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Shionomisaki Lighthouse

Shionomisakilighthousesouthernmost HonshuKushimotoKuroshio

Wakayama · Kushimoto

33.4470°N, 135.7611°E

The southernmost point of Honshu, on a thirty-metre cliff above the Pacific, with a white lighthouse first lit in 1873 and a spiral of sixty-eight stone steps to the gallery. It is one of a small number of Japanese lighthouses you can climb, and from the top the ocean fills the whole southern horizon with nothing between you and it.

Behind the lighthouse is Boro no Shiba, a wide grass headland named after a naval lookout tower that stood there, now an open lawn used for camping and for watching the sun go down over Kumano bay. The Kuroshio current runs close inshore here, which is why the climate is subtropical and why the cape has had a lighthouse since the Meiji government's first programme of them. Admission to climb is ¥300.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

9:00 AM – 4:30 PM | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM at weekends and holidays, March–September | Last entry 15 minutes before closing

Closed: Confirm seasonal closures locally

Entrance Fee

¥300 for junior high school age and above | Free for elementary school children and visitors with a disability certificate plus one companion | Boro no Shiba lawn free

Best Season

Year-round | Sunset over Kumano bay from the lawn

Visit Duration

45–60 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

2877 Shionomisaki, Kushimoto, Higashimuro District. Car recommended, or by Kushimoto town bus from JR Kushimoto Station. A contribution of ¥300 for junior high school age and above is asked to climb; elementary school children, visitors with a disability certificate and one companion are free. Open 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM, extending to 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM at weekends and on holidays from March to September; last entry 15 minutes before closing. The Boro no Shiba lawn behind is free and open.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Sixty-eight steps and it is worth them.** The gallery at the top gives the full southern horizon. Very few Japanese lighthouses can be climbed at all. **Longer weekend hours in summer.** From March to September the lighthouse opens at 8:30 AM and closes at 5:00 PM at weekends and on holidays, against 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM otherwise. **The lawn is free.** Boro no Shiba behind the lighthouse costs nothing, is open at all times, and is where the sunset is watched. Camping is permitted in season. **Subtropical because of the Kuroshio.** The warm current runs close inshore here, which is why the vegetation on the cape is what it is at this latitude. **Combine with Hashigui-iwa.** The rock pillars are fifteen minutes away and face east — lighthouse for sunset, pillars for sunrise.

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