Kii Peninsula
Though it's a 10-minute walk from the beach, you do get bang-on views of Shirahama's inner harbour from the balconies here. The Western-style rooms are fairly spacious and have en-suite bathrooms. Add ¥500 for a breakfast set (egg, toast, salad and a drink). Rates rise by ¥1000 to ¥2000 per person during holiday periods.
Coming by bus from Shirahama Station, get off at Shirahama San-bashi (¥290, 10 minutes).
29.47 MILES
At 133m, Nachi-no-taki is Japan's highest waterfall. It's the first of many still deeper in the Nachi mountains and has long been used in ascetic training.
26.44 MILES
Kumano Hongū Taisha is one of the Kumano Sanzan (three great shrines of Kumano) and if you're following the traditional pilgrim route, it's the first one…
28.1 MILES
Built on the side of a mountain, facing the waterfall Nachi-no-taki, this shrine is one of Kii's most spiritual places, a site of ancient nature worship…
28.77 MILES
This amazing natural rock formation is a line of about a dozen spire-like boulders extending 900m into the water like the supports of a bridge. It's…
25.96 MILES
In the town believed to be the first place in Japan to produce soy sauce (shōyu in Japanese) – some 750 years ago – this factory lets visitors in on both…
28.1 MILES
This wooden temple, absent of colour and next to the Shintō shrine Kumano Nachi Taisha, was last rebuilt in 1590, making it the oldest building in Kii …
26.32 MILES
In 2000 this giant torii (entrance gate to a Shintō shrine) – 33.9m tall and 42m wide, made out of steel, painted dramatic black and the largest in Japan …
26.48 MILES
Part museum, part visitor centre, this contemporary multimedia complex has exhibits about Kumano's culture and natural environment, plus English-speaking…
0.58 MILES
Shirahama's main beach is famous for its white sand – though what's there now was imported from Perth in the '90s, as the original sand was lost to…
1.55 MILES
Senjō-jiki is a wildly eroded point with layer after horizontal layer of stratified rock; this explains its name in Japanese, which translates to Thousand…
1.68 MILES
Sandan-beki is a 50m cliff face that drops away vertiginously into the sea – a particularly awesome sight when the big rollers are pounding in from the…
11.32 MILES
Takijiri-ōji is one of five major ōji (smaller shrines along the Kumano Kodō). It marks the beginning of the passage into the mountains and today serves…
25.16 MILES
The last of the five major ōji (smaller shrines along the Kumano Kodō) before Kumano Hongū Taisha, Hosshinmon-ōji marks the outer limits of the grand…
25.29 MILES
This temple in the middle of Yunomine Onsen is just above Tsubo-yu Onsen, and like many hot springs adjacent to temples, is dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai,…
25.96 MILES
In the town believed to be the first place in Japan to produce soy sauce (shōyu in Japanese) – some 750 years ago – this factory lets visitors in on both…
26.32 MILES
In 2000 this giant torii (entrance gate to a Shintō shrine) – 33.9m tall and 42m wide, made out of steel, painted dramatic black and the largest in Japan …