The Wakayama CIR Website is an information resource for Wakayama Prefecture. It aims to provide unique and hard to find English information about Wakayama.
If you’re looking for interesting things to see and do in Wakayama try the Places to Go page. It has a listing of cool places that you won’t find in most guidebooks. Feel free to submit any places that you think should be on this list.
This year Wakayama unveiled the biggest business incentive system in the country, with up to 10 billion yen of subsidies available for new businesses in the prefecture. If you are thinking of starting a business in Japan, or want to learn more about options available to new businesses in Wakayama, you’ll find the information and links on the Business Incentives page helpful.
The Links page lists other sites with good information about Wakayama Prefecture. You'll also find some quick facts about Wakayama here.
We welcome suggestions, submissions, questions and comments. Click the Contact Us page to get in touch with us.
We plan to add new features frequently so check back often. We hope you find the information here useful. Thanks for visiting!
CIR stands for Coordinator for International Relations. Currently there are two Prefectural CIRs in Wakayama Prefecture, Julian Richards and Francisco Alcantara. We translate and interpret for the government, and generally help internationalize Wakayama. We also happen to be the webmasters:
 I’ve been a Coordinator for International Relations for Wakayama Prefecture since August 2003. Wakayama is a great place to live, particularly for foreigners. It’s close to Kansai International Airport, the city of Osaka and other Kansai hotspots, making it convenient to travel both abroad and within Japan. There’s also plenty to do inside the prefecture. The fantastic beaches and World Heritage sites are my personal favorites. I’ve enjoyed living here very much.
At work, internationalizing Wakayama Prefecture has been challenging and rewarding. I’ve had the opportunity to introduce Wakayama to all kinds of interesting people from all over the world. I’ve also learned a lot from working with other divisions of the government to promote tourism, attract businesses and generally help develop Wakayama Prefecture. This is an incredibly diverse and interesting job that I would recommend to anyone.
 Originally from Puebla, Mexico I came to Japan on the JET Programme in August 2004 and ever since I have been a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) at the Cultural and International Affairs Division of Wakayama Prefecture. This is a unique work filled with situations requiring a lot of hard work but also enjoyable and with fascinating moments for me. The best part has been the experience of unusual areas of the Japanese society and meeting interesting personalities from Japan and around the world.
The general areas of my job include: the promotion of internationalization and exchange between Wakayama and its sister States overseas, Sinaloa in Mexico and Galicia in Spain. Providing assistance to the research students of Japanese descent from Latin America in the Prefecture as well as the promotion of Wakayama as a comercial and industrial target.
Past CIRs
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Check this space for recent updates and changes to the site
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