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Sanriku Fukkō NP, Iwate
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At Ohakozaki, a wave-cut granite shelf stretches over 600 m beneath cliffs about 20 m high. Its boxy rocks began as magma roughly 120 million years ago; uplift and waves may explain Hakozaki’s name—“box cape.”
About 5,000 years ago, a Jōmon community thrived in Hakozaki. The Nogawamae site has yielded more than 60 dwelling remains, rebuilt over time, plus an infant’s jar coffin made from an upside-down cooking pot.
At a Hakozaki-Shirahama inn, fresh Kamaishi sea urchin becomes shabu broth for dipping seasonal seafood and vegetables. The dish lets diners enjoy the town’s famous summer uni even outside its short peak season.
After the 2011 tsunami, 167 supporters and local residents helped create Ohakozaki no Yado in Hakozaki-Shirahama. Their crowdfunding campaign met its ¥3 million goal, helping give the fishing village a new place to welcome people.
On Sanganjima, just off Hakozaki Peninsula, streaked shearwaters climb tall tabunoki trees and leap to take flight—they struggle to launch from flat ground. Their claws leave scratch marks on the trunks.
Sanganjima, about 1 km off Hakozaki’s southeastern tip, is Japan’s only known place where 3 storm-petrel species breed together. The uninhabited island is protected, and landing requires permission.
At the peninsula’s tip, local residents visit Ohakozaki Shrine to pray for thriving fisheries and safety at home. Its red torii stand a short walk beyond the wave-worn granite flats.
The route to Senjojiki is not all rock and sea: open fields along its 7 km side trail bloom with bright-orange sukashiyuri lilies in summer, followed by hamagiku daisies in fall.
