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Yoshino Kumano NP, Wakayama
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At 33°30′N—temperate latitude—Kuroshio warmth keeps Kushimoto’s sea above 15°C even in winter. That lets table coral form the world’s northernmost large stands, right off this park.
At 14 m just offshore, park staff found a burrowing shrimp new to science in 2018: Naushonia kiiensis, only the 4th of its genus recorded in Japan. A second new shrimp was described nearby in 2021.
The park’s loggerhead turtle lineage has reached great-grandchildren: captive hatching began in 1995, grandchildren hatched in 2010, and a 4th generation emerged in 2020.
Kushimoto has plenty of corals, but not a coral reef: a reef is a built-up landform of accumulated hard skeletons, and these high-latitude coral communities don’t create one.
The underwater tower’s 40 windows look straight into the natural sea, not a tank. More than 270 fish species have been recorded there; on a typical visit, 20–40 may be in view.
The park’s seafront restaurant gives sea bream a double billing: its roasted sea-bream-dashi ramen can come with a mini sea-bream rice bowl in the playfully named “Tai-Tai Set.”
About 120 coral species have been recorded around Kushimoto, yet only 11 are plentiful. Some species are known here from just a single colony—so a rare coral can be a real one-off sighting.
The marine park zone here was designated Japan’s first in July 1970. The underwater viewing tower opened in January 1971, and the aquarium followed in October—a pioneer built in stages.
The Ramsar-listed Kushimoto coastal wetland, including the park’s marine area, covers 574 hectares across 3 separate zones. It received international wetland recognition in 2005 for its unusual coral communities.
