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Ashizuri-Uwakai NP, Kochi
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Egg-shaped crystals give Cape Ashizuri’s rapakivi granite its distinctive look; “rapakivi” means “crumbly rock” in Finnish. At about 13 million years old, it is remarkably young—and Japan’s only confirmed example.
First lit in 1914, Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse was strafed by U.S. aircraft during World War II. Rebuilt in 1960 with its rocket-like silhouette, its beacon reaches about 38 km over the Pacific.
Cape Ashizuri’s Kongōfukuji is pilgrimage temple No. 38. The walk from No. 37, Iwamotoji, is 80.7 km—the longest gap between any two temples on the 88-temple Shikoku route.
John Manjiro was 14 when he drifted away while fishing off Cape Ashizuri in 1841. He survived 143 days on Tori-shima before an American whaler rescued him; a statue of him now stands at the cape.
Around Ashizuri, tokoroten jelly made from locally gathered tengusa seaweed is served with a sauce flavored by sodabushi—smoked frigate tuna from Tosashimizu. It’s a taste of both the shore and the fishing town.
About 60,000 wild camellia trees grow at the cape’s tip. Their red winter flowers line a walking path, and their seeds are also pressed into locally made Ashizuri camellia oil.
Tosashimizu’s list of the cape’s “Seven Wonders” names 9 spots. The city explains that “seven” here means “many,” not a literal count—a charming clue to the tradition’s name.
One of the cape’s wonders is a naturally formed turtle-shaped stone. Local legend says Kūkai summoned a sea turtle here, rode it to offshore Fudō Rock, and prayed there.
The Ashizuri nojigiku grows on windy coastal slopes around the cape. White hairs make its thick leaves look silver-edged, while its white petals gradually turn pale pink; it flowers in winter.
The cape’s lookout point once housed a Navy watchtower, completed in 1901 and used from 1902 to monitor ships and relay wireless messages. It later served as a weather station until 1930; brick fragments remain nearby.
