Kumano

Kumano (熊野) is a city in Mie Prefecture in Japan.

Understand
Kumano is a remote vacation location unspoiled by tourism and ripe with natural beauty. There are many sections of the ancient pilgrimage route throughout Mie and Wakayama but there is only one Kumano City. One of the rare chances to see an ancient Japan filled with mountains, rice fields, rock formations, an endless coastline, older residents who make up the majority of the town strolling the streets of the same city their grandparents and their grandparent's grandparents used to stroll.

Once a year this little town becomes a madhouse when it hosts the Kumano Hanabi Taikai fireworks festival, one of Japan's biggest fireworks displays, taking on much more people than the town was ever meant to handle.

Tourist information sites
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site and an additional English/Chinese site.

Talk
People from Kumano speak a specific dialect that may sound to the untrained ear like a variation of Osaka dialect. While the older residents may be a bit hard to understand, they'll still be proud to try and help you with the little English they know. Pamphlets from the tourist office may be obtained in English.

Get in
Kumano's main train station, Kumanoshi (熊野市), is on the JR Kisei line. The Nanki Limited Express trains from the north run 4-5 times daily from Nagoya, and local trains run from Taki. From Wakayama, transfer at Shingu.

Get around
A few buses run throughout the city and local trains can get you to the few Kumano stations that are situated along the coastline. For better freedom and time management, it is recommended to come with a car.

Buy
Kumano has some great gift shops right outside the station selling unique rock carvings from a black stone native to the area, homemade jewelry, fireworks postcards, and all the mikan cell phone straps you could want.

Eat
No one can leave Kumano without trying the mikan, locally grown mandarin oranges! When they're in season, you can simply big a large bag off of a farm stand on the street for a few hundred yen.



Stay safe
Except for a few drunken business or older men who may wander out at night, Kumano is more or less a safe city. The kind of place where if you accidentally drop your wallet, a few seconds later a nice old women will be chasing after you with them so grateful for the chance to give it back!

Go next

 * Mihama - Mihama town, 15 minutes to the south, is known as the town where you can pick mikan oranges all year round; this is true, as the seasons of the different mikans which grown in this town just barely cover the entire year. Get off at Atawa station and head to the Pine shopping center for a stand with fresh mikan oranges, juice, and a souvenir shop inside. Or just drive the backroads and marvel at all the orange trees.
 * Shingu, about 40 minutes to the south, the first city you'll come to in Wakayama and home of one of the Kumano Taisha Shrines. There are also some castle ruins not far from the station, just pas the Okuwa grocery store.
 * Owase, about 30-40 minutes north
 * Shimokitayama
 * Kihoku
 * Kiikatsuura
 * Kushimoto
 * Totsukawa
 * Taiki