Wakayama

More than three-quarters of Wakayama is mountain forest. Its people live mainly along the Kino River valley in the north, where the capital lies at the river mouth, and in towns strung along the coast from Arida and Gobō to Tanabe, Shirahama, Kushimoto and Shingū. The old name Kii is often explained as "land of trees" (ki no kuni), and forestry and charcoal – notably the hard white binchōtan – remain part of its identity.

Wakayama is one of Japan's great religious landscapes. Kōya-san, the mountain monastery founded by Kūkai in 816, is the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism; the Kumano Sanzan – Hongū, Hayatama and Nachi Taisha – were the goal of pilgrimages by retired emperors and commoners alike along the Kumano Kodō. These sites, with Yoshino and Ōmine in Nara and the Iseji route in Mie, form the Kii Mountains World Heritage site; alongside the Way of St James, the Kumano Kodō is one of the few pilgrimage routes on the World Heritage List.

The coast is warm, with hot springs at Shirahama, Katsuura and Kawayu, and orchards of mandarins, ume plums, persimmons and peaches on the slopes. Wakayama is among Japan's leading producers of mandarins, ume and persimmons.

The prefecture is named after its capital, Wakayama, a name that came into use when Toyotomi Hideyoshi had a castle built on the hill of Torafusu-yama in 1585. It is often explained as combining the poetic bay of Waka-no-ura with yama (mountain), though its exact origin is uncertain. The Kishū domain, one of the three senior Tokugawa branch houses, ruled Kii province from here. Wakayama Prefecture was established in 1871; the eastern part of Kii province (Kitamuro and Minamimuro) went to Mie in 1876.

The Kino River flows westward across the north, separating the Izumi range on the Osaka border from the Kii Mountains. South of it the land rises into steep, forested ranges cut by rivers such as the Arida, Hidaka, Tonda, Hiki and Kumano, the latter forming part of the border with Mie. The long Kumano River system drains the Ōmine and Hatenashi ranges down to Shingū.

The coastline runs for more than 600 kilometres, from the bays of Kada and Waka-no-ura in the north to Cape Shionomisaki at Kushimoto, the southernmost point of Honshu, and on to the rias of Katsuura and Taiji. The warm Kuroshio current flows close to the southern coast, bringing coral communities to Kushimoto, which is a Ramsar-listed site.

Wakayama has a warm, humid Pacific climate. The north is relatively dry, while the south receives very heavy rainfall, especially in the mountains around Nachi and the Kumano River; typhoons frequently strike the peninsula in late summer. Winters on the southern coast are mild, while Kōya-san at about 800 metres is much colder and sees snow.

Kii was the land of the Kumano faith from ancient times, and from the late 11th to the 13th century retired emperors made dozens of pilgrimages to Kumano. Kūkai founded Kōya-san in 816, and it grew into a vast monastic city. The Negoro-ji and Saika warrior bands of northern Kii resisted Oda Nobunaga and were crushed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585, who then built Wakayama Castle. Under the Tokugawa, the Kishū domain produced two shoguns, including the reformer Tokugawa Yoshimune. In the modern era Wakayama became known for emigration – many fishermen left for Australia and North America – and for its citrus and fishing industries.

Religious traditions shape Wakayama: temple lodgings at Kōya-san, the ascetic practices of the Kumano mountains, and fire festivals at Nachi and Shingū. The Kumano Kodō pilgrimage is walked by visitors from around the world. The prefecture's coast also preserves whaling traditions at Taiji, a subject of international controversy, and Kushimoto's links with Turkey through the Ertuğrul rescue.

Wakayama's food combines mountain, orchard and sea. Umeboshi from Minabe and Tanabe, mandarins from Arida, persimmons from the Kino valley and Kishū soy sauce from Yuasa – birthplace of Japanese soy sauce – are staples. The coast adds tuna from Katsuura, one of Japan's largest landing ports for fresh tuna, and whale and bonito traditions.

Wakayama's economy rests on agriculture, fisheries and tourism, with heavy industry along the northern coast – steel at Wakayama city and petrochemicals at Arida and Kainan. It is among Japan's leading producers of mandarins, ume and persimmons, and a major producer of peaches and sanshō pepper. Tourism centres on Kōya-san, the Kumano Kodō, Shirahama and Nachi-Katsuura.