is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

facing the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in Muroran City,

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It's derived from "ci-ke-p" in

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

which means "cliff" is accented and commonly referred to as .

Overview

The Pacific side of the Etomo Peninsula is a scenic spot with cliffs rising above sea level extending for about . Many people come to the cape to see the first sunrise on the new year to see the curvature of the horizon. Cape Chikiu was placed first in the "100 best natural spots of Hokkaido" list published by the ''

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

'' in 1985. It was also included in the list of "Favorite Hokkaido scenic spots" by the Hokkaido Post Office in 1986 and the "100 new Japan sightseeing spots" by the ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'' in 1987. Cape Chikiu named "The Etomo peninsula outer Coast" with "Harkaramoi, Masuich beach, Tokkarisho" and designated as a national scenic spot "Pirikanoka" (it means "Beautiful shape" in Ainu people Language) in 2012. Chikiu Lighthouse was first turned on in 1920, and was selected as one of the "50 lighthouses of Japan". It was also dubbed by the

Japan Society of Civil Engineers is a professional scientific nonprofit organization of the civil engineering field of Japan. It was established as an incorporated association in 1914 and its offices are located in Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), of ...

as part of the country's "civil engineering heritage".

Green space of Cape Chkiu

Area from Cape Chikiu to Charatsunay where is located on west side where is a green area of about fifty hectares based on urban planning and has a walking path. You can see flowers such as

Katakuri ''Erythronium japonicum'', known as Asian fawn lily, Oriental fawn lily, Japanese fawn lily is a pink-flowered species trout lily, belonging to the Lily family and native to Japan, Korea, the Russian Far East (Sakhalin Island, Kuril Islands) an ...

, Ezokawaranadeshiko, Ōbaki violet in the spring. The surrounding area is on a migratory birds route and is also known as

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

nesting site for aim migratory birds. In addition,

woodpeckers Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. M ...

and other wild birds can be observed, so citizen bird-watching event is held. The waterway which is located almost in the center of the green space is a valuable place for breeding of Hokkaido salamanders.

Facilities

*Observatory *Restrooms *Stands *Parking lot

Access

From Bokoi Station on the

JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...

Muroran Main Line The is a railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), between Oshamambe Station in Oshamambe and Iwamizawa Station in Iwamizawa, approximately paralleling the coast of Iburi Subprefecture. There also is a branch ...

take the Donan Bus bound for Cape Chikiu housing complex and get off there. At a distance of away, it takes about 14 minutes on foot to reach Cape Chikiu Observatory from there.

References

{{reflist Headlands of Japan Muroran, Hokkaido