Kantorisaki lighthouse whale.jpg
Article

30422 / たいじちょう

Wakayama Prefecture 東牟婁郡

Taiji Town

Atop a lighthouse, a whale watches wind.

Whale vane, Kandorizaki Light

Photo by 切干大根 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 / Exclave

Across Moriura Bay, a detached partof Taiji lies on the far shore.

This detached part of Taiji lies across Moriura Bay from the rest of the town. In the National Land Numerical Information data (January 1, 2026), a patch of about 0.48 km² lies about 1 km north of the main area, surrounded by the town of Nachikatsuura. The town's chronology lists a 2009 project on the district's lawn plaza.

  • About 0.48 km² (Jan. 1, 2026)
  • About 1 km north of the main area
  • 2009 plaza works

02 / Tomyozaki

Once Murozaki, then Taijizaki, the capebecame Tomyozaki when a whale-oil lamp was set up.

Whale oil lamp stand at Tomyozaki 1.jpg
Photo by Motokoka (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In Kanei 13 (1636), a lamp tower burning whale oil was set up, manned by a samurai-class official sent from Shingu Domain. The lookout platform was the general command post of old-style whaling, and some ten people, including the Yamadanna and advisers called Oyaji, held that post. The lookout platform and lamp tower at the site today are reconstructions.

  • Kanei 13 (1636)
  • Lookout platform: command post
  • Lookout site: a Japan Heritage component

03 / Whale-bone torii

Inspired by a torii of whale bone in a novel,a torii of whale jawbones was built.

鯨骨鳥居 - panoramio.jpg
Photo by shikabane taro (CC BY 3.0)

The Edo-period novel "Nippon Eitaigura" says the Kujira Ebisu shrine of a village called Taiji had a torii made of whale torso bones. Inspired by this fiction, a first torii was raised in 1985. The photo shows the second, from 1996; the current third dates from 2019.

  • 1985: first
  • 1996: second
  • April 2019: third (sei whale jawbones)

Living here

225 minutes from Osaka by Limited Express Kuroshio.

  • about 3,000 people
  • Rural district town

The town's station is Taiji Station on the JR Kisei Main Line, where the Limited Express Kuroshio stops. From departure at Osaka Station to arrival at Taiji Station, the fastest daily service takes 225 minutes (JR Odekake Net, as displayed on October 14, 2026).

People living here
2,791people
19952020

−9.6% since 2015

3,907 → 2,791

Area
5.81km²

2.5km² of it habitable

2024

Households
1,315households

2.1 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals / 3 clinics

10.7 per 10,000 people

2023

Area5.81km²Habitable land2.5km² / 43%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—1 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.

Taiji Town in Japan33.594°N 135.944°E
TokyoTaiji Town
Taiji Station
太地駅2023
  • to OsakaLtd. exp. Kuroshio225min

Travel times follow JRおでかけネット(JR西日本の時刻検索 timetable.jr-odekake.net)の『区間時刻表』(きのくに線〈紀勢本線〉新宮~天王寺/京都 下り=新宮→大阪方面〔line-timetable/2314〕、京都/天王寺~新宮 上り=大阪方面→新宮〔line-timetable/2312〕。いずれも『2026年10月14日』の表示)と、列車ごとの『列車時刻表』(運転日『毎日運転』と各駅の着発時刻が出る)。町内の駅は JR紀勢本線の太地駅だけ(wakayama-stations.json) (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 1 municipalities.

Territory of Taiji Town
Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

4.8km

那智勝浦町

Taiji Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Kandorizaki Lighthouse, a white lighthouse on Kandorizaki, has a "whale vane" in place of a weathervane rooster, according to the Taiji Tourism Association, and the cape was also one of the lookouts for old-style whaling
  2. 02Taiji has a detached district across Moriura Bay, a whale-oil lamp tower was set up at Tomyozaki in Kanei 13 (1636), and the town says the Shoku Nihongi records that Kibi no Makibi, returning from Tang China as an envoy, drifted ashore at "Murozaki (today's Tomyozaki)"
  3. 03The whaling culture of Shingu, Nachikatsuura, Taiji and Kushimoto is the Japan Heritage story "Living with Whales", and Taiji has the prefectural historic site of Wada Yorimoto's grave, the prefecturally designated Kujira Odori dance, and a whale-bone torii at Ebisu Shrine

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.