Located on the far eastern side of Hokkaido, Cape Nosappu is Japan’s easternmost point. One of my missions during my year-long trip of Japan is to visit all of the most extreme geographical points in the country. As of writing I have been to the northeasternmost point.

Nemuro

The largest town and gateway to Cape Nosappu is Nemuro, Japan’s easternmost town. It also has the distinction of having the easternmost railway station in Japan – Higashi-Nemuro (although it is only a platform). The main station is Nemuro, which is in second place and also is the easternmost end station.

Nemuro and the peninsula are known for a special type of crab called Hanasaki crab. A festival called the Nemuro Crab Festival takes place at the end of August to promote the consumption of this type of crab:

Getting to Cape Nosappu

If you are not already in Nemuro (e.g. starting in a hotel), then getting there is your first challenge.

Getting to Nemuro

My base of operations was in Kushiro, one of Hokkaido’s major port towns. I did not have a car but there is a train. By direct train (JR Hokkaido’s Nemuro line), the journey is approximately two hours and passes through some beautiful wetlands and coastal areas, which are visible from the train. There are 4 trains per day (depending on the season). Google Maps is good for trains in Hokkaido as it gets everything from JR Hokkaido’s website.

One thing to note is that there are very likely going to be short delays on this line in contrast to the rest of Japan. This is due to the deer in the area, who enjoy standing on the tracks, eating everything in sight and breeding like rabbits. This one-man train is equipped with a high-pitched whistle to squeak at deer on the tracks. On my journey, we had to use it more than 10 times and we came to complete stops three times. The deer realise the train won’t hit them (or at least, not intentionally) and so no longer see it as a threat.

Alternatively there are occasional sightseeing buses that go from Kushiro as well. You can check those on the Kushiro Bus website (Japanese only, so use the Google Translate plugin for your own language). You could also rent a car and drive. It will take about 2 hours either way.

From Nemuro to Cape Nosappu

Once you are in Nemuro, your work is only halfway completed. To travel the roughly 30 km (18.6 miles) to the end of the Nemuro Peninsula, you have a couple of options.

By bus

You can take a bus from Nemuro Station to Cape Nosappu. These buses leave approximately 10 minutes after the train is supposed to arrive. This journey takes about half an hour. There are at least 3 buses per day (up to 5 in the summer). You can see more information here at the local bus company website (again only in Japanese but can be translated).

By car

Driving from Nemuro to Cape Nosappu takes approximately 20 minutes. You can use the circular Route 35.

By bike

You can rent a bike and helmet from the tourist information point. They have a limited supply but will point you to a nearby hotel if they have run out. A full-day rental costs ¥3200 for everything.

From here you head north out of the town and onto Route 35. Getting to the cape will take approximately 1.5 hours with constant cycling. The landscape is rolling hills but there are also some steeper parts.

In total to and from the cape, the distance is approximately 50 km (about 31 miles), so keep this in mind.

Cape Nosappu

When you reach the end of the land, you will find several memorials, a guidepost, some restaurants and a museum about the local people of Hokkaido.

Cape Nosappu is also the closest area in Japan to foreign territory. Less than 8 km (under 5 miles) away is Tanfiliev or 水晶島, an island that changed hands after World War 2, coming under Russian control. Although it is uninhabited, it is the closest bit of foreign land to Japan. In fact because it is so close, many of the signs here are in Japanese, English and Russian.

Here are some images of the area:

Thanks for reading! Want to do some more exploring? Have a look at the travel map:

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