Shirahama is a place where flowers bloom earlier than anywhere, with sun shining brightly all year round.
Nanki, a generic name for the entire southwestern
part of Wakayama, is a large spot of leisure
containing various amusement facilities, beaches
and places where you can enjoy marine sports,
golfing and tennis. Shirahama-cho, a center town
of Nanki, is a typical hot-spring resort facing
the Pacific Ocean in the Kii-hanto Peninsula and
is known as one of Japan's three largest spas
together with Beppu in Oita and Atami in Shizuoka.
Collectively called the Shirahama-
onsen Hot Springs comprises the Yuzaki-onsen Hot
Spring, long known for open-air bathing in
manually hollowed rock tubs and other hot springs
at Shirahama opened early in the 20th century,
Higashi-Shirahama, Tsunashirazu and others.
In and around Shirahama are many places of
natural beauty visited by a large number of
tourists throughout the year, such as Engetsu-jima
Island, an uninhabited rock isle with a round sea
cave open in the middle of it, and Sandan-beki
(three-tiered wall) with 50 to 60-meter-high
precipitous rock walls extending about 2
kilometers from south to north. Another must-see
is Senjo-jiki, a huge multi-tiered rock that looks
like a thousand "tatami" matted (senjo-jiki) floor
created by the erosion of soft sandstone by raging
waves.
