Cape Muroto

Also known as "Muroto Misaki." A cape jutting out into the Pacific Ocean at the southern tip of Muroto City, Kochi Prefecture. A nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty. Located at the southeastern tip of Shikoku, it separates the Kii Channel from Tosa Bay, and embraces Tosa Bay opposite Cape Ashizuri to the west. It is an uplifted rocky coast where the porphyry rocks have been eroded by the sea, developing coastal terraces and reefs. It is known as a place where typhoons pass through, and is one of the windiest areas in the country. The strong winds cause the subtropical and warm temperate plant communities (nationally designated natural monuments) such as the ako tree, the aogiri tree, the phillyraeoides phillyraeoides, and the pittosporum tobira to take on unique tree shapes, which, combined with the spectacular waves, create a distinctive landscape. On the coastal terrace behind the cape are Hotsumisaki Temple, the 24th temple of the 88 Shikoku Pilgrimage Sites, a weather observatory, and a lighthouse, and the Muroto Skyline (Prefectural Route 203 Muroto Park Line) passes through it. National Route 55 runs along the coast, and a promenade runs through it, along which visitors will find the Kannon Cave, associated with Kukai, a bathing pond, and a statue of Nakaoka Shintaro. The area is part of the Muroto-Anan Coast Quasi-National Park, and there are many fishing ports built in the early modern period, as well as private houses surrounded by windbreak stone walls and hedges. Tosa Bae and Shirakusa Bae off the cape are known as good fishing reefs.

[Yasuhiko Owaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

「むろとみさき」ともいう。高知県室戸市南端、太平洋に突出する岬。国指定名勝。四国南東端にあたり、紀伊水道と土佐湾を分け、西の足摺(あしずり)岬と相対して土佐湾を抱く。斑糲(はんれい)岩などが海食を受け、海岸段丘や岩礁を発達させた隆起岩石海岸。台風の通過地として知られ、全国屈指の強風地でもあり、アコウ、アオギリ、ウバメガシ、トベラなどの亜熱帯・暖帯の植物群生（国指定天然記念物）が強風により特有な樹形をみせ、豪壮な波濤(はとう)景と組み合わされて特色ある景観を呈している。岬背後の海岸段丘面には四国八十八か所第24番札所最御崎(ほつみさき)寺、測候所、灯台があり、室戸スカイライン（県道203号室戸公園線）が通じる。国道55号が海岸沿いを走るほか、遊歩道が通じ、それに沿って空海ゆかりの観音窟(かんのんくつ)、行水の池や、中岡慎太郎像などがある。一帯は室戸阿南海岸国定公園域で、近世以降築港された漁港が多く、防風石垣や生け垣を巡らした民家もみられる。岬沖の土佐碆(ばえ)、白草(しらくさ)碆は好漁礁として知られる。

［大脇保彦］

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