Oh, that's right, you're the one with the family in Kokawa. I remember now. Sorry.

Sometimes that's the best way to see a country. I learned a lot of Japanese at my local snack bar.

I loved Wakayama. While I was there, one of the locals told me it was similar to going to Alabama or Louisiana in the states. People like Kansai-ben, but I love Wakayama-ben and the variations in the little towns.

Hey, I can't read that stuff anymore. (I had to study for my Job and Kanji, well, fell to the wayside.) Where's that?

Sorry - Nachi Katsuura, down at the south eastern corner of Wakayama.

I find that smaller, less popular places out in the country have a much more interesting and unique flavor than the cities. This used to be true in the US, but the last time I visited, it seemed like even the most remote locales had a Walmart and were peppered with the same fast food and chain restaurants as everywhere else.

My husband is from Fukui, which seems to be likened to somewhere like West Virginia in the US. We spend a huge amount of time up there, and it`s absolutely beautiful with a dialect and culture all it`s own.

Ahh, ok, I visited Nachi several times. We hiked to the 2nd falls (about 90 minutes through the forest, very remote), and another time I did a weekend homestay there, and took part in their traditional festival where I got to dress up as a samurai!

We followed the Kumano road (trail?) from Kumano to Nachi. Quite a walk but absolutely beautiful.
We`re hoping to do a longer hike, possibly the entire road, eventually - but I don`t want to haul a child on my back the entire time so it`s been put on the back burner.

One of the things I found interesting in Wakayama is that they were selling mikans *everywhere*. There was no corner without someone selling them.
The first time we went, we assumed it was just mikan season. Then we went again a different time of year - same thing. Another season, again the same.

Mikan ar grown all over Nara-ken and the hills around my father-in-laws house is surrounded in mikan and kaki.

Samurai007 has some nice photos of Nachi on his website. When my wife and I were dating about 150 yers ago, we drove around the entire Kii-hanto in one day and saw Nachi. Beautiful place.

There are certainly a ton of mikan there, but each city has other things they are famous for as well. One city grows ume (plums), and makes umeboshi as well as ume wine. Another (called Momoyama-cho) is famous for its white peaches. Another place makes soy sauce, and is credited with inventing it. And Taiji is known for its whaling. So Wakayama actually has quite a few crops and products in addition to the tons of mikan!