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Japan

Omaezaki, Japan

Omaezaki: The Cape at the Southern Tip of Shizuoka

Omaezaki faces Suruga Bay to the east and the Enshū Sea to the south, and it is a working town of fishing, tea and cargo shipping. From October to April a strong seasonal wind, the Enshū karakkaze, blows across the cape and can make even a clear day feel much colder than the thermometer says, so bring a windproof layer.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know

Omaezaki Port is a cargo port on the eastern side of the cape, and your ship will tell you whether it ties up at one of the wharves or brings you ashore by tender. Omaezaki has no passenger railway, so getting around means a taxi, a tour or the transport your ship arranges.

  • The Nabura seafood market is about 2 km from the port, and the lighthouse about 4 km.
  • Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport is about 35 to 40 minutes away by car, and Kikugawa Station, the nearest major railway station, about 35 minutes.
  • Typhoons are most likely to reach this coast between July and September.
  • The currency is the Japanese yen (¥).
  • Japanese law requires visitors to carry their passport at all times.

Omaezaki on Your Own

An independent day in Omaezaki is a taxi to the lighthouse at the tip of the cape, a walk along the shore below it, and lunch at the seafood market on the way back. All three are within about 4 km of the port.

  • The lighthouse: Omaesaki Lighthouse is climbed by a spiral staircase, and on clear days the view takes in the Izu Peninsula, the Southern Alps and Mt. Fuji. In 2026 the entry donation was ¥300 from junior high school age up and free for younger children, and the tower was open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (to 4:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays from March to October), closing from noon to 1 p.m.; check before you go.
  • Wind closures: The tower closes to climbers in strong wind and other bad weather, but you can still walk the grounds around it.
  • The cape: The shore around the cape has been laid out as Omaezaki Cape Park, and its rocky shore is used for rock-pooling at low tide.
  • Nabura market: The Omaezaki Nabura seafood market, about 2 km from the port, has six seafood shops and five restaurants, and it closes on Tuesdays.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own; if you came ashore by tender, check the time of the last boat back as well.

Getting Around from Omaezaki

Omaezaki has no passenger railway, so taxis and tours are the practical way to reach the lighthouse and the countryside beyond. The places farther afield are all a drive of 40 minutes or more.

  • Around town: The lighthouse is about 10 minutes from the port by car, and the Nabura market is closer still.
  • Kakegawa Castle: About 35 km away, roughly 40 minutes by car, Kakegawa keeps one of the few surviving castle palaces in Japan, built at the end of the Edo period and designated an Important Cultural Property.
  • Hōrai Bridge: In Shimada, about 40 minutes by car, this wooden footbridge over the Ōi River is 897.4 meters long and was recognized in 1997 by Guinness World Records as the longest wooden walking bridge in the world.
  • Steam trains: The Ōigawa Railway runs steam trains from Shin-Kanaya Station in Shimada, about 40 minutes by car from the port.

What to Eat in Omaezaki

Seafood from Omaezaki's fishing port and green tea from the Makinohara plateau are the local flavors. The Nabura market, near the port, is the place to try the seafood.

  • Seafood: Nabura market's shops sell fish from the Omaezaki fishing port and from around Japan, and its restaurants serve fresh seafood dishes.
  • Fukamushi-cha: Green tea from the Makinohara plateau is often steamed for longer than usual, which gives the deep-steamed tea, fukamushi-cha, that the area is known for.
  • Melons: Aroma melons, grown in glasshouses in neighboring Kakegawa, are a specialty of the region.

Tipping in Japan

Tipping is generally not practiced in Japan, and if you leave a tip in a restaurant, the staff will probably come after you to return it. Many Western-style hotels and restaurants may add a 10 percent service charge instead.

  • The exceptions to the no-tipping custom are high-end ryokan, the traditional inns, and interpreters or tour guides.
  • Never leave a cash tip on a table or hotel bed.

Culture and Sights at Omaezaki

Omaezaki is shaped by the sea and the wind: a lighthouse that has guided ships since 1874, beaches where turtles nest, and surf that has made the cape a windsurfing coast. Its dunes even served as a film set.

  • The lighthouse: Omaesaki Lighthouse is listed among the 50 Lighthouses of Japan, and in 2021 it and its former keepers' quarters were designated an Important Cultural Property. It was a filming location for Keisuke Kinoshita's 1957 film Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki.
  • Turtles: Loggerhead turtles nest on the beaches from June to August, and the turtles and their nesting grounds are a national natural monument. This is the northernmost place in Japan where they nest in significant numbers.
  • Windsurfing: In the 1980s and 1990s the cape hosted a windsurfing World Cup event at Golden Week, and surfers and bodyboarders are in the water at Omaezaki Long Beach all year.
  • The tripod light: About 3 km out to sea from the lighthouse, the Omaeiwa light, first lit in 1958, was the world's first tripod lighthouse at sea.
  • The dunes: On the Hamaoka dunes, fences set at an angle to the shore build artificial dunes that turn the wind and its sand back toward the sea. The dunes were a location for the 1964 film Woman in the Dunes.

History of Omaezaki

Sailors long feared the reefs off Cape Omaezaki, and for nearly four centuries the town's story has been bound up with guiding ships past them. Today it is a fishing, tea-growing and port town, joined with neighboring Hamaoka since 2004.

  • 1635: The Tokugawa shogunate set up a beacon on the cape after repeated shipwrecks on the rocks offshore.
  • The Omae rocks: A field of reefs about 150 meters wide and 1,100 meters long lies off the cape, and more than 150 ships ran aground on them between 1885 and 1958.
  • 1871: A Japanese navy vessel ran aground off the cape on April 8, which pushed the new Meiji government to build a modern lighthouse.
  • 1874: Omaesaki Lighthouse, built under the British engineer Richard Henry Brunton, was first lit on May 1. It was the first lighthouse in Japan to use a Fresnel lens.
  • 1889 and 1955: Omaezaki became a village in 1889 and a town in 1955.
  • 1944: The Tōnankai earthquake of December 7 shook Omaezaki with an intensity of 6 on the Japanese scale.
  • 1945: On July 24, United States carrier aircraft and naval guns damaged the lighthouse, breaking its lens. It was relit that October, and repairs were finished in 1949.
  • 2004: Omaezaki merged with the town of Hamaoka to form the city of Omaezaki.
  • 2011: After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in the city was shut down at the request of the prime minister in May.
  • To learn more ashore: Omaesaki Lighthouse, at 1581 Omaezaki, is open to visitors, and a small window on its stairway shows the original brickwork inside the tower.

Family Experiences at Omaezaki

Omaezaki suits families who like the outdoors, with a lighthouse to climb, rock pools on the shore and a seafood market for lunch. The wind and the sea are the things to watch with children.

  • Younger children: Primary school children and younger climb the lighthouse free, and the rocky shore around the cape is used for rock-pooling at low tide. The tourist association prints a yearly tide table.
  • School age: Marine Park Omaezaki, on the east side of the port, is a recreation area with a beach and a park.
  • Teenagers: Surfers and bodyboarders ride the waves at Omaezaki Long Beach all year, and the Nabura-kan visitor center has an observation room on its fourth floor overlooking the port.
  • Swimming: Swimming is banned along the Hamaoka dunes, so keep children out of the water there.

Accessibility at Omaezaki

The lighthouse is climbed by a spiral staircase, so its gallery is only for visitors who can manage stairs, though anyone can visit the grounds around it. If your ship uses tenders here, ask before you book anything ashore whether they can take a wheelchair.

  • Free municipal parking is available near the lighthouse, which helps if you travel by car or taxi.
  • Even on clear winter days, the wind can sometimes top 10 meters per second here, which is worth weighing if you are unsteady on your feet.

Shopping in Omaezaki

Seafood and green tea are what to take home from Omaezaki. The Nabura market and the Nabura-kan tourism and products hall, near the port, are the places to start.

  • Nabura market: Its six seafood shops also sell souvenirs, and the market closes on Tuesdays.
  • Nabura-kan: The hall houses the Omaezaki tourist association, which can help with information, and an observation room on the fourth floor.
  • Tea: Deep-steamed green tea from the Makinohara plateau is the local tea to look for.

Beaches Near Omaezaki

Omaezaki's coast is known for wind and surf, and its beaches draw windsurfers, surfers and bodyboarders as much as swimmers. Marine Park Omaezaki, on the east side of the port, has a beach that is busy in the hot summer months.

  • Omaezaki Long Beach: Surfers and bodyboarders use it all year, and it has hosted surfing contests.
  • Turtle beaches: Loggerhead turtles come ashore to nest from June to August.
  • Hamaoka dunes: Swimming is banned along this stretch of coast, where the dunes are protected as part of a prefectural natural park.
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