Nagomi no Misaki Park

This cape on Tokunoshima overlooks the spot where the Japanese steamship Toyama Maru was torpedoed on June 29, 1944, killing more than 3,700 of the roughly 4,600 soldiers and crew aboard. A memorial cenotaph was built in 1964, its flanking stones engraved with the names of the deceased. A second cenotaph commemorates 150 children and elderly islanders who died in a separate sinking in September 1944. The park was named Nagomi no Misaki, meaning a feeling of calm, in 2004. Each April, families from across Japan gather here for the Toyama Maru Memorial Ceremony.