200px, Statue of Sakamoto Ryōma is a beach in

Kōchi Kochi is a city in Kerala, India. Kochi or Kōchi may also refer to: People * Kochi people, a predominantly Pashtun nomadic people of Afghanistan * , a Japanese surname: ** Arata Kochi (born 1948 or 1949), Japanese physician and World Health Org ...

, Japan, located on Urado Bay and overlooking the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. It is a local recreation spot known for its statue of

Sakamoto Ryōma was a Japanese ''samurai'', a '' shishi'' and influential figure of the ''Bakumatsu,'' and establishment of the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period. Sakamoto was a low-ranking ''samurai'' from the Tosa Domain on Shikoku and became an acti ...

overlooking the beach.

History

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent ''daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku period, Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku, Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and ...

built Urado Castle on a hill near Katsurahama in 1591 due to floods around

Okō Castle was a Japanese castle structure located in what is now part of the city of Nankoku, Kōchi, Nankoku Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It was the original base of power for the Chōsokabe clan who were feudal lords of Tosa Province during the late Murom ...

, his original residence. The castle was abandoned after

Yamauchi Kazutoyo , also pronounced Yamanouchi (1545/1546? – November 1, 1605), was a retainer of Oda Nobunaga and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His father Yamauchi Moritoyo was a descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato, a senior retainer of the Iwakura Oda clan (op ...

took over Tosa and moved the court to

Kōchi Castle is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of former ...

in 1603.

Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum The opened in the grounds of the former Urado Castle in Katsurahama, Kōchi, Japan on 15 November 1991. The collection includes correspondence and other documents by Sakamoto Ryōma and his contemporaries and there is also a library of over t ...

now sits on the site of the ruins. In 1928, a group of youths gathered funds to place the now-famous memorial statue of

, a Kōchi native, on a small hill overlooking the beach. The statue and the beach itself remain popular destinations for tourists. The

yosakoi Yosakoi () is a unique style of dance that originated in Japan and that is performed at festivals and events all over the country. The first yosakoi festival was held in 1954 in Kōchi, Japan, on the island of Shikoku. Yosakoi-style dancing has ...

melody also references Katsurahama and Urado Bay in its lyrics depicting well-known locations in Kōchi. In 1931,

Katsurahama Aquarium Katsurahama Aquarium (桂浜水族館, ''Katsurahama suizokukan'') is an aquarium located in Kōchi, Kōchi, Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture on Katsurahama (beach), Katsurahama. History The aquarium opened on April 1, 1931. It was closed temporarily d ...

opened nearby, moving to its present location on the beach in 1984. The area around the beach was organized as Katsurahama Park and opened on March 20, 1951. In 1971, the Kōchi city government finalized plans to designate the 22.5 hectare area as a city park. An additional concrete resting area with food services and an observation deck was constructed and opened in 2021.

Transportation

Katsurahama can be accessed via local

Tosaden Kōtsū , sometimes rendered in English as Tosaden Traffic, is a transportation company in Kōchi, Japan. The public company operates tram and bus lines. The company was established on October 1, 2014, by merging the businesses of , a tram and bus ...

bus routes. A city-operated car park is located on the premises.

Gallery

Kochi Katsurahama Daytime 4.JPG, Stone stele inscribed with 'Katsurahama' at the entrance of the beach Kochi Katsurahama Daytime 3.JPG, Looking west of Katsurahama from Ryuo Cape Katsurahama Aquarium 01.jpg, Katsurahama Aquarium The Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum 01.jpg, Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum

Surrounding area

* Urado Castle ruins * Watatsumi Shrine

References

{{reflist

External links

Katsurahama Park
(Official website) Beaches of Japan Kōchi, Kōchi