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Daisen-Oki NP, Shimane
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Tsūtenkyō began as a sea cave—but it wasn’t simply bored through from one side. A landslide collapsed the cave’s back, and erosion left its seaward entrance standing like a bridge.
The arch’s red, white and gray bands are a geological color code: the coast records eruptions about 6.3–5.3 million years ago. Some lava turned red through oxidation, while pale rock intruded between lava layers.
Tsūtenkyō belongs to a coastline designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument in 1938. The original designation highlighted its natural stone bridges and about 50 caves.
