Shirashima Cape

Shirashima Cape is the northern tip of Dōgo, the largest island of the Oki Islands, off the coast of western Honshu. From the late Heian period Oki served as a place of political exile: Emperor Go-Toba was sent there in 1221 and died on the islands, and Emperor Go-Daigo was exiled to Oki in 1332 before he escaped and regained power. Fishermen and coastal shippers worked the rough waters between the islands and the Honshu shore, where headlands, reefs and changing winds demanded careful navigation.