Tsurumisaki

The Tsurumisaki peninsula is, at its furthest extent, the most easterly point in Kyushu. A quiet 30 kilometre road gently winds its way aside the sea, past bays and through one fishing hamlet after another. An ideal route for a leisurely tour by cycle, car or motorbike, but one that does have a sting in this peninsula’s tail, at least among cyclists who wish to reach the end of the road. The last four kilometres to the far tip is negotiated over a steep climb, through a series of switchbacks, before finally reaching journey’s end at Tsurumisaki Lighthouse, which stands aloft on a high cliff. The views certainly make the last leg worth the effort and, if needed and with tent in hand, recovery overnight can be made at a camp site nearby before making the return journey. En route is the Tanga Hodai, once the site of a gun emplacement, that has been turned into an intriguing, if unusual visitor attraction.