"The Road of Fire"

I read through "The Road of Fire" by Seicho Matsumoto in 1991.
The main theme of this book was the inquiry into the relationship between the ancient Japan and the Percian culture, pinpointing the ruins around Asuka District, Nara Prefecture, as a core.
The characters proceeding the story were somehow interesting respectively all right, but the main subject, the riddle of the artificial stone, was honestly a burden to me, though the writer Matsumoto put his particular emphasis on it.

Sorry to get sidetracked, the name "Kumanoji" sometimes appeared in the story. It is what we now call "Kumano-kodo" (Kumano Ancient Roads).
This "Kumanoji" strangely let me feel nostalgic, helped by the writer's clever description. That is because it made me think of the Nank-Kumano District and my hometown Miwasaki in the area.

Kumanoji, or Kumano Ancient Roads, consists of the several ancient pilgrimage roads from Kyoto and Nara to the south.

One of the Roads comes down the mountains to the south via Hongu Grand Shrine and Hayatama Grand Shrine. At last it reaches the seashore of the Pacific Ocean.
The shore faces "Kumanonada" or Kumano Open Sea, and Miwasaki, a small fishing town, looks out on the shore.

Now in Miwasaki live my younger brother's couple and my mother aged 82.
When I read through "The Road of Fire," I called up to my mother, Kumano.
Her voice was in the local dialect.

"Glad to hear, Shigeru." Shigeru is my name.
"Are you all right, grandma? I suppose you are very well, aren't you?"
"I am fine, thank you. I am walking wheeling a pram everyday, around Kuroshio Park at the beach, the grave of grandpa, etc." Granpa is her husband, Shigezo.
"It is nice, isn't it?"
"Granpa is always with me. I am happy to meet him there. He is always protecting me, always with me."

Nanki is the southern part of Wakayama Pref., approximately the area south from Tanabe City.
While there are various opinions about what and where Kumano is. In my idea, it is, in addition to Nanki District, west of Owase City, Mie Pref., and also includes the Nara side of Doro Gorge.
I am talking about the district of Nanki-Kumano.

It is my pride that I was born in Nanki-Kumano.
How I wish many more people come to know much more about Nanki-Kumano. The more they know this area the more they will feel how wonderful Nank-Kumano is. They will even say, "We won't go back."

Everybody will be enslaved by Nanki-Kumano !

As mentioned above, Nanki-Kumano is the south of Kii Peninsula, surrounded by Wakayama Pref., a part of Mie and Nara Pref.
The attractive features of Nanki-Kumano are hot spring villages, a mild climate brought by the Kuroshio Current, brightness peculiar to the southern region, and a lot of places of natural beauty and historic interest as well as shrines and temples.
In midsummer, sprays from the waves along the coast dashed up against the deep blue sea fly so dazzlingly in disorder.

There are several routes to Nanki-Kumano. Each of them is not so convenient. (as of 2014)

All the year is the tourist season in Nanki-Kumano. Some people advise to avoid the period of the rainy season in June and that of typhoon from latter August to September all right. However, I would not exclude any season if you like, because they are also unique to Nanki-Kumano.
Flowers come out in the beginning of March, then we welcome spring.
Fresh green leaves are dazzling in April. You can enjoy sea bathing from the middle of June to early September. Crinums or hamayu are in bloom around the seashore.
In October, after typhoon season, the weather is mostly fine and clear, and autumn leaves are in full bloom.

Nanki-Kumano is a treasure house of fresh marine products. Moreover, you can taste unique sushi like mebarizushi, narezushi, sanmazushi, etc. (Sanmazushi is my favorite of all.)
As these kinds of sushi are with rice including vinegar, they can be well preserved in the warm climate.

There are few local specialties even though this area is surrounded by the sea on three sides. Just as you expect, its charm of dishes is the natural taste of seafood like fresh slices of raw fish.

Nanki-Kumano is a mikan district. Mikan is a kind of mandarin oranges. They are generically called Unshu mikan, and are widely cultivated from Wakayama City to around Owase City, Mie Pref., and of all, Arita mikan and Mihama mikan are famous.
In addition to Unshu mikan, Sanbo mikan, Summer mikan, Valencia mikan and others are produced in these areas.
In my hometown Miwasaki, an Unshu mikan was called "ko-mikan" (a small mikan), and a Summer mikan simply a mikan. A Summer mikan is large and sour.

Nanki-Kumano is also famous for the production area of ume, a Japanese apricot. Especially Shirahama, just north of Tanabe City, and the town of Minabe are the area of Nanko-ume, which is connected with the name of Minabe High School. A certain teacher of the school developed it. Its seed is small, and fruit is thick.

sushi
mikan	ume