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Shinonsen, Hyogo
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Genbudo's basalt helped Motonori Matuyama develop evidence that Earth's magnetic field has reversed direction during geological history.
Tottori Sand Dunes are built from sediment carried from inland mountains by rivers, redistributed by waves and blown inland by seasonal winds.
Tottori Sand Dune rakkyo thrives in sandy fields beside the dunes and has protected Japanese Geographical Indication status.
The wider San'in Kaigan geological landscape records stages in the opening of the Sea of Japan as Japan separated from continental Asia.
The Japanese geological term genbugan, meaning basalt, derives from the name Genbudo Cave.
Vegetation is deliberately removed from parts of Tottori Sand Dunes to restore sand movement and maintain the characteristic living dune landscape.
About 1.6 million years ago, basaltic lava at Genbudo cooled, contracted and fractured into the remarkable geometric columns visible today.
Tottori Sand Dunes extend roughly 16 km east to west and reach about 2.4 km from north to south at their widest point.
Fields beside the Tottori dunes turn purple when thousands of rakkyo plants flower around late October and early November.
Uradome Coast packs cliffs, islands, caves, white beaches, reefs and wave-cut platforms into roughly 15 km of shoreline.
Waves can trap pebbles in depressions and spin them repeatedly, gradually grinding circular potholes into coastal rock platforms.
Kujaku Domon formed as waves exploited natural joints in coastal rock, creating a sea opening associated with the shape of a peacock's tail.
Kumihama Bay developed when accumulating coastal sand created a barrier that separated much of a former marine inlet from the Sea of Japan.
San'in Kaigan exposes an exceptional variety of rocks, including granite, basalt, andesite, rhyolite, sandstone and mudstone.
Seaweed beds around the Takeno Coast create productive underwater habitat immediately below the park's cliffs and rocky shoreline.
Sheltered coves along the deeply indented San'in coast provided natural settings for fishing communities and small coastal settlements.
Matsuba crab is a celebrated winter food along the Tajima coast, supported by fishing seasons and resource-management measures.
Mosa-ebi became an intensely local eastern Tottori delicacy partly because its appearance changes rapidly after it is landed.
Squid-fishing boats can illuminate the Sea of Japan horizon with isaribi lights visible from the Tottori Sand Dunes.
Kinosaki Onsen has a cultural history extending more than 1,300 years and remains centered on communal hot-spring bathing.
Kinosaki treats the entire town like one large ryokan, with streets as corridors, lodgings as guest rooms and seven public baths as the shared bath.
A Kinosaki legend tells of an injured Oriental stork healing its wounded leg in hot spring water, revealing the spring to local people.
The 1925 North Tajima Earthquake devastated Kinosaki, connecting the region's spectacular geology with the hazards of a tectonically active landscape.
Genbudo's naturally fractured basalt was quarried during the Edo period and transported using the nearby Maruyama River.
Natural sandy shores within San'in Kaigan support specialized plants and insects adapted to salt, strong winds and shifting sand.
Kinosaki's station, streets, inns and baths are imagined as parts of one enormous ryokan.
Kinosaki's seven public baths are within walking distance, and visitors traditionally stroll between them in yukata.
The purple rakkyo flowers near Tottori Sand Dunes usually bloom from late October to early November.
Rakkyo farmers grow crisp pickling onions in sandy fields close to Tottori's famous dunes.
Matsuba crab is the Tajima coast's celebrated winter name for male snow crab.
Genbudo basalt helped Motonori Matuyama identify evidence of ancient geomagnetic reversal.
The Japanese geological name for basalt, genbugan, was derived from Genbudo Cave.
The Tottori Sand Dunes' wind-made ripples are often clearest in early morning, before footprints appear.
