Wakanoura

A beach in the southern part of Wakayama City. In recent years, it has also been called "Wakaura." It is an ancient scenic spot known for the poem "When the tide rises at Wakanoura, it waves the lagoon..." (Manyoshu, Volume 6) written by Yamabe no Akahito during the visit of Emperor Shomu. The beach faces the mouth of the Waka River on the old Kinokawa River channel at the southern foot of the hilly Saikayama Mountains. A sandbar called Katao-nami, named after Akahito's poem, stretches long to the south and embraces the inner bay. In ancient books, it is also written as Wakanoura, Wakanoura, Meikoura, etc., but it means a young beach that has just been formed.

The view of Mount Nagusa across the bay and Kimii-dera Temple on its hillside has been known in the capital since ancient times, and Tamatsushima Shrine, located on Tamatsushima Island, which was once an island but is now connected to the mainland, was visited by many aristocrats, including Emperor Shomu, and the poems from poetry gatherings there were included in the Manyoshu and Shin Kokinshu, making it a place of utamakura poetry. It is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty.

To the east of Tamatsurishima lies a small island with Kankaikaku on it. It is connected to Tamatsurishima by the Sandan Bridge, and the stone arch-shaped Furo Bridge stretches from Tamatsurishima to Kataonami. In the surrounding area are Toshogu Shrine, known for the Waka Festival, and Tenmangu Shrine. The bay is a farming area for waka nori, and kamaboko (fish cake) is manufactured at Wakaura Fishing Port. From around the beginning of the Taisho era, the area west of Wakaura, where Mount Saika faces the sea, was developed as a tourist destination as Shinwakaura. Today, the inns have also moved to Shinwakaura, and Wakaura is also called Kyuwakaura, with only vestiges of its former glory remaining. The area around Cape Saika, further west of Shinwakaura, is called Okuwakaura. Shinwakaura and Cape Saika are included in the Setonaikai National Park, and Cape Saika is protected as a designated special area.

[Yoichi Koike]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

和歌山市南部の海浜。近年「わかうら」ともよばれる。聖武(しょうむ)天皇行幸の際に山部赤人(やまべのあかひと)が詠んだ「若の浦に潮満ちくれば潟をなみ……」（『万葉集』巻6）で知られた古くからの景勝地。丘陵をなす雑賀(さいか)山の南麓(なんろく)、紀ノ川旧河道の和歌川河口に臨む砂浜で、赤人の歌にちなんで片男波(かたおなみ)とよばれる砂嘴(さし)が南に長く延び内湾を抱いている。古書に若の浦、弱浜(わかのうら)、明光浦(めいこううら)などとも書かれるが、形成されたばかりの若い浜辺の意味である。

　湾を隔てて名草(なぐさ)山とその中腹の紀三井(きみい)寺を遠望する風景は古くから都に知られ、和歌浦の一角にあり、かつては島で現在は陸続きになっている玉津(たまつ)島に鎮座する玉津島神社は聖武天皇をはじめ貴族の来遊が多く、歌会の歌が『万葉集』『新古今集』などに収録されて歌枕(うたまくら)の地となった。国指定名勝。

　玉津島東方には観海閣のある小島があり、玉津島とは三断橋で結ばれ、玉津島から片男波へは石造アーチ型の不老橋が架かる。周辺には和歌祭で知られる東照宮や天満神社がある。湾内は和歌ノリの養殖地で、和歌浦漁港ではかまぼこ製造が行われている。大正初年ころから和歌浦の西方、雑賀山が海に臨む地域が新和歌浦として観光開発され、現在、旅館も新和歌浦に移り、和歌浦は旧和歌浦ともよばれ、名所の名残(なごり)をとどめるばかりになった。新和歌浦のさらに西方の雑賀崎周辺を奥和歌浦とよんでいる。新和歌浦・雑賀崎は瀬戸内海国立公園に含まれ、雑賀崎は指定特別地域として保護される。

［小池洋一］

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