Is this Japan's best kept secret?

Overshadowed by the neighboring city of Osaka, this humble Japanese prefecture is home to arguably Japan's most delicious ramen, a 1,700-year-old fire festival and a giant open-air bath fed by a hot spring.

You'll find much of what you need for the complete Japanese experience on this little crescent of land on the southern coast of the country's largest island, Honshu.

Here are 10 ways to begin to get to know this little Japanese secret.

1. Eat Japan's "most delicious" ramen

Ever since Ide Shoten's Wakayama ramen was voted "Japan's most delicious" by a Japanese food show, this humble noodle shop has become sacred ground for ramen lovers, Kazinform has learnt from CNN.

Wakayama ramen has a unique soup base, made with an extremely savory pork bone and soy sauce broth. But it's generally known to locals as chuka soba -- not ramen -- which means "Chinese noodles" in Japanese. These steaming bowls of soup with their satisfying pork and lard flavor can fast become an addiction.

Cooked eggs and mackerel sushi on tables are the traditional appetizers. Diners just have to report how many they have eaten when it comes time to get the bill.

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