Tomogashima: Walking the Meiji Fort Ruins of an Uninhabited Island

Overview

Tomogashima is a cluster of uninhabited islets off Kada, at the western edge of Wakayama City. Under Meiji the army fortified them to guard the Kitan Strait and the sea approach to Osaka; the batteries never saw action, and the forest has been quietly reclaiming their brickwork ever since. Wakayama City publishes a walking map with timed routes, and the landmark course takes about three hours over an undulating mountain path.

The Tomogashima Kisen ferry leaves Kada and takes some twenty minutes, but high waves or wind ground it easily, so check the sailings before you commit. Boats run four times daily from March to December, and at weekends and public holidays in January and February. There are no reservations, and they have filled to capacity since the island's anime fame; weekdays are calmer. The pier is a fifteen-minute walk from Nankai's Kada Station, itself about twenty-five minutes from Wakayamashi Station.

By the jetty stand the information centre and Lapyu Cafe, the island's only shop, open on sailing days. Then the circuit: the First Battery, still coastguard property and usually closed, its flanking observation posts almost intact; the crumbling Second Battery; the early-Meiji lighthouse, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, and the meridian plaza beside it. Kosukematsu Coast and the Takanosu observation deck supply the sea views, though swimming is not permitted. The Third Battery is the photograph everyone comes for, and its magazines are genuinely pitch dark — bring a real torch and repellent. Paths close from time to time; ask at the centre first.