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Tojindaba Megaliths

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

TojindabamegalithsJomonTosashimizuAshizuri

Kochi · Tosashimizu

32.7332°N, 132.9843°E

What sets Tojindaba Megaliths apart from other natural sites in Kochi is how much depends on conditions outside anyone's control.

On a plateau above Cape Ashizuri, in an area that has produced stone tools and pottery from the early Jomon period around 5000 BC through to the Yayoi, stands a field of granite blocks six or seven metres high. Some are stacked, some balanced, some split in ways that look deliberate. Whether the arrangement is human or entirely geological is disputed and the honest answer is that nobody knows.

What is not disputed is that people lived here for thousands of years and that the setting is extraordinary — an open plateau with the Pacific below on three sides, reached by a narrow road through subtropical scrub. There is a stone circle laid out in an adjacent park which is a modern reconstruction and should not be confused with the natural blocks. Parking is for fifteen or twenty cars and the road in from the coastal side is very narrow.

Plan your visit

Time to allow

45–60 minutes

Hours

Open access | Daylight only

Closed: Open year-round

Best time to visit

Year-round | Clear days for the Pacific panorama

Entry fee

Free | Parking for around 15–20 cars

Getting there

Directions

Matsuo, Tosashimizu. Car required. Turn off the Tsubaki no Michi, the former Ashizuri Skyline on Prefectural Route 348, at the midpoint and continue about 1 km. Free to visit, with parking for around 15–20 cars and toilets. The road connecting Tojindaba to Prefectural Route 27 is very narrow with difficult passing — approach via Route 348.

Beyond the guidebook

**Approach on Route 348, not Route 27.** The road from the 27 side is very narrow with almost nowhere to pass. Coming in on the Tsubaki no Michi is the sensible route. **The stone circle is modern.** A reconstructed circle in the adjoining park is a recent creation. The natural six- and seven-metre blocks on the slope are the archaeological site. **Climb up for the view.** The blocks sit on a plateau above the Pacific and the panorama from the top of them is the reason people who are unconvinced by the megalith claims still make the trip. **It is genuinely old.** Stone tools and pottery from the early Jomon around 5000 BC through the Yayoi have been recovered here. The occupation is documented even if the arrangement of the rocks is not. **Combine with Cape Ashizuri.** The cape and its lighthouse are fifteen minutes down the same road.

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