Kii-Katsuura

Kii-Katsuura is a small fishing port on the rugged Kii Peninsula coast, famous for landing more fresh tuna than almost any other harbour in Japan. The early-morning tuna auction at Katsuura Fish Market rivals Toyosu in spectacle but without the crowds — visitors can watch enormous bluefin being bid on and then eat sashimi cut from that morning's catch just steps away.

The town is also the traditional finishing point of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage, one of only two UNESCO-designated pilgrimage routes in the world. Nachi Taisha shrine and Nachi-no-Taki, Japan's tallest single-drop waterfall at 133 metres, are a short bus ride away. Add in Hotel Urashima's famous cave onsen — a hot spring set inside a natural sea cave with waves crashing at the entrance — and Kii-Katsuura packs extraordinary experiences into a tiny coastal town.