Columnar cliffs 70 m high: since 2022 a glass platform has looked down on them from above.
The walls of rock columns, up to 70 metres high, were formed by an undersea eruption about 15 million years ago: the lava cooled into columns of welded tuff, then the sea exposed the formation, the most extensive of its kind in Japan, by eroding the coast. From the car park, a path of about 540 metres (ten minutes, with steep sections and changes in level) leads to the viewpoint; in 2022 ‘Skerutcha!’ was added, a glass terrace suspended over the drop of the cliff. The name, which means ‘horse's back’, comes from the narrow, elongated shape of the headland.
The Hyūga-misaki headland, with its jagged coastline, is part of Nippō Coast Quasi-National Park. The Umagase rock columns were designated a national Natural Monument on 13 February 2018.
ℹ️ Free car park, 70 spaces. The Umagase-jaya kiosk is open 9:10–17:50 from April to September and 8:40–17:20 from October to March. A few steps away, the Kurusu-no-umi headland (rocks in the shape of a cross) is another stop on the same walk, not covered by this entry.
🚉 御鉾ヶ浦公園 (Mihokogaura Kōen) · 16 min walk
Holidays in Japan? Plan them with us.Over 2,000 real places, a day-by-day itinerary.FreeOpen the map →Sources: kanko-miyazaki.jp · ja.wikipedia.org
Nearby
Nobeoka Ayu-yana16.6 kmphoto by Koda6029 · CC BY-SA 4.0