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Gamagori/Takeshima area

The area around Takeshima is home to many valuable cultural properties, including Takeshima, a national natural monument.
We will introduce popular areas that you cannot miss when sightseeing in Gamagori.

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1 Yaotomi Shrine

Yaotomi Shrine is a Shinto sanctuary on grounds that cover the entirety of the island of Takeshima, just off the coast of Gamagori.

Yaotomi Shrine is a Shinto sanctuary on grounds that cover the entirety of the island of Takeshima, just off the coast of Gamagori. A 387-meter-long footbridge connects the mainland with Takeshima, where the main shrine and several sub-shrines stand amid verdant plant life. The history of Yaotomi Shrine goes back to the twelfth century, but the island is thought to have been considered sacred for far longer than that. The shrine and the island can be explored on a walking path that traverses the grounds and circles back along the rocky shore to the bridge.

A storied past

Yaotomi Shrine was founded by the courtier and poet Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114–1204) in 1181 when he was serving as governor of Mikawa Province (today, the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture). Although little is known about the early history of the shrine, one story goes that Shunzei was familiar with the similar sanctuary on the small island of Chikubushima in Lake Biwa, near the then-capital of Kyoto.

The shrine on Chikubushima was dedicated to Benzaiten, a deity associated with water and considered the protector of arts and culture. Shunzei was inspired to establish a branch of that shrine on Takeshima, and Yaotomi Shrine also came to enshrine the same deity. The name Takeshima, “bamboo island,” is thought to derive from the same story, as Shunzei is believed to have brought a pair of bamboo plants with him from Lake Biwa and planted them on the island.

The scenery of Takeshima has inspired many notable figures who came after Fujiwara no Shunzei and placed their faith in the mystical powers of the island. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), the founder of the shogunate that ruled the country for two and a half centuries, stopped by Takeshima to pray for luck on the battlefield. In the early twentieth century, many renowned authors, including Nobel Prize winner Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972), visited the island while staying at the seaside Tokiwakan inn.

A selection of shrines

In addition to the main Benzaiten shrine, the grounds of Yaotomi Shrine include four sub-shrines. Uga Shrine honors the deity of commerce and food, with many devotees praying there for luck in business. Daikoku Shrine is dedicated to the deity of prosperity, who is considered a patron to merchants, farmers, and cooks. Chitose Shrine enshrines Fujiwara no Shunzei as a deity in his own right.

The last of the four is Hachidairyu Shrine, which enshrines a deity of the sea and is noteworthy for being considered the original shrine on the island. Takeshima is thought to have been worshiped as an abode of sea-related deities long before the arrival of Shunzei. This shrine, like the main Yaotomi Shrine, is also distinctive for facing north. South is generally considered the most auspicious direction for Shinto shrines to face, but the opposite arrangement may have been adopted on Takeshima so that the deities could watch over the mainland, where people live.

Grand greenery (Takeshima Island / Natural Monument)

Because Takeshima has been considered a sacred place for so long, no new trees or other plants have been introduced in centuries, and its original vegetation has been preserved. The island is almost entirely forested in warm-temperate evergreens, which contrasts starkly with the pine groves and meticulously maintained lawns across the bridge on the mainland.

Noteworthy species among the more than 230 varieties of plants on Takeshima include the tabunoki (Machilus thunbergii), a broad-leaved bay tree that can reach a height of 30 meters and towers above the rest of the forest, and the yabunikkei (Japanese cinnamon; Cinnamomum yabunikkei), whose dark-green leaves are fragrant and glossy, with three distinctive veins. The dense undergrowth is composed of several species of ferns, vines, and shrubs. Kinokunisuge (Carex matsumurae) sedge, a grass-like plant with spiky seed heads, grows under the trees. Kinokunisuge is more common in subtropical areas, and Takeshima is the northernmost spot on the Pacific coast of Japan where it grows.

The shrine grounds can be explored on a paved walking path that begins at the footbridge and ascends to the main shrine building. From there, it leads across the island, past the sub-shrines, and down to the oceanfront. The promenade then follows the shoreline back to the bridge. A leisurely walk around the island takes approximately 30 minutes.

A festival of floats

One of the most popular times to visit Takeshima is during the annual Yaotomi Shrine Grand Festival, which takes place on the third Saturday and Sunday in October. Highlights of the program include a dance celebrating the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese mythology, one of whom is the deity of Daikoku Shrine on Takeshima, and a parade on the mainland with floats representing the 18 neighborhoods of Yaotomi Shrine’s traditional parish.

2 Gamagori Classic Hotel

The castle-like Gamagori Classic Hotel makes a dramatic sight on a hill overlooking the island of Takeshima and Mikawa Bay.

The castle-like Gamagori Classic Hotel makes a dramatic sight on a hill overlooking the island of Takeshima and Mikawa Bay. The facility was established in 1934 and has a storied history. It opened as one of the country’s first government-designated hotels for international tourists and soon counted an American all-star baseball team featuring Babe Ruth among its guests. The building’s distinctive architecture and furnishings have been maintained largely as they were when the hotel opened, save for the addition of modern conveniences, and provide a glimpse of life and tastes in that era. The hotel is a registered Tangible Cultural Property, as are the three annex buildings on the landscaped grounds.

A passion project

What is now the Gamagori Classic Hotel was established by Taki Nobushiro (1868–1938), a Nagoya-based businessman who made his fortune in the textile trade. The Taki family had a holiday home in Gamagori, and Nobushiro loved the landscape of Mikawa Bay. He resolved to turn Gamagori into a tourist destination, and in 1912, he opened an inn called Tokiwakan on the coast opposite Takeshima.

Taki invited famous literary figures, including Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972), Tanizaki Junichiro (1886–1965), and Shiga Naoya (1883–1971) to stay at the Tokiwakan and write about Gamagori. Mentions in these authors’ works helped spread the word about the place, and this initial success strengthened Taki’s commitment to developing the Takeshima area. In the early 1930s, he financed the construction of a permanent bridge to Takeshima and built a Western-style hotel on the hill above the Tokiwakan.

Taki’s decision was supported by the national government, which sought to attract international visitors to Japan as a means of correcting the country’s negative trade balance. Public financing was available for constructing Western-style hotels to accommodate foreign tourists, and Taki successfully lobbied for a portion of these funds. When his hotel opened in 1934 as the Gamagori Hotel, it was immediately designated an “international tourist hotel,” which was a prerequisite for hosting guests from overseas.

Guests of honor

Only months after its opening, the Gamagori Hotel accommodated perhaps the most renowned group of international visitors in its history. In November 1934, the American Major League All-Stars baseball team used the hotel as its base for exhibition games in nearby Nagoya and Shizuoka. The team was led by the legendary Babe Ruth (1895–1948) and also included greats such as Lou Gehrig (1903–1941) and Jimmie Foxx (1907–1967). The Americans played 18 games, mainly against Japanese all-star teams, during a month-long tour of the country that attracted widespread attention and fostered goodwill between the United States and Japan at a time when political relations were strained.

Baseball diplomacy, however, could not stop the two countries from going to war, and the Japanese army requisitioned the Gamagori Hotel for use as a hospital during World War II. After the war was over, the U.S. military followed suit, turning the hotel and its surroundings into a recreational facility known as the Takeshima Rest Center. Until 1952, discharged military personnel rested and recuperated there before their journey back across the Pacific.

The hotel was renovated and reopened after the end of the U.S. Occupation, and in 1957, it hosted Emperor Showa (1901–1989) and Empress Kojun (1903–2000). Another renovation was completed in 2012, at which time it was renamed Gamagori Classic Hotel.

Views from the past

The main building was designed to appeal to visitors from abroad and incorporates elements of traditional Japanese temple and castle architecture, such as decorative gables, sweeping eaves, and tower-like extensions. The rooms and restaurants look out over the grounds toward Takeshima and Mikawa Bay and retain many of their original design features. These include Art Deco furnishings such as chandeliers and a flower-themed elevator dial in the lobby, marble windowsills, and bronze detailing. In particular, the Royal Suite room and the hotel’s main dining room evoke the atmosphere of the 1930s.

3 Rokkakudo at Gamagori Classic Hotel

The Rokkakudo (lit, “hexagonal hall”) was built in 1936 as an annex to the Gamagori Hotel, which had opened two years prior.

The Rokkakudo (lit, “hexagonal hall”) was built in 1936 as an annex to the Gamagori Hotel, which had opened two years prior. The single-story wooden building was originally used as a waiting room and souvenir shop for guests participating in tea gatherings in the nearby Oshukutei teahouse.

Rokkakudo was designed to evoke a hall of a Buddhist temple and has an ornate roof covered with blue-glazed tiles. The roof’s six triangular sections curve gently toward the apex, where the whole is crowned with a decorative element in the shape of a wish-granting jewel (hoju). A stylized pine tree motif adorns the base of the roof, some decorative tiles, and the building’s nail covers. This symbol was the logo of the Tokiwakan, a historic inn that stood on the hotel grounds until 1982.

4 The Cove

The building is a registered Tangible Cultural Property. In recent years it housed the Ryotei Takeshima restaurant, and guests have been able to stay the night in it since 2025.

This single-story wooden structure was built in 1916 as an annex to the Tokiwakan inn, a predecessor of the Gamagori Classic Hotel. Guests of the seaside inn had the option of staying in this building, which is situated on a hill overlooking the coast, just north of where the main building of the Tokiwakan was located.

The guest rooms were built in the sukiya-shoin style, which incorporates elements of teahouse architecture into the Zen-inspired shoin style found in traditional Japanese-style rooms in both homes and inns. Sukiya-shoin style is characterized by exposed, unpainted timbers and earthen walls in muted colors, as well as tokonoma alcoves to display decorative objects, sliding fusuma paper panels to let in light, and tatami-mat floors.

The building is a registered Tangible Cultural Property. In recent years it housed the Ryotei Takeshima restaurant, and guests have been able to stay the night in it since 2025.

5 Oshukutei

The Oshukutei is a registered Tangible Cultural Property. Guests have been able to stay the night in the building since 2025.

This former teahouse dates to 1916. For decades, it was used mainly to host tea gatherings for guests of the Tokiwakan inn and the Gamagori Hotel (now the Gamagori Classic Hotel). Guests would wait in the six-sided Rokkakudo building nearby before joining a tea gathering in the Oshukutei, which is divided into a small tea room (chashitsu) and a larger waiting room. The larger room could also be used for overnight stays and has a large window looking out toward Mikawa Bay.

The waiting room is in the sukiya-shoin style, in which aspects of teahouse architecture, such as unfinished log surfaces and rustic-style clay-plastered walls, are combined with the orthodox elements of Japanese-style rooms, including a decorative tokonoma alcove, sliding paper screens, and tatami flooring. The much smaller and more austere tea room is distinguished by its low door through which guests would crawl when entering from the garden. This design obliged samurai to remove their swords to attend a tea gathering and has remained a feature of teahouse architecture into the present.

The Oshukutei is a registered Tangible Cultural Property. Guests have been able to stay the night in the building since 2025.

6 Seaside Literary Memorial Museum

Exhibits at the Seaside Literary Memorial Museum explain how Gamagori became a popular holiday resort for noted writers in the early twentieth century.

Exhibits at the Seaside Literary Memorial Museum explain how Gamagori became a popular holiday resort for noted writers in the early twentieth century. The story revolves around the Tokiwakan inn, which opened in 1912 on the beachfront site currently occupied by the museum, and the inn’s founder, Taki Nobushiro (1868–1938), a Nagoya businessman who played a key role in turning Gamagori into a tourist destination. On display at the museum are artifacts and documents from the Tokiwakan and the Gamagori Hotel (now the Gamagori Classic Hotel), a reproduction of a room at the Tokiwakan, and panels detailing the lives and works of authors who stayed at the inn, including Nobel Prize winner Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972), Tanizaki Junichiro (1886–1965), and Shiga Naoya (1883–1971).

Leisure and literature

The association between Gamagori and some of the most famous literary figures in the country came about through the efforts of wealthy textile trader Taki Nobushiro. Taki established the Tokiwakan inn on the coast of Mikawa Bay opposite the island of Takeshima. It was the site of his family’s holiday home and a place he had loved since childhood.

Gamagori was already well-known regionally as a travel destination, but Taki wanted to advertise the area to a nationwide audience. He came up with the idea of inviting high-profile authors to stay at the Tokiwakan, with the condition that they would then write about Gamagori, Takeshima, and the inn in their works. This strategy proved successful. Following the opening of the Tokiwakan, writers including Kawabata, Tanizaki, Shiga, Kikuchi Kan (1888–1948), Yamamoto Yuzo (1887–1974), and Inoue Yasushi (1907–1991) stayed at the inn and wrote about the Takeshima area in numerous novels, short stories, and poems.

Some of these works include Kawabata’s short story Roba ni noru tsuma (Wife Riding a Donkey), which centers on a horse-riding ring built next to the Tokiwakan to entertain guests, and Tanizaki’s Sasameyuki (The Makioka Sisters), in which one of the titular siblings visits Gamagori and stays at the Tokiwakan after an unsatisfying encounter with a prospective groom.

The museum

The Tokiwakan was dismantled in 1982, but its legacy and atmosphere live on at the Seaside Literary Memorial Museum, which opened in 1997 on the site of the inn. The structure is a reproduction of a single-story wooden building from 1910 that was used as a clinic in central Gamagori.

Inside, explanatory panels tell the stories of the writers who stayed at the Tokiwakan and highlight their works that feature the inn and the surrounding area. Attached to the museum building is a reproduction of a room at the Tokiwakan, decorated to look as it did when Tanizaki Junichiro stayed there in August 1927. The tatami-mat room has shoji panels that open to reveal a view of Takeshima directly across the water.

Also on display at the museum are artifacts of the Gamagori Hotel and its annexes, including ornate wooden carvings that once decorated the exterior of the six-sided Rokkakudo building near the hotel entrance. Another section of the museum has special exhibitions on Gamagori, Takeshima, and the history of the Tokiwakan and the Gamagori Hotel.

The museum’s “Time Letters” program encourages visitors to write down a message or memory related to their time in Gamagori and have the letter mailed to an address of their choice (in Japan) on a date between two months to ten years after visiting the museum.

7 Food Culture in Gamagori

The coastal location and natural environment of Gamagori have fostered a vibrant culinary culture.

The coastal location and natural environment of Gamagori have fostered a vibrant culinary culture. The city is on the coast of the sheltered and shallow Mikawa Bay, the source of a diverse array of seafood and the home of the only deep-sea fishing fleet in the region. On land, a crescent-shaped range of low mountains borders the city on three sides, contributing to a mild and sunny climate considered ideal for growing fruit such as mandarin oranges and strawberries. The Gamagori area is also a major producer of Mikawa beef, a well-regarded local brand of wagyu. Dishes made with locally sourced ingredients are served at a wide range of restaurants in the Takeshima area, including those on the premises of the Gamagori Classic Hotel and Hotel Takeshima.

Bounty of the sea

The calm waters and sandy shores of Mikawa Bay provide a favorable habitat for the asari (Japanese littleneck) clam, a roughly 4-centimeter-long burrowing bivalve that figures prominently in the food culture of Gamagori. In late spring and early summer, large crowds descend on the Takeshima shore to dig for these clams. Although they are fairly common throughout the country, nowhere are the clams found in greater numbers than in Mikawa Bay, the source of approximately 48 percent of all asari caught in Japan. Asari are often used as an ingredient in miso soup, but in Gamagori, they are paired with thick udon noodles, wakame seaweed, and a seafood broth in a popular dish called Gamagori Udon.

On the other hand, deeper waters beyond the bay are the source of many less familiar types of seafood eaten in Gamagori. The city’s four-vessel deep-sea fishing fleet, the only one of its kind in Aichi Prefecture, provides a steady supply of fish such as mehikari (bigeyed greeneye), named for its striking green eyes and treasured for its soft white flesh, and nigisu (deep-sea smelt), which has a thin, elongated body and blueish flesh with a short window of freshness, and is thus rarely eaten outside of areas where it is fished. Two other deep-sea species considered delicacies are akaza-ebi, a prawn-like small lobster that grows up to 25 centimeters long and has soft, mildly sweet flesh with a softer texture than the more common Ise-ebi (Japanese spiny lobster), and takaashi-gani (Japanese spider crab), the largest crustacean on Earth, which can have a leg span of up to 3.8 meters. Deep-sea fish can generally be ordered at restaurants around Gamagori as sashimi, grilled, or deep-fried, but catches are relatively small, and not all species are available at all times.

Brand-name beef

Mikawa beef is a brand of wagyu noted for its tenderness. It is produced in the part of Aichi Prefecture that includes Gamagori. Although the brand originated in 1990, raising cattle for beef has a long history in the area. Meat designated as Mikawa beef must come from cattle raised on one of nearly 60 certified farms in Mikawa and be graded 4 or 5 on Japan’s five-tier quality grading scale. Mikawa beef is commonly eaten as steak or thinly sliced in sukiyaki and shabu-shabu.

Fun with fruit

Fruit farming in Gamagori benefits from the area’s comparatively warm climate and ample sunshine. Warm ocean winds blow in from the south year-round, part of a climate that nourishes fruit such as mikan mandarins, strawberries, grapes, and melons. Gamagori is noted particularly for the mikan grown in the hills around the city, including Gamagori Orange Park, where mandarins can be picked to eat right away or take home from October to December. Strawberries are available at the Orange Park from January to May, melons from June to late September, and grapes from late June to mid-September.

8 Hotel Takeshima

Hotel Takeshima is a spa resort overlooking the island of Takeshima and Mikawa Bay.

Hotel Takeshima is a spa resort overlooking the island of Takeshima and Mikawa Bay. All guest rooms have ocean views, as do the hotel’s indoor and open-air hot-spring baths. Guests can choose from nine types of rooms, including tatami-mat rooms in which futon mattresses are laid out at night, Western-style rooms with beds, and combinations of the two styles. On the culinary front, Hotel Takeshima is noted for its commitment to serving the local cuisine of Gamagori at its restaurants, including deep-sea fish and Mikawa beef.

Location

Hotel Takeshima is a short walk from the oceanfront and the footbridge to Takeshima. Directly outside the hotel are the Shunzeien garden and the Takeshima Craft Center, a facility focused on the history of the area’s textile industry and Mikawa cotton, a type of striped weave associated with Gamagori. Due east and uphill from Hotel Takeshima is the Gamagori Classic Hotel and its landscaped grounds dotted with historic structures.

Hot springs

For many guests, the main draw at Hotel Takeshima is the hot-spring baths. The hotel is located in the center of Gamagori Onsen, a cluster of hot springs that is one of four resorts of its kind in the vicinity. The other three are Miya Onsen to the east of Gamagori, Katahara Onsen in the foothills of Mt. Sangane, and Nishiura Onsen on the tip of the Nishiura Peninsula, southwest of the Takeshima area.

Several of the rooms at Hotel Takeshima have private open-air baths, and all guests are welcome to use the shared bathing facilities. These encompass a spacious indoor tub with water that is clear, virtually odorless, and alkaline, set in front of a picture window looking out over Takeshima and Mikawa Bay, and an open-air version with an equally picturesque view and water with a low (and perfectly safe) concentration of natural radon. The water in both tubs is suitable for bathers with sensitive skin, with properties that make the skin feel smooth and silky after bathing.

Dining

Local ingredients have pride of place at Hotel Takeshima’s two restaurants: the traditional Japanese restaurant Tokiwa and the French-style Rivage. Seafood dishes include the deep-sea catch that Gamagori is famous for, including sashimi, grilled and simmered fish dishes, akaza-ebi lobster, and soft and mellow mehikari (bigeyed greeneye). Mikawa beef, a local brand of wagyu, is offered as shabu-shabu and steak, and local fruit and vegetables also feature prominently on the menu.

9 Mikawa Cotton and the Takeshima Craft Center

This history is on display at the Takeshima Craft Center, where traditional textile-making techniques can also be experienced.

Gamagori’s association with cotton is said to go back to antiquity, and the cotton fabric and garment industry was the lifeblood of the area for centuries. This history is on display at the Takeshima Craft Center, where traditional textile-making techniques can also be experienced.

According to ancient chronicles, the cotton plant was introduced to Japan in the eighth century when a ship carrying a traveler from the Indian subcontinent washed ashore in what is now the municipality of Nishio, just west of Gamagori. The cotton seeds carried by this visitor are said to have provided the impetus for the first attempts to grow the plant in Japan. Domestic cotton cultivation did not take off until the sixteenth century, but when it did, the Mikawa area (the eastern half of today’s Aichi Prefecture, including Gamagori) quickly established itself as a major producer.

The local cotton industry flourished from the seventeenth century when cotton garments became affordable enough to be widely worn by ordinary people. Mikawa cotton and the distinctive striped pattern used by local textile-makers garnered acclaim during the Meiji era (1868–1912). In Gamagori, the height of textile production came during the years immediately following World War II, when factories and workshops in and around the city turned out textiles and garments at a rapid pace to meet nationwide demand for affordable fabric.

Although the textile industry is no longer a significant economic factor in Mikawa, the heritage and traditional process of cotton production remain a source of local pride. This legacy can be explored at the Takeshima Craft Center, where instructors offer a step-by-step class in making a cotton drink coaster with Mikawa techniques. Participants learn how to separate cotton fiber from seed cotton, how to turn the cotton into thread, and how to weave their coaster on a traditional hand-operated loom.

The Takeshima Craft Center is located in the Shunzeien garden near Hotel Takeshima and the bridge to the island of Takeshima.

10 Fujiwara no Shunzei and Shunzeien

Shunzei is considered the founder of Gamagori and was also responsible for establishing Yaotomi Shrine on Takeshima.

A statue of the courtier and poet Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114–1204) watches over the waterfront garden of Shunzeien and the island of Takeshima in the distance. The prominent location of the monument reflects his importance in the early history of Gamagori and the Takeshima area. Shunzei is considered the founder of Gamagori and was also responsible for establishing Yaotomi Shrine on Takeshima.

What is now the city of Gamagori was historically part of Mikawa Province, which corresponds to the eastern half of today’s Aichi Prefecture. Shunzei was born into an influential aristocratic family that held a number of hereditary administrative posts. He governed Mikawa from 1145 to 1149, during which time he was instrumental in developing the settlement that became Gamagori.

According to legend, Shunzei was enamored by the landscape of Takeshima, which he thought resembled a sacred island in Lake Biwa near Kyoto that he had often visited. This association inspired Shunzei to establish a shrine on Takeshima to Benzaiten, a deity of the arts who was also worshiped on the island in Lake Biwa. Benzaiten is still honored on Takeshima, as is Shunzei, who is now enshrined as a deity at the Chitose sub-shrine.

Shunzei’s achievements as a poet are commemorated in the Shunzeien garden, where signs display selections from his considerable oeuvre of waka poetry. Many of Shunzei’s older relatives were notable poets, and he began writing his own poetry at a young age. He became a well-regarded practitioner of waka, a poetic form in which each poem has 31 syllables grouped into five units of 5-7-5-7-7. Later in life, he was commissioned to compile a court anthology of poetry, one of the highest honors for a poet.

Shunzei completed his anthology, the twenty-volume Senzai wakashu (Collection of a Thousand Years), in 1188. He lived until the age of 90 and saw his son, Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241), grow up to become a celebrated poet in his own right. Teika eventually surpassed his father in artistic influence and is traditionally considered one of the greatest masters of waka.

11 Welcome to Gamagori

The seaside city of Gamagori in central Aichi Prefecture is a leisure destination noted for its scenery.

The seaside city of Gamagori in central Aichi Prefecture is a leisure destination noted for its scenery. Its location on Mikawa Bay is approximately 45 minutes by train from Nagoya. Among the most famous sights in the area is Takeshima, a small island connected to the mainland by a 387-meter footbridge. The bridge leads to the torii gate of the twelfth-century Yaotomi Shrine, whose forested grounds cover the entirety of the island. Surrounding the mainland end of the bridge is a resort area with two prominent hotels, hot-spring baths, an aquarium, a park, museums, a long beachside promenade, and restaurants and cafés serving local specialties such as seafood from Mikawa Bay. The Takeshima area is part of Mikawa-wan Quasi-National Park.

The reputation of Gamagori and Takeshima as places for relaxation and sightseeing dates back to the early twentieth century, when the Nagoya-based businessman Taki Nobushiro (1868–1938) built an inn on the coast near Takeshima. Famous authors, including Tanizaki Junichiro (1886–1965) and Nobel Prize winner Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972), came to stay at Taki’s inn, the Tokiwakan, where they enjoyed the calm waters, beaches, and hot springs of Gamagori. Their example and writings have inspired many to spend their vacations in the Takeshima area.

The Tokiwakan has been replaced by a museum focused on the aforementioned literary figures, but guests who would like to sense the heritage of the area on an overnight stay can reserve a room at the historic Gamagori Classic Hotel. Located on a hill overlooking Takeshima and Mikawa Bay, the hotel opened in 1934 as the Gamagori Hotel, and its castle-inspired main building and three annexes on the grounds have been designated for preservation. The other distinguished hotel near Takeshima is the seafront Hotel Takeshima, which is noted for its ocean views and hot-spring baths.

Next to the Hotel Takeshima is the Takeshima Aquarium. It highlights the sea life in Mikawa Bay and beyond, with a particular focus on deep-sea fish. Gamagori is the home port of the only deep-sea fishing fleet in Aichi Prefecture, and fish from depths as low as 700 meters figure prominently in the city’s cuisine, which also incorporates local ingredients such as seafood from shallower waters, high-quality beef, and fruit.

Shunzeien is a small park near the footbridge to Takeshima that commemorates courtier and poet Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114–1204). Shunzei established Yaotomi Shrine on Takeshima as well as the settlement that would become Gamagori while serving as governor of the area. Near a statue of Shunzei in the park is the Takeshima Craft Center, where one can learn about the long history of textile and garment production in Gamagori and try out traditional textile-making techniques.

Just beyond Takeshima is the larger, uninhabited island of Mikawa Oshima, where temporary restaurants and shops open in summer to cater to beach-goers. Mikawa Oshima is accessible by boat from a pier next to the Takeshima Aquarium. There are also several other beaches on the outskirts of Gamagori and on the Nishiura Peninsula to the west.

The east coast of Mikawa Oshima Island is designated as a national Natural Monument because it is the northernmost habitat of lancelet in Japan. The sea around Mikawa Oshima is known for the high-quality asari clams that live on the seafloor. Many restaurants in Gamagori and the neighboring city of Nishio serve miso soup and other dishes made with Mikawa asari.

12 Takeshima Aquarium

Innovative and interactive displays at the Takeshima Aquarium provide insight into the rich sea life of Mikawa Bay as well as the deep waters farther out in the Pacific Ocean.

Innovative and interactive displays at the Takeshima Aquarium provide insight into the rich sea life of Mikawa Bay as well as the deep waters farther out in the Pacific Ocean. In a departure from standard explanatory panels, the hand-written information boards in the aquarium present details about the fish and crustaceans on display in the format of elementary school grade cards and profiles. Other boards include imagined “comments” from the sea creatures themselves, making the creatures more relatable, especially for children.

The design of habitats for the aquarium’s sea life is equally creative. One display is composed of colorful cinder blocks arranged to look like an apartment building, complete with names and addresses. The deep-sea fish inhabiting this tank are comfortable in the confined spaces of the blocks, which resemble conditions near the ocean floor.

Many of the deep-sea creatures on display are rare, and many were caught inadvertently in the nets of local fishermen working on the four deep-sea fishing vessels that operate out of Gamagori. There are around 140 different species of deep-sea wildlife in the Takeshima Aquarium, including sharks, sea bream, and lobsters.

Another important theme at the aquarium is a focus on local seafood. Stickers on some of the tanks denote sea life that is good to eat, while photographs and videos are used to demonstrate culinary preparations of specific fish.

One corner of the aquarium has shallow open tanks where gently petting the sea life is allowed. In addition to fish and crustaceans, the aquarium is home to otters, capybaras, and turtles. There is also a sea lion performance three times a day.

13 Mikawawan Quasi-National Park

Mikawawan Quasi-National Park was established in 1958 and is the oldest natural park in Aichi Prefecture.

Mikawawan Quasi-National Park was established in 1958 and is the oldest natural park in Aichi Prefecture. The park covers a vast area that encompasses Mikawa Bay, the Atsumi and Chita Peninsulas, and the city of Gamagori.

The southern side of the Atsumi Peninsula faces the Pacific Ocean and most of its coastline is sandy beach. Cape Irago, at the tip of the peninsula, is a breeding ground for the gray-faced buzzard. The birds arrive at the cape beginning in late March and remain there until autumn to raise their chicks. Katahama Jusanri, a 30-kilometer stretch of beach near Cape Irago, is popular with surfers. Loggerhead turtles come lay their eggs at Katahama Jusanri every spring and early summer. Volunteer groups monitor the turtle nests and work to protect the hatchlings through various initiatives. To protect the turtles and beach plants, cars and other vehicles are not allowed on any of the beaches on the Atsumi Peninsula.

The forest of ubame oak trees at Cape Hazu on the Chita Peninsula is designated a national Natural Monument, as is the cormorant breeding ground nearby. Like the Atsumi Peninsula, most of the Chita Peninsula coastline is sandy beach. There are many things to do there, including clam digging, fishing, and brewery tours.

Gamagori is a resort town in Mikawa Bay that is known for hot springs such as Miya, Gamagori, Katahara, and Nishiura Onsens. Marine sports such as stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and boating are popular leisure activities at Nishiura Palm Beach and the nearby uninhabited island of Mikawa Oshima.

この解説文は観光庁の令和6年度地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました