Ohakozaki Senjojiki was added to Your Favorites!
Sanriku Fukkō NP, Iwate
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
“Senjojiki” means “1,000 tatami mats,” and the scale is no exaggeration: its wave-cut shelf runs over 600m and reaches 100m wide. The granite formed from magma about 120 million years ago.
The island just offshore, Sanukujima, is a protected seabird nursery. Streaked shearwaters dig horizontal burrows up to 5m long, fish offshore by day, then return to their nests around dusk.
At nearby Hakozaki-Shirahama, the local inn’s uni-shabu puts Kamaishi sea urchin in the broth, letting diners enjoy the summer delicacy beyond its short season.
Sanukujima’s name comes from local fishing lore: even when catches were poor, fishers said a trip to its waters brought in at least three kanmon—a measure of money’s worth—in fish.
On calm days, broad tide pools can turn into giant mirrors, reflecting Senjojiki’s signature boulder. A national-park ranger photographed the effect during a spring patrol.
At the peninsula’s tip, red torii mark Ohakozaki Shrine, which is revered by local fishers. Here, the dramatic coastline is also part of a living place of prayer.
The route to the cape passes fields where orange sukashiyuri lilies bloom in summer and hamagiku, or Nippon daisies, flower in fall.
In Hakozaki-Shirahama, local grandmothers share kama-dango, wheat dumplings with sweet-salty walnut filling, and susuri-dango, dumplings served in azuki-bean soup.
After the 2011 tsunami, 167 supporters helped create nearby Ohakozaki no Yado as a new gathering place for Hakozaki-Shirahama. The project drew on memories of the local nursery school, where generations of children had grown up.
