Kushimoto [串本]
Shionomisaki
Bourou no Shiba
Kushimoto is a town at the southern edge of Wakayama Prefecture.
It is located about 120 km southeast of Wakayama city and about 170 km south of Osaka city.
The south part of the is a small peninsula, and the central area of the town is on the narrow land connecting the peninsula and the main land.
The southwest tip of the peninsula is Shionomisaki cape (潮岬), and is the southernmost point of Honshu Island.
(The whole penisula is also called "Shionomisaki".)
It is located about 6 km south of the center of Kushimoto town.
Shionomisaki faces vast Pacific Ocean.
The cape is surrounded by a sheer cliff several tens of meters high, but wide and flat ground covered with lawn spreads on the top of cliffs.
The ground of lawn is called Bourou no Shiba (望楼の芝).
It means "Lawn of watchtower", because there was a naval watchtower on this place.
There are a lighthouse and an observation tower with shops and restaurants around the cape.
In the tower, the visitors can get the certification of visiting the southernmost point of Honshu Island.
By the way, a launch site of space rocket was set up by a private company in 2021.
It is located about 12 km northeast of central Kushimoto town.
Kushimoto is becoming one of the towns of space development in Japan.
Kushimoto Marine Park (串本海中公園)
The enormous warm current ("Kuroshio" in Japanese) flows near Shionomisaki, so it is warm around this region.
A few kinds of coral has made their habitats in the sea around Shionomisaki.
So this area has been inscribed as a registered wetlands under the Ramsar Convention.
Kushimoto Marine Park is the Japan's first marine park founded in 1970.
It is located by the sea about 6 km west of the center of Kushimoto town.
It has an aquarium and an undersea observation tower.
An undersea observation boat is operated and the visitors can see the bottom of the sea in the boat.
Hashigui-iwa (橋杭岩)
Hashigui-iwa
Illuminated Hashigui-iwa
Hashigui-iwa are about 40 rocks on a straight line from the coast toward the sea.
The length is about 850 meters.
"Hashigui-iwa" means "rocks like bridge piers".
They are located about 2 km northeast of the center of Kushimoto town.
They are the symbol of Kushimoto, and the view of the rising sun is very popular.
They are has been designated as national natural treasures.
Turkish Memorial and Museum (トルコ記念館)
Turkish Memorial and Museum
There is Kii-Oshima island (紀伊大島) to the east of the peninsula, and a bridge connects the peninsula and the island.
A frigate of the Ottoman Navy "Ertugrul" with around over 600 sailors and officers left Constantinople (current Istanbul) in 1889 and arrived in Japan as the messenger of the Ottoman Empire after the difficult sailing for 11 months.
After they had an audience with Emperor Meiji in Tokyo, they departed homeward in September of 1870.
But the frigate encountered typhoon and went aground off Kii-Oshima.
It turned upside down and most passengers were thrown into the raging sea.
In spite of stormy weather, many village people in Kii-Oshima rescued and cared for the survivors.
69 people were rescued alive, but 587 people were missed or lost.
Having received the news, Emperor Meiji directed the government to help as much as possible.
Next month, Japanese navy sent the survivors to Constantinople safely.
Since that, Japan has maintained friendly relations with Turkey.
Turkish Memorial and Museum was established in 1974.
It is located at the east end of Kii-Oshima island and is near the place that the frigate "Ertugrul" was wrecked.
We can see the various articles and photos about "Ertugrul".
How to get here
By limited express of JR Kinikuni Line, to Kushimoto, about 3 hours from Tennoji in Osaka, about 1 hour from Shirahama.
Then, by route bus, about 3 minutes to Hashigui-iwa, about 17 minutes to Shionomisaki, about 13 minutes Kushimoto Marine Park, about 37 minutes to Turkish Memorial and Museum (Kashino-todaiguchi stop) from JR Kushimoto station.
To Hashigui-iwa, on foot, about 30 minutes from Kushimoto station.
