Japan: Wakayama City

My last weekend in Japan before returning home for the summer was a lot more low key than I’d hoped. I didn’t finish work until 7 on Saturday and the few drinking buddies I have here were either out of the city or busy, so I settled for a mammoth portion of fried chicken and a couple of beers at a local restaurant instead.

I headed to Wakayama on Sunday, which is about 2 hours away by car. It’s not one of the great cities of the Kansai area like Osaka, Kyoto and Kōbe, but it’s still worth a visit – mainly because the local tourism bureau is so desperate to bring in visitors that they let you try on samurai hats and handle a sword.

The main attraction in Wakayama City is its castle. Unfortunately, just like Osaka castle, this is not the original – it was firebombed by the Yanks during World War Two and rebuilt in concrete instead of wood after 1945. A man dressed as a ninja started talking to me in English when I arrived at the foot of the castle (in fact I think he was possibly flirting). I had to make a quick escape when he asked for my number and facebook, so I didn’t even get the chance to take a proper picture of the building, but this is the view from the top.

The view of the keep from the top of the castle.

Inside the castle grounds where I was safe from the ninja guy.

The adjoining museum had some interesting translations.

Be careful to Steps – it would be a tragedy if you hurt H.

The castle gardens.

After the castle and some much needed food, I checked out the beach with its pretty impressive bridge before making the long journey home – traffic turned a two hour journey into a four hour one. Wakayama City wasn’t all that bad, but there are far more interesting places to see closer by.