【Reading】わかやまけん

【English Name】Wakayama Prefecture

Wakayama Prefecture extends furthest south in the Kinki region, its territory unfolding along the western coast of the Kii Peninsula. With its prefectural capital at Wakayama City, mountain forest occupies roughly 80% of the prefecture's land. A coastline of varied expression stretches from the Kii Channel to the Kumano Sea, and thanks to the blessing of the Kuroshio Current flowing offshore, the seas of the south stay warm, with waters extending even into temperatures where coral grows. Near Kushimoto, even tropical fish species inhabit the waters, and the diversity of the fishing grounds is outstanding.

Water resources are abundant—so much so that tuna is designated as the prefectural fish—and brand development at each port has momentum as well. The prefecture is also famous for fruit cultivation, with mikan and Nanko plum (Nanko-ume) being representative specialty products distributed nationwide. The Tanabe City area is a major plum-producing region, and it has a strong presence as a base supplying the plum flesh (bainiku) and plum vinegar (baisu) essential to sushi.

The prefecture's territory roughly overlaps the entirety of the old province of Kii, and one theory holds that Toyotomi Hideyoshi created the prefecture's name by combining the "Waka" of Wakanoura and the "yama" (mountain) of Okayama. In the Edo period it was governed by the Kii Tokugawa family, one of the three branch houses (gosanke), and it is also the land that produced the eighth shogun, Yoshimune. With the Kumano Sanzan and Mt. Koya, it is a place that has long drawn people over the ages as a center of faith.