Anami Kaigan Ancient Rocks – 穴見海岸安山岩

Sometimes, you don’t need a guidebook to explore off the beaten track places in Japan. Like how we discover the ancient rocks at Anami Kaigan, found at the Shin’onsen district of Hyogo Prefecture.

While driving from Kinosaki Onsen to Tottori sand dune, we made a pit stop at the road side and saw some weird looking rocks off the beach. At that time, we had no idea that this place is actually a local attraction. We just find the rock formations interesting and took some photos of them.

Later, we tried google for some information on this place, but there weren’t many guides about it, and most of them were in Japanese. Using google translate, the place is likely to be Anami Beach (穴見海岸) at the northeastern tip of Hyogo prefecture. These rocks are known as the Ancient Rocks of the Yaka Formation there were formed by thousands of years of sea waves eroding them into the current shape and size.

During summer sunset, the view from nearby Honmen shore is magnificent coupled with the silhouette with the rocks.

The Anami Kaigan is along the national highway 127, one of the main route from northern Kyoto to Tottori via Hyogo. Alongside, the San’in railway connects local trains and is a popular mode of transportation for tourists. It is also one of the longest train lines in Japan.

Do look out for this rock formation if you are driving along this highway.