“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Mark Twain
Closer than You Might Think
More and more YouTubers seem to be making videos about their travels to the northern and southernmost parts of Japan. It piqued my curiosity and desire to see those places, too.
Little did I know that one of the places I kept seeing their videos report about was in Wakayama, the very place I had chosen to spend the summer. The southernmost tip of Wakayama is also the southernmost tip of Honshu, Japan’s big island. Why had I never taken the time to go there?
You might think, “Why would I ever take so much time to travel so far?
Fortunately, it’s a lot closer than you might imagine. From Tokyo, a 1-hour flight to Shirahama can put you near easy access to both the southernmost tip of Honshu, as well as Osaka and Kyoto.
The Southernmost Tip of Honshu
The southernmost tip of Honshu is called Shionomisaki (潮岬). Many years ago it was an island, but ocean currents built a sandbar that connected the island to Kushimoto and made it the southernmost tip of Honshu.
The topography has also been influenced by movements of tectonic places and geothermal activity. Shionomisaki is a place of a diverse nature both on land and in the ocean thanks to the nutrient-rich ocean currents.
This unique combination makes the Shionomisaki Cape a place with elements from both temperate climates and tropical climates. Kids find the variety of insects fascinating and divers can see beautiful coral reefs underwater.
Japan’s Geopark Committee has designated this area in Kumamoto as a Geopark, making it a place for research as well as an interesting place for tourists to visit.
The Shionomisaki Lighthouse has guided offshore ships for over a century. Visitors can also see the earth’s curvature and majestic sunrises and sunsets over the ocean from the observation terrace.
What Else Can You See in Kushimoto?
There is so much to see in Kushimoto. Just driving around the coastline, you will see artistic scenes of precipitous cliffs and amazing rock formations coming out of the water. Japan considers this natural scenery so beautiful, they work hard to preserve it.
One must-see stop along the drive, especially if you are a photographer, is Hashikui-iwa Rock (橋杭岩). The 850 meter stretch of oddly shaped rocks has been compared to the stakes of a bridge in Kushimoto.
For outdoor water sports enthusiasts, there are multiple shops that provide scuba equipment rental and guided dives. River and sea kayaking is popular as well.
The Kushimoto Turkish Memorial Museum is another recommended stop. The museum details the shipwreck of a Turkish vessel in the late 19th century. Residents of Kushimoto worked tirelessly to rescue the survivors and respectfully buried the bodies of those who didn’t survive. The way the Japanese handled this tragedy is remembered as the start of a history of friendship between Turkey and Japan. A movie documentary of the story was made in 2015.
The Muryo-ji Temple is located near Kushimoto’s downtown area. Some people refer to this temple as the temple of paintings. Inside the temple grounds is the Okyo Rosetsu Gallery, where a collection of paintings on fusuma door panels by Maruyama Okyo and Nagasawa Rosetsu are displayed.
For foodies, it’s no surprise that Kushimoto has many opportunities for eating good seafood. Most commonly caught around Kushimoto are tuna, yellowtail, and sea bream. This is where I enjoyed some of the best (thickly sliced) tuna sashimi I’ve eaten, along with tuna prepared in various other ways.
For the hiking enthusiast, Kushimoto is very close to Nachi-Katsuura and Nachi no Taki, one of the pilgrimage starting places for hiking the Kumano Kodo Roman Road.
North or South (or both)?
Just an hour-long flight from Tokyo lands you in Shirahama at the Kumano-Shirahama Resort Airport.
So, you could choose to go north from there and face the crowds of Osaka and Kyoto.
OR
You could go south to the southernmost tip of Honshu and enjoy all that Kushimoto has to offer without the crowds.
It is about the same distance from the airport whichever direction you go. Then again, why not plan a longer trip and visit both places north and south? Go beyond your limits as Mark Twain recommends. When you look back, you’ll probably be glad you did!