Nakahama Manjirō in the context of Convention of Kanagawa

The Tosa Domain (土佐藩, Tosa-han) was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its history by the tozama daimyō Yamauchi clan. Many people from the domain played important roles in events of the late Edo period including Nakahama Manjirō, Sakamoto Ryōma, Yui Mitsue, Gotō Shōjirō, Itagaki Taisuke, Nakae Chōmin, and Takechi Hanpeita. Tosa Domain was renamed Kōchi Domain (高知藩, Kōchi-han) during the early Meiji period until it was dissolved in the abolition of the han system in 1871 and became Kōchi Prefecture.

Cape Ashizuri (足摺岬, Ashizuri-misaki) is a headland at the southernmost tip of the Japanese island of Shikoku, in the city of Tosashimizu, Kōchi Prefecture. The promontory extends into the Pacific Ocean and is situated within Ashizuri-Uwakai National Park. Above the cape is Cape Ashizuri Lighthouse [ja], which started operating in 1914, and two observatories, while a short distance inland stand Kongōfuku-ji, the thirty-eighth temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, and a bronze statue of Nakahama Manjirō, who was born nearby. Due to coastal erosion, there are a number of caves around the cape, including Hakusan Cave [ja], said to be the largest granite cave in the country and a Prefectural Natural Monument.