For those looking to take a break from work and life in Kansai, Wakayama is an attractive proposition. A mere four hour bus ride from Kyoto station awaits a beautiful coastline, fresh sushi and a plethora of onsen to soak away your stress in. Now all you need is a couple of days off.
Be sure to: try the local variety of “sushi” that consists of rice and herbs wrapped in a moist leaf. Most refreshing to munch on while gazing out to sea, although mysteriously fish free.
Kyoto is a great source of culture and cafes, but it does have a conspicuous lack of onsen and coastline unless you really go looking for them. Package tours to Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture are the answer. Shirahama is a hot-spring resort facing the pacific ocean in the Kii-hanto Peninsula and is famous for its beautiful coastline, a plethora of natural hot-springs and… mikan (satsuma oranges).
Be sure to: try the coastal sashimi. The fish in Shirahama is fresher than most of the sashimi found in Kyoto and veritably melts in the mouth.
Factoid: the white sands of Shirahama beach were imported from Australia.
Being Japan most holidays are still tour bus based affairs in which groups of elderly Japanese and one young foreigner meet at Kyoto station and board the sunshine bus for two days of heavily prescribed activities. If you’re looking to soak up a bit of Japanese culture this is a great way in which to do it as every step of the trip unfolds like clockwork and someone will usually be nice enough to let you know what traditionally comes next.
Be sure to: try Shirahama’s Nagisa beer. Brewed locally, this beer is available in a pale or rich and dark varieties and tastes far more like real beer than Asahi-style lagers managed to. Highly recommended while sheltering from the spring winds in a beachside cafe.
Factoid: there are fireworks displays on the beach every night throughout July and August.
Upon their arrival in Shirahama, bus loads of tourists from across Japan are delivered up to the doorsteps of a series of giftstores and service-station-cum-omiyage meccas to pour some of their big city money into the local economy before being taken for a brief glimpse of the coast before its back to the bus.
On the tour Of Rice and Zen joined, exploration outside of the confines of the tour group was not mooted as an option. Upon our arrival, unaware of the exact location of our hotel while taking a sushi-break at a coastal cafe, we were advised to go by tour bus. The trip took literally 20 seconds. The next day when we enquired about a trip to “Spaland” we were advised to get a taxi. When it arrived and took us to our destination, we realised the entrance was 100m along the road and clearly visible from the hotel. We suspect Shirahama’s tourist economy is a little stronger as a result of this culture of convenience.
Shirahama Spaland is plastered with the image of a cartoon shogun in a wooden bath. The baths here are hewn out of the very mountains and there’s no evidence that the shogun actually frequented the establishment, having a cute SD (super deformed: cutesified in English) Shogun in an onsen as your mascot can’t hurt business.
Factoid: Shirahama is twinned with Honolulu in Hawaii as part of the Goodwill Beach City Relationship scheme.
Senjo no Yu (千畳の湯 – One Thousand Tatami Mat Bathhouse) hotel/spa is situated seconds from the coastline and features a beautiful rock lined rotenburo (outdoor hot spring bath). When the Of Rice and Zen team descended to the rotenburo at around 9pm it seems most of the other elderly and student day-dippers were still in the dining hall because we had the place to ourselves.
Watching the steam whip off the surface of the bath while the moon flickered playfully across its surface you are transported light-years away from your urban concerns. It is a reflective, peaceful and rejuvenating experience and one that Sartre and Camus would’ve called a “privileged moment”. (At this point we would like to recommend our readers avoid imagining Sartre and Camus glistening in the moonlight as they share an intimate outdoor bath together. This advice comes based on hard-won experience).
Factoid: as there is no volcanic activity around Shirahama, the reason for the area’s profitably hot spring waters remains a mystery.
During February and March the tourist demographic largely consists of retirees and students who have graduated or are taking a break before the start of the academic year. As such the facilities are not all focused around the sedate appreciation of Japanese aesthetics and traditions. If it all gets a little too zen for you, you can wind back up again with the beer vending machines, bars, games arcades, table-tennis and fully-featured Jankara karaoke chain store contained within Senjo no Yu hotel.
Shirahama Spaland too features a private bath that can be rented for a couple of thousand yen. One walks through the main entrance and as far as a chained-off path of the right. Locking the gate and hanging the “do not disturb” sign on it you make your way up a small cobble-stone path lined with tall bamboo fences. The path soon emerges into a tiny alcove in which there is a changing room and a small outdoor bath carved into the side of the mountain.
Gingerly dipping into the bath you may find that you can gradually get used to the heat, but putting your shoulders under the water for more than a couple of minutes provokes a headswim from almost anyone who isn’t a denizen of hades itself.
Resting you head on the rocks and watching the play of the reflection on the hollowed-out mountain wall one begins to pick out the sounds of rustling leaves and and the bamboo being tickled by the wind. It’s like an etch-a-sketch shake up of your life and as the salty water cleanses your body you can feel your mind defragging and emptying its cache. The ORAZ team is entirely won over to the rejuvenating power of the onsen visit and is definitely hooked for life.
Be sure to: visit the open air bath called Saki no Yu (崎の湯露天風呂 – Peninsula Bathhouse Outdoor Spa). Considered one of the top 3 onsen in Japan, alongside with Beppu in Oita and Atami in Shizuoka, this bath is situated on the ocean’s edge. As the larger waves break on the shore the sea mist drifts over and cools the simmering bathers. (Tel: 0739-42-3016•300yen for 3 years and up•8:00〜17:00, Closed Wednesday• Apr, May, Jun, Sept8:00〜18:00•Jul, Aug 7:00〜19:00)
Be sure to: go and see Engetsu-to (“Round Moon Island”) to the North, off Shirahama Beach. A round hole has eroded clear through the islet, hence the name. If your timing’s right you can catch a glimpse of the setting sun through the hole in the island, just before it plunges into the ocean. The ORAZ team defies you not to be moved. Or think of The Goonies.
Factoid: Senjo no Yu hotel get it’s name from the Senjo-jiki, a huge multi-tiered rock that looks like a thousand tatami matted floor (senjo-jiki) created by the erosion of soft sandstone by centuries of crashing waves.
Directions1h 36 min from Kansai Airport changing trains at Hineno (13 min from the airport) to Shirahama Station by JR Line “Kuroshio” (limited-stop express).
An hour and 5 minutes to Nanki-Shirahama Airport from Tokyo Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Twenty-five minutes from Nanki-Shirahama Airport to Shirahama Station by bus. Two hours and 30 minutes to Shin-Osaka Station from Tokyo Station by JR Tokaido Shinkansen Line. Two hours and 15 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station to Shirahama Station by JR Kisei Honsen Line.
Hotels * Hotel Koganoi (Ryokan) – Tel. (0739)42-2922 – Room Rate ¥20,000~ * Koganoi Bay Hotel (Hotel) – Tel. (0739)43-6000 – Room Rate ¥22,000~ * Shiraraso Grand Hotel (Ryokan) – Tel. (0739)43-0100 – Room Rate ¥20,000 * Miyukien (Ryokan) – Tel. (0739)42-2708 – Room Rate ¥15,000 * Hotel Senjo (Ryokan) – Tel. (0739)42-3470 – Room Rate ¥16,000~ * Minshuku A Course (Minshuku) – Tel. (0739)42-3680 – Room Rate ¥10,000~ * Minshuku Katsuya (Minshuku) – Tel. (0739)42-3814 – Room Rate ¥7,000 * Shirara (People’s Lodge) – Tel. (0739)42-3655 – Room Rate ¥7,920 * Hotel Shirahama (People’s Lodge) – Tel. (0739)42-3039 – Room Rate ¥6,870 * Taiya (People’s Lodge) – Tel. (0739)42-3328 – Room Rate ¥7,000
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