Summer

SEASONS

Fireflies dancing at dusk signal the start of Summer. Follow their lead and come find your outdoor playground in Wakayama.

Beaches Summer Festivals Summer Seafood Fare Cutlassfish Pike Conger Sweetfish Fireworks Camping in Wakayama Rafting Summer Blooms Ume (Japanese plum) Peaches in Summer View All

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Beaches

With more than 600 km of coastline, Wakayama is dotted from north to south with numerous beaches including beautiful white sandy beaches, many with snorkeling, scuba diving and whale watching opportunities.

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Shirarahama Beach

Beaches

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Summer Festivals

The middle of the Summer marks the festival of the departed coming back to visit their relatives. Experience the Japanese ways of celebrating this life, the afterlife and all that comes between. Theatrical and emotive, summer festivals in Wakayama include the formidable Nachi no Ogi-matsuri, a fiery crowd-stirring spectacle.

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Summer Seafood Fare

Drawn from its rivers and the Pacific Ocean, summer highlights include cutlass and sweetfish. But what is the Kansai (central Japan) taste of Summer? It’s the pike conger caught off Wakayama’s coasts..

Summer Seafood Fare

Cutlassfish

More cutlassfish (tachiuo) is caught in Arida than anywhere else in Japan. Despite being a fatty white-fleshed fish, it has a surprisingly light flavor. Find new cutlassfish-inspired dishes such as tachiju in Arida and its surrounding areas.

Pike Conger

For people in Kansai (central Japan), pike conger (hamo) is the true taste of Summer. Blessed with an ocean current that circulates water through the Kii Strait, the pike conger caught along Wakayama’s coastline has soft skin, and a simply exquisite taste.

Sweetfish

The fragrant freshwater sweetfish (ayu), caught in the clear streams of Wakayama have a great fragrance, and taste wonderful too. Sweetfish is also farmed here; the region's output is unrivalled in Japan.

Fireworks

Summer nights, summer lights – July and August are firework season throughout Wakayama. People come from far and wide not to miss the beachside Shirahama Fireworks Festival.

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Fireworks

Summer nights, summer lights – July and August are firework season throughout Wakayama. People come from far and wide not to miss the beachside Shirahama Fireworks Festival.

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Camping in Wakayama

In the countryside, given the absence of light pollution, stargazing conditions are phenomenal. Why not camp under the stars, or soak in an outdoor onsen and watch the revolving heavens; between the mountains, rivers and beaches, you won’t be at a loss for outdoor activities.

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Rafting

Kitayama in northern Wakayama is the only place in Japan to experience traditional log rafting. With clear streams and fast rapids, riding along the Kitayama-gawa River is exhilarating.

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Summer Blooms

Brilliantly colored hydrangeas bloom gloriously throughout Wakayama in early June, with those on the sacred ground of Koyasan coming out one month later in early July.

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Ume (Japanese plum)

Summertime is ume time. Wakayama is Japan’s largest ume-producing region of this apricot-like fruit, sometimes called the Japanese plum. The native Nanko Ume, with its succulent flesh, thin skin and small seed, is a favorite across Japan, and makes for an ideal umeboshi (salt-pickled ume).

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Peaches in Summer

Peaches have been cultivated in Wakayama for the past 200 years. Take a bite out of history, and enjoy the renowned Arakawa no Momo peach. From the latter part of March, peach orchards extending south of the Kino-kawa River reach full bloom veiling the area in the sweet scent and color of their blossom.

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Autumn

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