Nachikatsuura Town

A tomb on dunes, laid with river stones.

Shimosato Kofun, national site

Photo by Saigen Jiro (CC0)

01 ／ Bentenjima

An islet in Nachi Bay can be reached on footwhen the tide level is 35 cm or lower.

Bentenjima is a small islet in Nachi Bay with a striking vermilion torii gate. The town says it can be crossed on foot when the tide level is 35 cm or lower, warns that seaweed can make the way slippery, and says never to cross when low tide falls at night. The annual festival is held in April, on a date set by the tide.

Walkable at tide level 35 cm or lower
Annual festival held in April
Islet in Nachi Bay

02 ／ Shimosato Hydrographic Observatory

From the mainland control point of the marinegeodetic network, lasers have been aimed at satellites.

The Shimosato Hydrographic Observatory of the Japan Coast Guard was established in 1954 (Showa 29). It is the mainland control point of the marine geodetic control network, and since 1982 it has made observations that aim laser light at satellites and measure the distance from the time the reflection takes to return.

Established in 1954
Satellite laser ranging since 1982
Mainland control point of the marine geodetic network

03 ／ Nachi no Ogi Matsuri

The flames of 12 great torches purify12 fan-style portable shrines about 6 m high.

A rite of the grand festival of Kumano Nachi Taisha, usually held on July 14, it was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2015. The Agency for Cultural Affairs explains that 12 great torches purify the route of the fan-style shrines' procession. The town gives each torch as 50 to 60 kg.

12 fan-style shrines, about 6 m high
12 great torches, 50 to 60 kg each (town)
National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 2015

Living here

3 hours 46 minutes from Nagoya on the Limited Express Nanki.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town lies at the southeast tip of the Kii Peninsula. It was formed in April 1955 by the merger of Nachi, Katsuura, Ukui and Irokawa, and Shimosato and Ota joined it in January 1960. Seven JR Kisei Main Line stations lie in the town, and the limited express stops only at Kii-Katsuura Station. The fastest daily service takes 226 minutes from Nagoya and 232 minutes from Osaka.

People living here: 14,137people
Area: 183.3km²
Households: 6,795households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 10 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —7 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Nachikatsuura Town in Japan33.626°N 135.941°E

to NagoyaLtd. exp. Nanki226min
to OsakaLtd. exp. Kuroshio232min

Travel times follow JRおでかけネット（JR西日本の時刻検索 timetable.jr-odekake.net。『JR時刻表』2026年10月号に基づく）の『列車時刻表』と『区間時刻表』（2026-10-14 に表示。きのくに線（紀勢本線）京都／天王寺〜新宮上り＝line-timetable/2312、新宮〜天王寺／京都下り＝2314）。列車ごとに運転日と各駅の着発時刻が出る。JR東海公式の時刻表は読んでいない (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Territory of Nachikatsuura Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

20.5km

新宮市, 古座川町, 串本町, 太地町

Nachikatsuura Town isthis kind of town.

01Shimosato Kofun, a keyhole-shaped tomb built on the dune plateau on the left bank of the Ota River, is a national historic site. Restored, it is about 45 m long, with a moat around it and a river-stone facing reaching almost to the moat's bottom. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the pit-style stone chamber in the rear mound as 5.35 m long and calls it the only tomb in the Kinan region, an area that had none before
02Honorary citizens Nakamura Kakunosuke, a pioneer of Japanese football, and Nishida Shuhei, an Olympic medallist from the town, the 13.5 m Class 2 river Butsubutsu River, and the town-designated boat procession rite of the annual festival of Katsuura Hachiman Shrine are all in the town
03Nachi Falls, Kumano Nachi Taisha, Seiganto-ji Temple, Fudarakusan-ji Temple and the Nachi primeval forest, registered as World Heritage, and the national historic site Kumano Sanzan, are also in the Nachisan and Hamanomiya districts of the town

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nachikatsuura Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗