The cape amidst the dense virgin forest? If you don't understand it, I don’t blame you. Cape Miyajima is a well-known viewing location of Japan’s largest wetland, Kushiro Shitsugen. The wetland was part of the Pacific Ocean about 10,000 years ago. After the water level began to drop 6,000 years ago, peat moss accumulated at the bottom of the sea and formed a vast wetland. Therefore, the cape was actually a “cape” protruding into the ocean in the prehistoric periods. As the area around the cape is a designated National Natural Monument, entry to the cape without permission is prohibited today.

Getting the permission is all right, but another hardship awaits you. The trail to the cape is steep and rough. You will have to go along the rolling path in the dense virgin forest for about two hours. But if you get close to the cape, you will notice the landscape has drastically changed. Just at the moment you go out of the jungle-like forest, the exquisite panoramic view of the wetland suddenly come into sight, which includes the vast extent of green land with the meandering stream of the clear blue Chiruwatsunai River. This is nothing but a cape protruding into the vast green sea.