
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
Chōshi
Chōshi (, ) is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is .
Geography
Chōshi is located in the northeastern part ...
,
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 near the midpoint of the
Japanese Archipelago
The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...
on the island of
Honshū
, 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 seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...
.
Origin of name
The name of the cape is constructed from two Chinese characters, the first (犬) meaning "dog", and the second (吠) meaning "howling". Various traditions exist as to the origin of the name, one being that when
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...
's pet dog Wakamaru was left behind on the peninsula, he howled for seven days and nights. Another explanation is that the region was home to numerous
Japanese sea lion
The Japanese sea lion (''Zalophus japonicus'') (, ) was an aquatic mammal that became extinct in the 1970s. It was considered to be a subspecies of the related California sea lion (''Z. californianus'') until 2003. They inhabited the western Nort ...
s, whose barking voice resembles that of a dog. The name may also be of ancient
Ainu origin.
Geography
Cape Inubō is technically a small
peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
, but is customarily referred to as a cape. While references exist to the Inubō Peninsula, the name has fallen out of use. An extensive marine cave exists in the reef areas under the lighthouse. The cape forms the easternmost point in Chiba Prefecture, close to the mouth of the
Tone River
The is a river in the Kantō region of Japan. It is in length (the second longest in Japan after the Shinano River) and has a drainage area of (the largest in Japan). It is nicknamed Bandō Tarō (); ''Bandō'' is an obsolete alias of the ...
. It is part of
Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park.
Inubōsaki Lighthouse
Cape Inubō is noted for its
Inubōsaki Lighthouse, built in 1874. It is notable as one of the few lighthouses whose original lens was a first order
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections.
The simpler Dioptrics, d ...
, the strongest type of Fresnel lens. It is a
Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan.
In popular culture

Cape Inubō is mentioned in numerous literary works. Markers related to the poems of
Shōwa period
Shōwa most commonly refers to:
* Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa
** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989
* Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...
author
Kyoshi Takahama
was a Japanese poetry, Japanese poet active during the Shōwa period of Japan. His real name was ; Kyoshi was a pen name given to him by his mentor, Masaoka Shiki.
Early life
Kyoshi was born in what is now the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Matsuyama ...
(1874 – 1959) and ''Naturalist''
tanka poet
Bokusui Wakayama
was the pen-name of , a Japanese author noted for his poetry in pre-World War II Japan.
Life
Wakayama was born in Togo, Miyazaki, (now part of the city of Hyūga, Miyazaki, Hyūga) as the eldest son of a doctor. He became interested in poetry f ...
(1885 – 1928) are on the cape.
Since 1958, the opening logo for
Toei Company
, simply known as Toei Company or Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. Headquartered in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, it is involved in film and television production, distribution, video game development, publishing, and ownership of 34 movi ...
films features waves crashing over three rocks near Cape Inubō.
As a homage to this, the 45th ''
Super Sentai
The is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the '' tokusatsu'' genre, featuring live action characters and colorfu ...
'' series, ''
Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger'', features this particular shot of Cape Inubō in the background whenever Zenkaiser uses the Zenryoku Zenkai Cannon's main attack.
Transport
The cape is 10 minutes by foot from the
Inuboh Station of the
Chōshi Electric Railway Line, or 20 minutes by bus from the
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...
Chōshi Station.
File:Inubozaki lighthouse 002.jpg, Inubōsaki Lighthouse
File:Inubouzki_lighthouse_2008.jpg, Inubōsaki Lighthouse
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Inubo
Inubo
Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture
Landforms of Chiba Prefecture
Chōshi