Kushimoto Town

Pupil, said to carry art, drew a dragon.

Hojo wall paintings, Muryo-ji

Photo by Nagasawa Rosetsu (Public domain)

01 ／ Lighthouse residence

Among the earliest Brunton lighthouse residences,its stone was brought from Utsugi on the Kozagawa.

On Kii-Oshima island at Kashino stands a one-storey stone residence completed in 1870. Inside, a central corridor has a room with a fireplace on the left as you face it. It is a twin of the residence at Shionomisaki Lighthouse, completed at almost the same time. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.

One-storey stone building, completed 1870
Stone from Utsugi on the Kozagawa
Registered Tangible Cultural Property, 2003

02 ／ Cape

A cape that was once an island of marine terraceis now joined to Honshu by a sandbar.

Shionomisaki is a cape jutting out from the south of Kushimoto, its geology mostly quartz porphyry, diorite and diabase. The former island was joined to Honshu by the Kushimoto sandbar. It became a Prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty in 1959, and a lawn of about 100,000 m², the Boro no Shiba, spreads across it.

Prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty, 1959
Quartz porphyry, diorite and diabase
Boro no Shiba lawn, about 100,000 m²

03 ／ Thursday Island

A tale of giving half a temple's building costis thought to have fueled the rush to gather pearl shell.

About 7,000 Japanese worked gathering pearl shell, and people from Wakayama Prefecture are said to have made up 80 percent. The rush in the Kinan region is thought to have grown after word spread of a donation by a man from Tanami who went abroad in 1884. In December 2011 Kushimoto signed a friendship city declaration with Torres, home to Thursday Island.

About 7,000 gatherers
A man from Tanami went abroad in 1884
Friendship city declaration with Torres, December 2011

Living here

199 minutes from Osaka by Limited Express Kuroshio.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town has eight JR Kisei Main Line (Kinokuni Line) stations: Kushimoto, Koza, Wabuka, Tanami, Tako, Kii-Hime, Kii-Arita and Kii-Tahara. The Limited Express Kuroshio stops at Kushimoto Station. From departure at Osaka Station to arrival at Kushimoto Station, the fastest daily service takes 199 minutes (Kuroshio No. 17, timetable revised 3 October 2026).

People living here: 14,959people
Area: 135.67km²
Households: 7,398households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 16 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —2 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kushimoto Town in Japan33.486°N 135.787°E

to OsakaLtd. exp. Kuroshio199min

Travel times follow JR西日本『JRおでかけネット』（timetable.jr-odekake.net。改正日 2026-10-03・『JR時刻表』2026年10月号に基づく）の串本駅の駅時刻表（きのくに線・紀伊勝浦／新宮方面＝station-timetable/3119070001、白浜・和歌山・新大阪方面＝同3119070002。2026-10-14 に表示。駅番号は新宮3105・紀伊勝浦3111・太地3113・古座3117・串本3119で、開いたページの表題が『串本駅』であることで確かめた）と、そこから開いた列車ごとの『列車時刻表』（列車番号・運転日・各駅の着発）。第1段では区間時刻表（line-timetable/2312）を6日の日付で取ったが、第2段で列車ページと突き合わせ直した。 (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Kushimoto Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

17.2km

古座川町, すさみ町, 那智勝浦町

Kushimoto Town isthis kind of town.

01The Muryo-ji hojo wall paintings are 55 sliding-door panels designated an Important Cultural Property, made up of Maruyama Okyo's paintings and the dragon and tiger paintings by his pupil Nagasawa Rosetsu, who is said to have carried his master's work there
02The Kashinozaki Lighthouse residence is a stone building completed in 1870, the lighthouse is a national historic site together with the Ertugrul shipwreck site, and Hashigui-iwa has more than 40 rock pillars in a line of about 850 m and is a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument
03Shionomisaki is a prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty that was once an island, the Shiokaze rest house tells the history of those who crossed to Thursday Island for pearl shell, and two Koza districts join three Kozagawa districts in the Kochi Festival boat rite on the Kozagawa River

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kushimoto Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗