Tojinbo, Fukui | Japan is Nippon

About 1 km of Sea of Japan cliffs of hexagonal and other rock columns. Walk the top as waves crash below, or look up from a boat.

Waves breaking against the columnar rock pillars of Tojinbo on the Sea of Japan — Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

The Oike inlet at Tojinbo, a narrow channel of calm sea between sheer rock cliffs — Photo: っ, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cliffs of columnar joints, rare anywhere in the world

Tojinbo is a line of cliffs on the coast of Mikuni-cho in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture. The rock here has split vertically into columns, a formation called columnar jointing (chujo setsuri). The cracks formed as lava cooled and hardened, and over long ages the rough waves of the Sea of Japan carved the rock into what you see today.

Columnar jointing on this scale is said to exist in only three places in the world, and in 1935 Tojinbo was designated a national Natural Monument and a Place of Scenic Beauty (a place the national government designates for the beauty of its scenery). Around Oike, the highest point, the cliffs are about 25 m tall.

The name Tojinbo comes from a person. Legend has it that a violent monk named Tojinbo, from a temple called Heisenji, was lured to these cliffs by other monks and pushed into the sea once he was drunk.

From the clifftop and from the sea

You can walk over the rocks on top of the cliffs and see the rock columns running from your feet all the way down to the water up close. It is also a famous spot for watching the sunset.

To see it from the sea, try the Tojinbo sightseeing boat. On the roughly 30-minute trip, when the sea is calm, the boat also approaches the inlet at Oike, and you can see curiously shaped rocks such as Lion Rock and Candle Rock. To the north-west you can also see Oshima, an island designated a Natural Monument together with Tojinbo.

If you want a view from up high, Tojinbo Tower has an observation deck 100 m above sea level, and on a clear day you can see as far as the Hakusan mountain range. On the way to the cliffs is a shopping street about 300 m long, lined with restaurants serving seafood and souvenir shops.

Getting there and when to go

By train, take the Echizen Railway from Fukui Station to Mikuni Station (about 50 minutes), then a Keifuku bus for about 10 minutes. From the Kanazawa direction, take the IR Ishikawa Railway and Hapi-Line Fukui to Awaraonsen Station, then a Keifuku bus for about 45 minutes. By car, it is about 45 minutes from Fukui Station, or about 25 minutes from the Kanazu Interchange on the Hokuriku Expressway.

Opening hours and prices for the boat and the tower change with the seasons, so check the official websites.

About the areas under construction

Sakai City is redeveloping the Tojinbo area, and work is continuing on projects such as combining the scattered car parks into one. The plans also include a visitor centre with a glass-walled observation room, an exhibition room where you can learn about columnar jointing, and a ticket office for the sightseeing boat. Car park locations and road layouts may change, so if you are driving, check Sakai City's information.

Tips

There are no handrails or fences along the clifftop. Wear non-slip trainers, and take particular care not to get too close to the edge on windy or rainy days.
After watching the sunset, get back off the rocks before it is completely dark. Once it is dark you cannot see where you are stepping, which is dangerous.
When the sea is rough, the sightseeing boat may not be able to approach Oike, or may be cancelled.