One of the Kansai prefecture is Wakayama. It’s quite easy to get there but does require a fair bit of time to reach there. You need to allocate at least 2 hours to be safe if you are using the public transport especially with the train as you need to take consideration of walking time to your station(s), waiting time for the subway and train depending on your starting point in Osaka. However, it is fairly easy as it is the same direction to Kansai International Airport and the train will be clearly marked with the name, Wakayama, once you are at Namba Station. You can take Nankai Line Express.
We departed from out hotel at around 10am and reached there around 12pm. In fact, we were not very sure where we should be going because there were too many places to visit there. My goodness! So many awesome places there from onsen to seaside to orchard to hiking trails and so much more! Check out https://en.visitwakayama.jp and you will be spoiled for choices. So we decided to just settled with Wakayama Castle as it is the nearest to the station and the easiest to go since we could only do half-day trip. Do spend more days here, maybe 3 to 4 days if you want to visit those places further away in Wakayama.
This is the castle we visited.
Wakayama Castle in Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, sits at the mouth of the Kii River. Originally ÅŒta castle, home of the Saiga Ikki, it was captured by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1585, during the Siege of Negoro-ji; many monks from Negoro-ji sought refuge in ÅŒta, which was soon destroyed by flood. (Source: Wikipedia)
Left: We were silly enough to not see the main entrance and went further away from it and came across the back entrance. We didn’t use this entrance because it said that you might invite misfortune.
Right: So we walked further again until the carpark entrance and climbed this staircase with sounds of crickets in the background.
Once we were up at the castle ground, we could see view of the city but these birds on the trees attracted me. I zoomed in to take photos of them. Many of them flying around and rest on top of the trees.
Left: The view of the castle from the viewing spot.
Right: A key attraction in Wakayama Castle is Ohashi Rouka aka Ohashi Roka.
We went in Ohashi Roka and I kicked the plank, ouch! I didn’t realize the planks on the floor were not flat but has small steps and the slop is around 11 degree angle, so it is to prevent slipping. You need to take off your shoes. If you want to see how is the inside looks like, do check out my video at the end of the post.
This is Momijidani Garden, it’s just next to the bridge. I can imagine how beautiful it will be when autumn comes. From green to orange, red, and yellow. WOW!
We didn’t visit the the inside of the castle because we had other plan. If you want to visit the interior of the castle, you will need spend more time here, do come early so that you won’t reach Osaka too late in the evening or unless you want to have a full day here and go back to Osaka late in the evening.
The opening hours of the castle is 9am-5pm.
Here’s my Day 4 video, you will see more views of the castle and hope that you can subscribe to my channel too.
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