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San'in Kaigan NP, Tottori
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Umanose isn’t fixed in place: comparisons of aerial surveys, satellite images and drone photos found that its dune ridge advanced about 30 m inland over roughly 50 years.
The pool below Umanose is fed by rain and snowmelt that seep through the sand and emerge in a hollow. This seasonal “oasis” usually appears from late autumn to spring, then may disappear in summer.
Just west of Umanose, wind can uncover a yellow pumice layer from Mount Daisen’s eruption about 55,000 years ago. This dated layer helps geologists distinguish older dune sand from younger deposits.
On the steep second ridge, wind-blown sand can pile up near the crest, then spill down in narrow “sand curtains” as the slope dries. Some of these fleeting sand streams stretch about 20 m.
In the low ground inland of Umanose, near Oigo Suribachi and Chojagahama, scattered pottery and stone tools dating from the Yayoi period onward have been found. Wind may have shifted them, so they do not prove a settlement.
By 1991, invasive plants covered about 42% of Tottori Sand Dunes. Weeding to restore the open, shifting-sand landscape began in 1994, with volunteers joining the conservation effort later.
Umanose’s sand began as granite in the Chugoku Mountains. The Sendai River carried weathered grains to the Sea of Japan, where waves and currents brought them ashore and winds pushed them inland.
“Umanose” means “horse’s back,” and it is the second of Tottori Sand Dunes’ 3 ridges. Its crest is about 47 m above sea level; the inland third ridge reaches about 60 m.
