Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A rocket launch at the Tanegashima Space Center.
Essentially, visitors are permitted to roam about most of the complex on their own self-
guided tours. There is no admission charge. Guided tours in English or Japanese may be re-
served but those arrangments must be made in advance.
But if you're not all that interested in rockets and outer space, and maybe would rather
just hit the beach, wander over to Takezaki Beach (
竹崎海岸
; Také-zaki kaigan; lit. “Bamboo
Point Coast”) which is more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) of pure white sand, in fact the whole
southern end of the island. It's not for nothing that JAXA claims on its web-site that “It is
known as the most beautiful rocket-launch complex in the world.”
In addition to its fine beach, the southern end of Tanegashima holds three prominent
capes: one famous historically, the other two occupied by the Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA). The two controlled by JAXA hold a number of islets/rocks just offshore. We'll de-
scribe them below. The southernmost (and southwesternmost) point of the island is occupied
by Cape Kadokura, previously mentioned as the first European landing place in the empire
of Japan. There are several small monuments, memorial stones and a Shintō shrine in com-
memoration of this event at the cape.
Cape Kadokura looking northeast.
Approximately 5 miles (8 kilometers) to the northeast is a second cape, Ōtakézaki (
大竹
崎
; Ōtaké-zaki), which holds two sets of islets. A bit more than a mile (3 kilometers) to the
north and east is the final cape, Yoshinobuzaki (
吉信崎
; Yoshino-bu zaki), which has a double
