A bus from Wakayama dropped us off at Wakaura and we walked from there to the harbour. The fishing harbour is a bit of a tourist draw in warmer seasons. But in the middle of December the hotels seemed to be empty. We walked along the quay to a small lighthouse at the end of it, and spent a nice hour watching birds. The fishermen had washed their boats and nets and left them to dry. A small shop at the beginning of the harbour was drying whitebait on wire meshes. I learnt later that this would be pressed into paper thin squares of tatami iwashi, a local delicacy. One of the women at work gave us some yet-to-be-dried whitebait to taste. It was delicious.
Our appetites whetted, we walked up the road and took a set of stairs which led to a restaurant some way up the cliff overlooking the harbour. Its name translated into Wakayama Cafeteria, but even with this simple name it came highly recommended. We got a table overlooking the harbour and ordered two plates of the sashimi that you see in the featured photo. The steaming bowl of miso soup was very welcome after our walk by the sea. The sashimi was an experience: apart from the usual maguro (bluefin tuna), salmon, hotate (scallop), kanburi (winter catch of amberjack) and tai (sea bream) there was fresh whitebait in a little bowl, and a whole fresh shrimp. This was the first time I’d tried uncooked shrimp and I found its familiar flavour is sweeter as sashimi. I like Japanese pickles, so I appreciated the plate of vegetables and pickles to go with the rice. The whole thing ended with a small sweet. The freshness of the sashimi made it among the top two plates that I’ve tasted.
Don't hold your breath 
