is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

on the

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

, in the Iioka district of the city of

Asahi Asahi (Japanese 朝日, 旭, or あさひ 'morning sun') may refer to: Places in Japan Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi ...

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The cape is located at the very northern point of

Kujūkuri Beach is a sandy beach that occupies much of the northeast coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Kujūkuri Beach is a popular swimming and surfing destination for inhabitants of Greater Tokyo. The beach is protected as part of ...

on the island of

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

, and is protected as part of the

Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park is a quasi-national park in the Kantō region of Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. Geography Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park covers an area in southeast Ibaraki Prefecture and northeast ...

Geography

Cape Gyōbu is at the northernmost point of Kujūkuri Beach, 66 kilometers from

Cape Taitō is a cape on the Pacific Ocean, in the city of Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The cape is located at the very southern point of Kujūkuri Beach on the island of Honshu. Geography Cape Taitō is written as in Japanese. Cape Gyōbumi, Asahi, Ch ...

at its southern end. The cape is located on the southern side of the Chōshi Peninsula at the western end of the Byōbugaura inlet. The cliffs of the cape are primarily composed of

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

. Marine

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

is severe and continues due to the harshness of waves from the Pacific Ocean off the cape. The primary

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

of Kujūkuri Beach, Iioka Fishing Port, is located just below the cape. The cape is surrounded by farmland.

Iioka Lighthouse

The Iioka Lighthouse, built in 1956, sits on top of a cliff on Cape Gyōbu. The white concrete structure stands 9.8 meters high. The lighthouse is visible up to 25 km out to sea. A

viewing platform An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

, named "Hikari to Kaze" (meaning "light and wind"), opened in 2001 adjacent to the lighthouse. In winter, weather permitting,

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

is visible from the cape observatory. The observatory is open year-round.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The fishing port and buildings at the base of Cape Gyōbu saw major damage as a result of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. The base of the cape was inundated by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

, and a strong

whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

developed in the inlet. Numerous ships, vehicles, and structures were damaged around Cape Gyōbu. In all, 7 people died, and 4 people were missing in the Iioka area as a result of the tsunami.

Cape Gyōbu in Film

Shunji Iwai is a Japanese filmmaker, video artist, writer and documentary maker. Life and career Iwai was born in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. He attended Yokohama National University, graduating in 1987. In 1988, he started out in the Japanese entertainment ...

’s '' Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?'', 1993 *

Takashi Yamazaki is a Japanese filmmaker and visual effects supervisor. Known for his blockbusters featuring advanced visual effects, he is considered a leading figure in the Cinema of Japan, Japanese film industry. Yamazaki is the recipient of multiple accolade ...

's '' Juvenile'', 2000

Other

A stone statue of a character from the

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Tomorrow's Joe , also known as ''Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow'', is a Japanese boxing manga series written by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba. It follows drifter Joe Yabuki, who discovers a passion for boxing in a juvenile prison ...

" is located near Cape Gyōbu, an homage to the period when noted

artist

Tetsuya Chiba is a Japanese manga artist. Considered a major figure in the history of manga, many of his early titles are still in print due to continued popularity. He is most famous for his sports stories, having been described as "the biggest contributor ...

lived in Iioka.

Transportation

The cape is accessible by bus from the

Sōbu Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, passing through the cities of Funabashi, Chiba, and Chōshi. Its name derives from the ...

Asahi Station, and is approximately 45 minutes on foot from the station.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Gyobu Gyobu Landforms of Chiba Prefecture