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Daisen, Tottori
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A sacred mountain pilgrimage at Daisen eventually helped create Japan's largest cattle and horse market.
Oki was used as a place of exile for emperors and other important political figures beginning more than a thousand years ago.
The Oki salamander lives naturally nowhere else on Earth except Dogo Island.
At Red Cliff on Chiburijima, erosion exposes the inside of a volcano formed roughly six million years ago.
Some ancient Oki cedars may descend from forests stranded when rising seas transformed the surrounding landscape into islands.
Matengai Cliff rises approximately 257 meters directly above the Sea of Japan, with cattle and horses grazing across the plateau above it.
Oki's ushi-zuki is described as Japan's oldest bullfighting tradition and is traditionally linked with exiled Emperor Go-Toba.
Candle Island was once connected to a cape before waves isolated the narrow volcanic sea stack seen today.
From the right sightseeing boat position at sunset, the sun appears directly above Candle Island like the flame of a giant candle.
Oki islanders developed makihata, an ingenious four-field rotation using livestock, beans, millet and grain to farm limited volcanic land.
Stone walls still visible across parts of Oki trace the boundaries of centuries-old makihata fields.
Oki supports an unusual mixture of plants associated with northern Japan, southern Japan, continental Asia and colder Ice Age environments.
Oki repeatedly became connected with and separated from larger landmasses before becoming isolated islands around 10,000 years ago.
Tsutenkyo Arch is the surviving entrance of a sea cave whose inner section eventually collapsed into the ocean.
Daisen's beech forests capture snow and rain, with some water potentially traveling underground for decades before emerging again.
Mount Daisen rises 1,729 meters, making it the highest mountain in Japan's Chugoku region.
Daisen is described in Japan Heritage materials as Japan's oldest sacred mountain recorded in literature.
The roughly eight-hectare Daisen yew community near the upper mountain is Japan's largest and a Special Natural Monument.
Daisen okowa became a characteristic meal for pilgrims and livestock traders gathering around Daisenji and the mountain's famous market.
Nageiredo appears to cling to a cliff high on Mount Mitoku, and exactly how its medieval builders constructed it remains uncertain.
Legend says the ascetic En no Gyoja used supernatural power to throw Nageiredo into its position on the cliff.
Hiruzen's sweeping grasslands survive through generations of mowing and carefully managed burning by local communities.
Historical records document cattle and horses grazing within Oki's agricultural landscape as early as 1188.
The Shimane Peninsula was once separated from mainland Honshu before accumulated river sediments helped reconnect it.
Oki's sazae-meshi combines turban shell with rice in a food tradition created around the islands' productive surrounding sea.
Daisenji pilgrims brought cattle and horses to receive Jizo's protection and drink from a sacred spring.
The Daisen cattle-and-horse market became Japan's largest during the Meiji period.
Daisen's livestock market closed in 1937, but its pilgrimage roads and food traditions remain.
Daisen's stone-paved approach to Ogamiyama Shrine is about 700 meters long.
Daisen soba is associated with the mountain's old livestock market and pilgrim culture.
Oki cattle once traveled by boat to the Daisen livestock market on the mainland.
Oki's ushi-zuki bull contests are traditionally linked to the exiled Emperor Go-Toba.
Hiruzen's traditional grassland management supports plants that need open, sunny habitats.
