Kii Peninsula - Notable Places

Notable Places

Notable places in the Kii Peninsula include :

• Nara, former capital of Japan.
• Mount Koya (or Kōyasan), the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Buddhism.
• Wakayama, former home of the Kii (or Kishu) Tokugawa clan.
• Matsuzaka, now the center of major beef-producing area, former the center of Ise merchants.
• Ise, the location of the Grand Shrine of Ise and center of pearl production.
• Yoshino District, a wild area of heavily forested deep mountains, home of the Southern Imperial Court during the Nanboku-chō period of Japanese history.
• Kumano Region, home of the Kumano Shrines and the Nachi Waterfall. Another name is Muro District.
• Kushimoto, Wakayama, the southernmost point in Honshū.
• Taiji, Wakayama, the birthplace of the Japanese traditional whaling.

The Kii Peninsula is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

In 2004, UNESCO designated three other locations on the Kii Peninsula as World Heritage Sites. They are:

1. Yoshino and Mount Omine, mountainous areas in the north of the peninsula.
2. Kumano Shrines, three shrines at the southern tip of the peninsula.
3. Mount Koya, the mountain at the west of the peninsula