With its extensive white sands and crystal-clear emerald-green sea, the completely unspoilt Mogushi Beach is a rarity in Japan. It is one of the most beautiful natural beaches in Kyushu and has a deserved place in Japan’s top 100 beaches. The beach is in an out of the way location only accessible by car or bicycle or after a lengthy walk from Ushibuka, which means even in the middle of summer you will not have to share it with hordes of visitors, in fact on a weekday don’t be surprised to have it all to yourself. Japanese drama fans will be interested to know that the beach was the location of the climactic duel in the NHK series “Musashi,” based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto Japan’s most famous swordsman. And for nature buffs, May and June are the months when sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.
Getting there
Mogushi Beach is situated at the most southerly tip of Amakusa Shimosima in the town of Ushibuka. From Hondo town it’s just over an hour’s drive. See the Amakusa page for information on getting to Hondo from Kumamoto or Nagsaki. Another route is to come from Kagoshima and take the ferry over to Ushibuka from Nagashima Island. From Ushibuka the beach is a 15 minute drive.
Travel tips
The beach has a free carpark, toilets and coin operated showers.
When you enter the beach you are actually not at the beach! Walk along the rocky shoreline to your left around 500 m and you will come to the sands of Mogushi, it’s best not to go barefoot.
There is no lifeguard so please be careful if with small children.
In the turtle hatching season from mid August to September don’t walk on the sand at the highest reaches of the beach. The hatchling turtles wait under the sand until nightfall to journey to the sea so they can be vulnerable and easily crushed by people walking over their nests at this time.
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