Cape Muroto

Cape Muroto (室戸岬, Muroto-misaki) is a headland at the southeastern tip of the Japanese island of Shikoku, in the city of Muroto, Kōchi Prefecture. Extending into the Pacific Ocean[1] and situated in Muroto UNESCO Global Geopark[2][3] within Muroto-Anan Kaigan Quasi-National Park,[1] the cape has been designated a Place of Scenic Beauty[4] and the local vegetation a Natural Monument,[5] while the Sound of the Waves at Cape Muroto and Mikurodo Cave is among the 100 Soundscapes of Japan.[6]

Cape Muroto
室戸岬
Cape
View from Kanjōgahama (灌頂ヶ浜) at the cape
View from Kanjōgahama (灌頂ヶ浜) at the cape
Cape Muroto is located in Kochi Prefecture
Cape Muroto
Cape Muroto
Location of Cape Muroto on Shikoku
Cape Muroto is located in Japan
Cape Muroto
Cape Muroto
Cape Muroto (Japan)
Coordinates: 33°15′12″N 134°10′39″E
LocationMuroto, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan

Cultural features

On the summit overlooking the cape is Hotsumisaki-ji, the twenty-fourth temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage,[1] as well as Cape Muroto Lighthouse, which started operating in 1899,[7] and a statue of Nakaoka Shintarō.[8]

Geology

Due to the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate in the Nankai Trough, some 140 kilometres (87 mi) off the cape, the land around the cape is being uplifted at a rate of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) per millennium, at the top end of the world's uplift rates.[2]

Fauna

Birds observed in the vicinity of the cape include the osprey and blue rock thrush.[9] Marine life in the waters offshore includes the Japanese amberjack, Japanese anchovy, Japanese barramundi, Japanese jack mackerel, Japanese mackerel, Japanese pilchard, Pacific mackerel, Blackfin seabass, three-line grunt, and spear squid.[9]

Access

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cape Muroto.

References
  1. 室戸阿南海岸国定公園の概要と見所 [Outline and Highlights of Muroto-Anan Kaigan Quasi-National Park] (in Japanese). Kōchi Prefecture. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  2. "Muroto UNESCO Global Geopark". UNESCO. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  3. "Geopark Map". Muroto UNESCO Global Geopark. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  4. 室戸岬 [Cape Muroto] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. 室戸岬亜熱帯性樹林及海岸植物群落 [Cape Muroto Subtropical Forest and Coastal Plant Communities] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  6. 残したい"日本の音風景100選"パンフレット [Remaining 100 Soundscape of Japan (Pamphlet)] (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  7. 室戸岬灯台 [Cape Muroto Lighthouse] (in Japanese). Muroto City. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  8. 室戸岬周辺観光マップ [Sightseeing Map Around Cape Muroto] (in Japanese). Muroto City. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  9. 沿岸域 13804 室戸岬周辺 [Coastal Area 13804 Cape Muroto Environs] (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
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