This guide covers Inubosaki Lighthouse, the Choshi Electric Railway, the Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory, seafood meals in Choshi and the practical details of visiting them.
You can visit Inubosaki Lighthouse for a donation of three hundred yen if you are in junior high school or older. Adult admission to the Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory is four hundred twenty yen. A combined ticket for the observatory and Choshi Port Tower costs seven hundred yen for adults.
Drive-in Nagisaya serves a sardine kabayaki bowl for one thousand four hundred ten yen, tax included. The sashimi set at Yamata Nakauchi Shoten, with rice, miso soup and a side dish, is one thousand one hundred yen. Sakana Ryori Miura sells a Choshi local fish bowl for one thousand six hundred fifty yen as a takeout menu item.
Inubosaki Lighthouse and Its Spiral Staircase
The white lighthouse stands on a green headland above the rocky shore.
The climb inside Inubosaki Lighthouse is a spiral staircase of ninety-nine steps. Elementary school students and younger children go in free when accompanied by a guardian. Visiting hours from March to September run from eight thirty in the morning until five in the afternoon.
A curving sandy bay and surf-washed rocks lie below a grassy slope.
From October to February, visiting hours at Inubosaki Lighthouse are eight thirty in the morning until four in the afternoon. During Golden Week and from August tenth to August nineteenth, the lighthouse stays open from eight thirty in the morning until half past five in the afternoon.
The Choshi Electric Railway and Inubo Station
A blue and white Choshi Electric Railway car waits at a small platform.
With a one-day pass you can get on and off the Choshi Electric Railway as often as you like between Choshi Station and Tokawa Station, and the pass costs seven hundred yen. For children the same pass is three hundred fifty yen.
If you also plan to use the bus, the Choshi Electric Railway and bus one-day pass costs one thousand yen for adults and five hundred yen for children. There is also a Choshi Electric Railway e-ticket one-day pass at six hundred yen for adults and three hundred yen for children.
Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory and Choshi Port Tower
The Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory is open from nine in the morning until half past six in the evening from April to September. From October to March the observatory is open from nine in the morning until half past five in the afternoon. Admission to the observatory is accepted until half an hour before closing.
At the observatory, admission for elementary and junior high school students is two hundred yen, compared with the adult price given above. Visitors aged sixty-five and over pay a reduced price of three hundred sixty yen.
The combined ticket with Choshi Port Tower is three hundred fifty yen for elementary and junior high school students. Choshi Port Tower is open from nine in the morning until half past five in the afternoon, with entry until half an hour before closing. The tower is closed every Thursday and may also close in stormy weather.
Where to stay
Places to stay near Choshi, Chiba, Japan →
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Seafood Meals in Choshi
Besides the sardine bowl mentioned above, Drive-in Nagisaya serves a conger eel kabayaki bowl for one thousand seven hundred eighty yen, tax included. Meals at Drive-in Nagisaya are served from half past ten in the morning until five in the afternoon.
At Yamata Nakauchi Shoten, the Yamata-kun A set is one thousand two hundred yen. The fresh fish shop at Yamata Nakauchi Shoten is open on weekdays from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon.
Sakana Ryori Miura also offers a local flounder tempura bowl as a takeout menu item for one thousand one hundred yen, tax included. The restaurant is open from eleven in the morning until six in the evening. It is closed on Wednesdays, though it is open on public holidays.
At Kannon Shokudo Donburiya Shichibe, mackerel bo-zushi comes as eight pieces for one thousand eight hundred twenty yen, tax included. Business hours are from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon, with last orders at half past four. The regular closing days are Wednesday and Thursday.
Getting to Cape Inubo and Where to Stay
The white arched platform building at Inubo on the Choshi Electric Railway.
First, take the limited express Shiosai on the JR Sobu Main Line from Tokyo to Choshi, which takes about one hour and fifty minutes. Next, ride the Choshi Electric Railway from Choshi Station to Inubo Station, a journey of about sixteen minutes. Then, walk from Inubo Station to Inubosaki Lighthouse, which takes about ten minutes.
The one-way fare from the Tokyo Yamanote Line area to Choshi is two thousand three hundred ten yen plus one thousand five hundred eighty yen for a reserved seat on the Shiosai. Keisei Bus or Chiba Kotsu Bus takes about two hours and thirty minutes from Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu to the Inubosaki bus stop, then the lighthouse is about five minutes on foot.
After getting off the Choshi Electric Railway at Inubo Station from Choshi Station, the walk to the observatory takes about fifteen minutes. For Kimigahama Shiosai Park, ride the Choshi Electric Railway from Choshi Station to Kimigahama Station, and from there the park is a walk of about five minutes.
If you would like to stay overnight, browse places to stay in Choshi.
Practical Details for Choshi
The table below gathers the prices and opening times from the sections above, so that you can check them in one place before you set out.
| Place | Detail |
|---|---|
| Inubosaki Lighthouse visit donation | 300 yen for junior high school students and older |
| Inubosaki Lighthouse, March to September | 8:30 to 17:00 |
| Inubosaki Lighthouse, October to February | 8:30 to 16:00 |
| Inubosaki Lighthouse, Golden Week and August 10 to 19 | 8:30 to 17:30 |
| Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory, April to September | 9:00 to 18:30 |
| Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory, October to March | 9:00 to 17:30 |
| Chikyu no Marukumieru Oka Observatory admission | 420 yen for adults, 200 yen for elementary and junior high school students |
| Choshi Port Tower admission | 420 yen for adults, 200 yen for elementary and junior high school students |
| Choshi Port Tower opening hours | 9:00 to 17:30 |
| Choshi Port Tower weekly closing day | Thursday |
| Choshi Electric Railway one-day pass, Choshi Station to Tokawa Station | 700 yen |