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Hidakasanmyaku Erimo Tokachi NP, Hokkaido
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A Samani Ainu legend gives one arrow an epic flight: it splits the father’s rock into Oyako-iwa’s 3 pieces, strikes the mother-and-child rock, then sails to distant Fuyushima and pierces another boulder. The rocks are also called Umpe Repunke.
Around December and January, on select days, the setting sun drops into the gap between the 3 offshore rocks. Hokkaido tourism sources say photographers come to catch this seasonal alignment.
Samani’s 1861 “Picture of Samani Kaisho” already shows Oyako-iwa among the coast’s distinctive rocks. The hand-painted scene also records houses, temples, fishing grounds, mountains and rivers—a vivid snapshot of late-Edo Samani.
A 2024 survey identified Oyako-iwa and its wave-cut platform as porphyrite, formed from cooling magma. Researchers also noted a 2cm sandstone fragment there that may be a piece of Cretaceous-age rock.
When neighboring Fureai Beach opens for summer, town, police, coast guard, school and neighborhood representatives gather to pray for a safe season; a coast-guard patrol boat watches near the rocks. The beach began full operation in 1998.
