Gomi Tenmangu Shrine is located in the lush Shimonokae district in northern Tosashimizu, a low-lying area that has long been considered particularly suitable for agriculture. The shrine's forested grounds include several stone monuments that remind visitors of this area's history of natural disasters. One of the memorials was erected after the 1854 Nankai earthquake, an 8.4-magnitude tremor that caused a destructive tsunami, while another tells of severe flooding throughout Tosashimizu in the Taisho era (1912-1926). These monuments are a testament to the local people's tenacity in the face of natural disasters, and their determination to maintain the land and relay their experiences to future generations to ensure preparedness. Similar memorials have been erected in many other settlements in the region over the centuries.

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Oki Beach is a 1.5-kilometer strip of white sand in northeastern Tosashimizu. The beach attracts local residents and visitors alike who come to sunbathe and surf, or to walk along its forested edge, where rare kakatsu-gayu trees (Cudrania cochinchinensis) and other broad-leaved species can be seen. The beach is also home to many animals; small clams and ghost crabs live beneath the surface of the sand, and loggerhead sea turtles come to the shore to lay their eggs. The atmosphere on the beach is tranquil, as it has been relatively undisturbed by human intervention, and visitors can enjoy a peaceful day here as they explore Tosashimizu.

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The Tosashimizu region is distinguished by its lack of flat, arable land, especially at or near sea level. Forested hills tower over the coast, leaving very little space for buildings and fields. The only exceptions are so-called coastal terraces, which are found in several places along the shore, often in a stair-like pattern and usually several dozen meters above the water. These table-like landforms, which are called daba in the local dialect, were formed over many millennia by marine erosion in shallow waters. They are thought to have emerged from the waves gradually, following land uplift and repeated changes in sea level.

The coastal terraces accommodate farming and have traditionally been used to grow vegetables and other crops. They remain in use in the adjacent areas of Tsuro and Otani; in Tsuro, camellias and other trees and shrubs have been planted along the edges of fields on the terrace to protect crops from the wind, while in Otani the daba hosts rice paddies, the irrigation systems for which were built in the Edo period (1603-1868).

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The image of the lighthouse and white cliffs of Cape Ashizuri standing upon the Pacific Ocean is symbolic of Tosashimizu. The footpaths of Cape Ashizuri are lined with many colorful plants such as the camellia tress. Also, sea turtles show their faces in the waters below the cliffs. These white cliffs are made of granite that was formed by magma that cooled deep below the surface of the Earth. The patterns in the cliffs and the composition of the rock is similar to ancient granite that can be found across the continent. Studying the cliffs of Ashizuri may serve as a key to understanding how the continent of Japan was formed.

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The settlement of Matsuo occupies a dramatic location on the west side of Cape Ashizuri, overlooking the sea from the top of steep granite cliffs that were shaped by weathering and erosion. Matsuo is distinguished by houses that are grouped closely together and separated only by narrow alleys. The village flourished in the Edo period (1603-1868), when fishermen from Kishu (present-day Wakayama Prefecture) taught local people how to catch fish in the open sea and how to make katsuobushi, smoked and dried fish fillets, long considered an essential ingredient in Japanese cuisine. The people of Matsuo also participated in the maritime trade, and some established successful shipping companies. One of these was run by the Yoshifuku family, whose luxurious Meiji-era (1868-1912) house serves as a reminder of the heyday of the settlement. Another item of interest in Matsuo is the large sea fig tree (Ficus superba var. japonica) that has stood behind the local Shinto shrine for more than 300 years.

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The Tojin Daba site is located in the mountains about 10 kilometers from central Tosashimizu. Now covered with lush greenery, Tojin Daba was inhabited during the prehistoric Jomon period (10,000-300 BCE). The site is dotted with huge rocks up to 7 meters tall called tojin-ishi. These granite boulders were formed when magma hardened deep underground, and were eventually thrown up to the surface by tectonic activity. The tojin-ishi are solid and devoid of cracks, unlike most other granite rocks, which tend to fall apart when rain and groundwater seep into them over long periods of time.

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Famous for its imposing red-brown cliffs, Usubae is located at the western tip of the Ashizuri Peninsula and is the place where the warm Kuroshio (Japan Current) first hits Shikoku on its way north along Japan's Pacific coast. The great intensity of the current is evident in the whirlpools that form around the rocky reefs just beneath the cliffs. These whirlpools can be admired from above.

Besides its natural beauty, Usubae is remembered for its role in local history. It was in the sea just off these cliffs that the local people first managed to catch skipjack tuna (katsuo), from which katsuobushi fillets are made. The wives of the fishermen would traditionally hold feasts at Ryugu Shrine, which sits high above the ocean on one of the Usubae cliffs, to pray for their husbands' safety and a plentiful catch.

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The port of Shimizu in central Tosashimizu is both deep and calm, thanks to relatively minor land uplift in the surrounding area and the lack of a river bringing sediment into Shimizu Bay. Besides being the home port of most of Tosashimizu's fishing fleet, Shimizu is noted for a small island in the innermost part of the bay. This island, known as Tosenjima, is named after the foreign ships (tosen) that once docked here on their way north toward Honshu or south toward mainland Asia and beyond. The island was designated a Natural Monument in 1953, when geological evidence discovered on Tosenjima proved that the land in the Shimizu area had been raised 80 centimeters by a powerful earthquake in 1946. In addition to its scientific significance, the island is also known as a nesting ground for several species of herons.

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The forest has long been a source of both firewood and building materials for the people of Tosashimizu. Nevertheless, very few trees have ever been cut down on the small island of Kashima, in Shimizu Bay. The island was considered a sacred place, where fishermen would pray for an ample catch at the local Shinto shrine. Kashima is no longer an island, as reclamation projects have created land between it and the mainland, but its lush forest stills appears much as it did before the modern world caught up with Tosashimizu. Visitors can stroll through the woods, admire the abundant plant life, and watch fishing boats depart from the adjacent port of Shimizu.

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In the year 1841, a 14-year-old boy named Manjiro and four of his friends were fishing off the coast of their home village of Nakanohama (in present-day Tosashimizu) when they were caught in a storm and lost control of their boat. The Kuroshio (Japan Current) carried them far away from the coast and out onto the vast Pacific Ocean. The current occasionally flows east toward the central Pacific instead of following its usual route north, and this was its direction at the time. The five men eventually ended up on Torishima, a small island about 750 kilometers from where they had started out. They remained stranded on the island for 143 days before being rescued by an American whaling ship. Manjiro, whom the whalers nicknamed John, chose to remain on board all the way to the United States, where he learned English and eventually made enough money to return to Japan. John Manjiro, also known as John Mung, later became a translator and expert shipbuilder, helping the Japanese government in its efforts to modernize the country and expand international trade in the 1860s and 1870s. Visitors interested in learning more about Manjiro's adventure-filled life may want to visit the John Mung Museum and Manjiro's birthplace, both of which are in Tosashimizu.

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Tatsukushi Bay has many asymmetrical inlets; these were formed because the geological strata, which are up to 17 million years old, are vulnerable to weathering and erosion. The bay is known for its great variety of marine life, a result of the Kuroshio Current constantly bringing in warm water from the south. Tatsukushi Bay is home to more than 100 species of coral, a level of diversity that is rare for such a small body of water in the temperate climate zone. The bay also hosts many types of sea slugs and other colorful creatures. Taking a tour on a glass-bottom boat from Tatsukushi to Minokoshi Beach on Cape Chihiro is a great way to observe both the fish and the bay's leaflike shikorosango coral (Pavona decussata) up close.

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The odd shapes that mark the cliffs, rocks, and ground on the coastline around Tatsukushi have been described in many travelers' stories from the Edo period (1603-1868) onward. Visitors walking along the mostly flat coast may notice depressions, wrinkles, creases, and other irregularities underneath their feet, as if the ground were a giant carpet that has not been stretched out properly. Many of these forms are thought to be the result of ancient earthquakes and tsunamis, which deformed the land approximately 17 million years ago, when it was still underwater. The Tatsukushi Coast is also noted for its trace fossils. A trace fossil is a fossilized record of something that a living creature once did. The fossils take the form of ancient footprints, burrows, and even animal droppings.

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The Tsumajiro Coast, located on the west side of Tatsukushi Bay, is a place of geological interest and a tourist attraction. Its ground, which gradually rose from beneath sea level to its current position, is composed of mud flats and a former estuary, and contains many different types of trace fossils. Visitors can walk south along the shore toward the retro-futuristic Ashizuri Kaiteikan Underwater Observatory. The red-and-white, pipe-like entrance can be reached along a raised walkway from the end of the walking path. The distinctive aquarium structure has an observation chamber 7 meters below the surface of the sea, where visitors can view fish and other marine creatures in their natural habitat.

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Kanaezaki, a seaside settlement at the western edge of Tosashimizu, stands on top of an accretionary wedge. This is a ridge-like geological feature that is formed along the tip of a continental plate as a result of tectonic activity. When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the oceanic plate is pushed downward. This movement may cause sediment from the oceanic plate to come loose and accumulate at the tip of the continental plate, eventually forming new land. Evidence of these processes can be seen in the cliffs at Kanaezaki, where in some places the rock clearly shows striped black-and-white patterns. The black layers are mudstone, while the white ones are sandstone; both originate from the bottom of the deep sea. Nearby, the Kanaezaki Lighthouse offers views over the sawtooth coastline and out toward the ocean, underneath which the tectonic plates remain in motion. Looking out from the lighthouse, visitors may also spot rock pine (Orostachys japonica), a succulent plant that favors the cliffsides of Kanaezaki and whose white flowers bloom from late fall to early winter.

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