Aim for the hours around low tide with your binoculars ready.

The Japanese rock thrush lives along warm coastal areas and is often seen on seaside rocks. The male is easy to recognize by its stylish two-tone coloring: blue across the body with a brick-red belly. The female, however, is much more understated, covered in grey-brown feathers. Its Japanese name, isohiyodori, is easy to remember once you break it down: a bird that lives around rocky shores (iso) and looks a little like a bulbul (hiyodori). Another highlight of Wakanoura is the osprey, a coastal bird of prey. You may even see one diving for fish. Since many birds can be observed at close range, paying attention to behavior patterns and flock movements makes the experience even more rewarding.

This feature is produced in collaboration with PAPERSKY No. 74, a travel and lifestyle magazine.