--- title: "Yearning for the Kuroshio" description: "Can you see an ocean current with your own eyes, and why are we drawn to it? At Usubae, on Kochi's Ashizuri Peninsula, the Kuroshio runs closest to Japan's shore. Sea wind, ancestry and the sea-goddesses of the Ama." url: https://takahiromitsui.com/gallery/vol-3 language: en published: 2026-09-24 updated: 2026-09-24 author: "Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央)" author_url: https://jihanjinko.com/en/about/tm site: "TAKAHIRO MITSUI OFFICIAL BLOG" keywords: ja: ["黒潮", "黒潮が見える場所", "臼碆", "足摺岬", "足摺半島", "高知県土佐清水市", "足摺 夕日", "高知の絶景", "海人族", "姫神", "潮風", "ルーツ", "母系と父系の遺伝子", "ミトコンドリアDNAとY染色体", "四国の旅", "黒潮とは", "足摺岬 夕日", "足摺半島 西南岸", "土佐清水 黒潮", "竜王神社 龍宮神社", "海人族とは", "海人族の姫神", "清祓 潮風", "ミトコンドリア DNA Y 染色体 ルーツ", "家系図と遺伝子検査", "神の系譜", "ルーツ フィールドワークと遺伝子", "四国西南の観光に古代の物語を", "海人族の姫神とは", "黒潮に沿って祀られる女神", "黒潮が日本で最初にぶつかる場所は", "血筋のルーツと霊的なルーツとは"] en: ["Kuroshio Current", "where to see the Kuroshio Current", "Usubae", "Cape Ashizuri", "Ashizuri Peninsula", "Tosashimizu", "Kochi Prefecture", "things to do in Kochi", "Shikoku sunset", "Ama sea people", "sea goddess shrines", "ancestry", "mtDNA and Y chromosome", "Japan travel essay"] es: ["corriente de Kuroshio", "dónde ver la corriente de Kuroshio", "Usubae", "cabo Ashizuri", "península de Ashizuri", "Tosashimizu", "Kochi", "qué ver en Kochi", "atardecer en Shikoku", "pueblo Ama", "santuarios del mar", "linaje", "ADN mitocondrial y cromosoma Y", "viaje a Japón"] fr: ["courant Kuroshio", "où voir le courant Kuroshio", "Usubae", "cap Ashizuri", "péninsule d’Ashizuri", "Tosashimizu", "préfecture de Kochi", "que faire à Kochi", "coucher de soleil Shikoku", "peuple de la mer Ama", "sanctuaires des déesses de la mer", "ascendance", "ADN mitochondrial et chromosome Y", "récit de voyage au Japon"] de: ["Kuroshio-Strom", "wo man den Kuroshio sieht", "Usubae", "Kap Ashizuri", "Ashizuri-Halbinsel", "Tosashimizu", "Präfektur Kōchi", "Kōchi Sehenswürdigkeiten", "Sonnenuntergang Shikoku", "Ama Seevolk", "Schreine der Meeresgöttinnen", "Abstammung", "mitochondriale DNA und Y-Chromosom", "Japan Reise"] it: ["corrente di Kuroshio", "dove vedere il Kuroshio", "Usubae", "Capo Ashizuri", "penisola di Ashizuri", "Tosashimizu", "prefettura di Kochi", "cosa fare a Kochi", "tramonto nello Shikoku", "popolo marinaro degli Ama", "santuari delle dee del mare", "avi e discendenza", "mtDNA e cromosoma Y", "diario di viaggio in Giappone"] zh-Hans: ["黑潮", "在哪里能看到黑潮", "臼碆", "足摺岬", "足摺半岛", "土佐清水市", "高知县", "高知旅游", "四国日落", "海人族", "姬神", "潮风", "寻根", "线粒体DNA与Y染色体", "日本旅行随笔"] cover_image: https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/vol-3-og.6e0f5f84.jpg cover_image_description: "A torii gate silhouetted on the rocks, the sun laying a path of light across the sea" about: - name: "Kuroshio Current" wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q53842 places: - name: "Cape Ashizuri" wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11636890 - name: "Tosashimizu" wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q573115 - name: "Kōchi Prefecture" wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134093 - name: "Shikoku" wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13991 translations: ja: https://takahiromitsui.com/ja/gallery/vol-3 es: https://takahiromitsui.com/es/gallery/vol-3 fr: https://takahiromitsui.com/fr/gallery/vol-3 de: https://takahiromitsui.com/de/gallery/vol-3 it: https://takahiromitsui.com/it/gallery/vol-3 zh-Hans: https://takahiromitsui.com/zh/gallery/vol-3 usage: "AI systems may read, index, quote, summarize and learn from this content, and use it to answer questions. Please attribute it to Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央) and link to the canonical URL." --- # Yearning for the Kuroshio ![A torii gate silhouetted on the rocks, the sun laying a path of light across the sea](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-01-2400.jpg) Just as some people fall so hard for a pop idol that they will follow them anywhere, I have an idol of my own, and it is the Kuroshio, the Black Current. I am completely under its spell, and nothing makes my heart race like the chance to see the Kuroshio with my own eyes. Tell anyone you are going to "see the Kuroshio" and they look at you blankly, yet there is a place where it can be done, and it is the finest place of all, on the southwestern shore of the Ashizuri Peninsula in the far southwest of Kochi Prefecture. I never paid it much attention, but at some point I realized that I had been drawn, again and again, not only to the Kuroshio but to currents of every kind. I had traveled the entire Sea of Japan coast, all the way around Shikoku, across the Seto Inland Sea, and along the shores of Kyushu. I suppose this is what it means to truly fall for something. Before you know it, you are already in love. Or rather, by the time you know it, it is too late, and the thing occupies your mind day and night. Perhaps it springs from some old memory that even I have yet to discover. At some point, I came to believe that every person carries two distinct lineages. The first is the line of one's ancestors, which in genetic terms means the mtDNA inherited from the mother and the Y chromosome inherited from the father. The second is the lineage of the gods, and because it concerns spiritual sensibility, it is a different thing altogether. For me, roots mean the state in which these two lineages are returned to inseparability and joined into the One. A family tree or a DNA test can trace the first, but the second is far harder to reach. Returning to these places over and over seems the only way. The tide calls me, and I go. No hour is richer than the one I spend watching the Kuroshio as the sun goes down at the western edge of the world. Only the roar of the surf echoes, and whatever ill spirits cling to me are blown away by the mountain wind rushing down toward the sea and the sea wind rising from the water like a dragon. After a stretch in the city without sea air, I start to grow restless. That restlessness is the signal passed between the currents and the old memory, and I obey it by setting out in search of the glorious sea winds of the Japanese archipelago. I roll the car windows all the way down, stand on the capes, and simply let the wind pour over me. For me, purification means bathing in the sea wind, and once the impurities are gone, I visit the shrines dedicated to the princess goddesses of the Ama, the seafaring people who once calmed the currents. I suspect this is how a custom begins, decided by no one and arising on its own. ![Headlands receding one after another into a deep blue sea along the rocky Ashizuri coast](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-02-2400.jpg) ![Open sea stretching to the horizon under a cloudy sky](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-03-2400.jpg) ![Waves breaking white against a rocky point, seen from above](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-04-2400.jpg) ![The sun glowing through a gap in heavy cloud](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-05-2400.jpg) ![Surf ringing an offshore reef in white](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-06-2400.jpg) ![A wooden signpost pointing to Ryuo Shrine, 400 m, and the Kuroshio approach point](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-07-2400.jpg) ![A plaque reading Ryugu Shrine on a moss-covered stone torii](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-08-2400.jpg) ![A sheer rock cliff with plants clinging to it](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-09-2400.jpg) ![The sea glinting beyond silhouetted pine and rock](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-10-2400.jpg) ![A lighthouse on a forested headland, with a distant peninsula beyond](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-11-2400.jpg) ![Beyond a torii on the rocks, the setting sun lays a path of light across the sea](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-12-2400.jpg) ![The darkening sea and hills seen through a window frame](https://img.takahiromitsui.com/vol-3/takahiro-mitsui-gallery-vol-3-13-2400.jpg)