Guide of Highlights

This uninhabited island in the Uwakai Sea is abundant in natural beauty and consists of a special protection zone and Class 1 special zone. It is also used as a place to camp for kids.

Walk through a tunnel of Quercus phillyraeoides forest past a parking lot, and you will see a beach that extends along the coastline. Visitors can enjoy snorkeling, sea kayaking, and camping on the large lawn field.

Historically a hunting ground for the Uwajima Domain, Kashima is an uninhabited island that is home to wild monkeys and deer. In addition to a sea bathing beach, the island also offers visitors the chance to enjoy snorkeling and join a sea walk tour to gaze upon the coral reefs.

In the late autumn, indigenous Chrysanthemum japonense plants bloom across the entire escarpment of this cape. Around the time the sunsets over the far away mountains of Kyushu, the ocean spreads out before your eyes under the bright orange flames of the sky.

This mountain pass is 436 m above sea level and offers a commanding view of Uwakai Sea and the sawtooth coastline in the distance.

Extending over Kochi Prefecture and Ehime Prefecture, the mountain was traditionally regarded as a spiritual destination. The summit area is populated with Rhododendron pentaphyllum var. shikokianum growing in clusters, and during the flowering season, the area is crowded with many tourists.

Nametoko Gorge is noted for the smooth riverbed formed as a result of the erosion of granite over many years. As represented by the Yukiwano-taki Falls, the beautiful gorge landscapes include waterfalls, the river, deep pools, and beech and maple trees beside the river. Recently, it has become a popular site for canyoning.

The island is marked with distinct seashore landscapes, such as Nanatsu-udo Cave, and retains the unique cultural traditions of stone steps, stone walls, terraced fields, and drying shelves. There is a daily ocean liner from the Katashima Port in Sukumo City.

Despite constituting a small island measuring 4 km in circumference, the island is host to considerable biodiversity made possible by the clear seas attributed to tidal currents and the Japan Current and the Bungo Channel. The island is highly popular among divers.

Located at the western end of the Odo Beach, the oddly shaped rock formation is known as Kannon-iwa Rock, so named for its form. A trail set up nearby runs through a natural forest.

The Tatsukushi Beach boasts seashore landscapes marked by unusual rocks: Otake Kodake (large bamboo, small bamboo), Kaeru no Senbikitsure (the thousand frogs) and Ranma-iwa Rock (Transom Rock).

The sea off the Tatsukushi Beach is populated by species of corals such as colonies of Pavona decussata in Minokoshi Bay, as well as colorful fish showcasing the lovely scenery.

The Oki Beach is a splendid, pine-wooded, sandy beach of white sand stretching for 1.5 km. A popular surf spot where visitors can enjoy the peaceful views unlike Cape Ashizuri and the Tatsukushi Beach, which are characterized by precipitous cliffs.

Amidst a forest of gigantic stones in the mountains and covering the grass, the ruins form a stone circle. Visitors can enjoy sweeping views all the way to Kyushu from the top of the flat Senjoshiki stone.

Located at the southernmost tip of Shikoku, Japan's largest chalk lighthouse sits in beautiful harmony with the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean and the sheer granite precipices. Walk along the esplanade and enjoy the Hakusan Caves, carved by the waves.

There are plentiful sandstones carved by the wind and the waves in Tatsukushi in Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture, and are variously known as Otake Kodake (large bamboo, small bamboo), Kaeru no Senbikitsure (the thousand frogs). You can view many strange shapes carved in sandstones.

A species of the stone curlew family. They grow vertically in leaf-like sheets to form a dome-like colony. Large colonies are visible within the Minokoshi bay in Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture. Designated as a Natural Monument of the Prefecture.

A species of the coral family. Refers generally to species lacking a skeleton. Located in Nishiumi region of Ainan Town in Ehime Prefecture. Consisting primarily of soft corals. Beautiful underwater scenery, referred to as the "Flowerbeds of the Sea."

A small evergreen tree growing in the mild climate in the west of the Tohoku region. Blooms with a red flower between November and April. They grow in plentiful thickets on Cape Ashizuri, to the form tunnels when in bloom. A symbol of the Cape.

Massive Japanese Umbrella-pine and tiger-tail spruce trees and colonies of Rhododendron pentaphyllum var. shikokianum are found in the Mt. Sasayama Peaks straddling the borders of Kochi and Ehime Prefectures. Enjoyed by large numbers of tourists when in bloom between the end of April and the beginning of May.

Found in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean. Known to lay eggs in the area off the Noto Peninsula, and Kashimanada Sea and south. The loggerhead turtle has been found coming ashore, and laying eggs on the Ooki Beach near Tosashimizu City in Kochi Prefecture.

Enjoy the plentiful underwater scenery and snorkelling in the Uwakai area as well as coastal areas in the Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park.