As the signs outside Kushimoto JR Station proclaim, Kushimoto is the official Town of Japanese-Turkish Friendship. This proud history began in 1890, when the Turkish frigate Ertugrul crashed on the rocks off O-shima Island during a typhoon, after visiting Yokohama to conduct talks between the rising Empire of Japan and the declining Ottoman Empire. The museum is small and its information is only in Turkish and Japanese, but there is a good collection of artifacts and photographs and from an outdoor terrace, you can see the rock which sent more than five hundred Turkish sailors to a watery grave. Don't miss the nearby Turkish souvenir stand, which serves delicious Turkish ice cream and boasts (probably) the only Turkish person in Wakayama Prefecture!