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Amanohashidate
Amanohashidate is a sandbar of 3.6 kilometres covered in pine trees across Miyazu Bay, on the Sea of Japan coast of northern Kyoto Prefecture, in the Kansai region, counted for centuries among the three most celebrated views of Japan.
- Prefecture
- Kyoto
- Region
- Kansai
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A line of pines across the sea, and the coast of Tango beyond it.
The name means the bridge to heaven. In the old legend of the Tango Province, the god Izanagi set a ladder between heaven and earth so that he could visit his wife, and while he slept it fell into the sea and became this narrow ribbon of sand. The sandbar was in fact laid down over thousands of years by the currents of the bay, and today some eight thousand pine trees grow along it, between twenty and a hundred and seventy metres wide.
With Matsushima and Miyajima, Amanohashidate is one of the Nihon Sankei, the three views of Japan named by a scholar in the seventeenth century, and it was painted around 1500 by the master Sesshu in a work now a National Treasure. It is seen best from above, from the hills at either end, and the custom is to turn your back to it and look at it upside down, so that the sandbar seems to float in the sky.
Amanohashidate is also the gateway to the Tango Peninsula, a coast of fishing villages, silk weavers and small sake breweries that few overseas visitors reach. A night or two here, with a ryokan by the bay and a day on the coast, is a quiet contrast to Kyoto.
see and do
What to see in Amanohashidate
Kasamatsu Park
The hillside park at the northern end, reached by a short cable car or chairlift, with the classic view of the sandbar rising across the bay, likened to a dragon climbing into the sky.
Amanohashidate View Land
The viewpoint on the hill at the southern end, looking north along the sandbar, a view likened to a dragon in flight.
The sandbar itself
A level path of 3.6 kilometres under the pines, an easy walk of about fifty minutes, with the beach on one side and the inner lagoon on the other. Near the middle, the Isoshimizu spring rises fresh among the salt water.
Chion-ji
A temple at the southern end, one of the three great temples of Monju, the bodhisattva of wisdom, where students come to pray before examinations, with a gate of 1767 and a small two-storey pagoda.
Kono Shrine
The ancient shrine at the northern end, called Moto-Ise because the sun goddess Amaterasu is said to have been worshipped here before she was enshrined at Ise.
Nariai-ji
A mountain temple above Kasamatsu, a stop on the Saigoku pilgrimage of thirty-three Kannon temples, with a five-storey pagoda and the widest view of the bay.
The boathouses of Ine
Some 230 funaya, wooden boathouses with living quarters above, built along the water's edge around the small bay of Ine, the whole village protected as a preservation district of traditional buildings.
experiences
The best of Amanohashidate
Ine Bay by boat
A small boat around Ine Bay with a fisherman at the helm, the funaya seen from the water as they were meant to be seen, followed by a visit to a sake brewery in the village.
The silk of Tango
A visit to a weaver of Tango chirimen, the silk crepe that has been woven on this coast for some three centuries, much prized for kimono.
A ryokan by the bay
A night at an onsen ryokan in the town, with the bay outside and a dinner of seafood from the Sea of Japan, including, in the cold months, the snow crab of Tango.
The bay from the water
The sightseeing boat across the Aso lagoon between the two ends of the sandbar, with gulls following the boat and the pines passing close.
plan your visit
Amanohashidate on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night is enough for the views and the sandbar, and two allow a full day on the Tango coast and in Ine.
- Getting there
- From Kyoto, the Hashidate limited express reaches Amanohashidate in about two hours, and a private car takes about the same. From Osaka it is about two hours by car. Kinosaki Onsen is about ninety minutes away along the coast.
- Pairs well with
- Amanohashidate fits a journey north from Kyoto to the Sea of Japan, with a night here before or after the onsen town of Kinosaki, returning by way of Himeji or Kyoto.KyotoKinosaki OnsenHimejiOsaka
journeys
Amanohashidate on a private journey
We shape a journey to Amanohashidate as a Custom Tour of Japan: created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you.
questions
Amanohashidate: questions answered
What is Amanohashidate?
Amanohashidate is a 3.6-kilometre sandbar covered in pine trees across Miyazu Bay in northern Kyoto Prefecture, one of the three celebrated views of Japan.
How do you get to Amanohashidate from Kyoto?
By the Hashidate limited express from Kyoto Station in about two hours, or by private car in about the same time.
Can you walk across Amanohashidate?
Yes. A level path runs the length of the sandbar under the pines, an easy walk of about fifty minutes, and boats cross the lagoon between the two ends.
What are the three views of Japan?
Amanohashidate, Matsushima in Miyagi and Miyajima in Hiroshima, named the Nihon Sankei in the seventeenth century.
Is Amanohashidate worth a visit from Kyoto?
Yes, as an overnight stay rather than a day trip: a night by the bay allows the views, the sandbar and the boathouses of Ine without hurry.
Can Amanohashidate be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Amanohashidate. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Amanohashidate, planned for you.
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