Last Updated: Jan 21, 2024

Wakayama Foodies

Add-ons for Kansai International Airport

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium

Despite being just around 40 minutes to the south of Kansai International Airport, too few foreign tourists ever make it down to Wakayama City. Truth be told, until recently, even I was among the ranks of those who had yet to visit. Despite being the capital city of the prefecture, those who come to Wakayama often only do so for the likes of Koyasan and the Kumano Kodo. Seeing as these sites have been honored as the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range” since 2004, it’s not surprising that so many pass up Wakayama City.

Recently, I was invited down by Wakayama City Tourist Association to partake in two monitor tours. The goal of these was to develop content that would appeal to tourists flying in or out of Kansai International Airport. As great as it is that a lot of people are now staying overnight at Koyasan or trekking the Kumano Kodo, these locales require a significant time investment. Thus, for many people doing standard “Golden Route” itineraries, they are a bit too out of the way to include without sacrificing something else.

Luckily, Wakayama City’s proximity to Kansai International Airport means that travelers can get a taste of what the prefecture has to offer without really messing up the rest of their plans. While I use the word “taste” here poetically, gastronomy was the topic of the two tours I participated in, as you’ll see below. I’ve opted to highlight each of the experiences in detail but know that one pertains to Shojin Ryori and the other to Wakayama’s top seafood. If one of those happens not to be your shtick, feel free to skip to the other.

Shojin Ryori in Wakayama City

The first of the two experiences that I’d like to highlight here for you was at a restaurant in Wakayama City. Here, we had the chance to prepare a portion of a Shojin Ryori meal from scratch at a famous restaurant. Normally, this cuisine is associated with a temple stay, a la when you overnight on Koyasan or something. However, it is rather rare that you get…