Umagase

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

Researched and written by Hinato

UmagaseHyugacolumnar jointsSkellucceKurusu no Umi

Photo: Peter Enyeart / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · original

Miyazaki's geography does a lot of the work at Umagase — the rest is knowing when to show up.

Umagase is the tip of the Hyuga peninsula, where cliffs of columnar-jointed welded tuff drop seventy metres into the Pacific — the largest formation of its kind in Japan, produced by a submarine eruption around fifteen million years ago and then cut back by the sea. From above the columns look like stacked timber.

The walk from the car park takes six or seven minutes to a viewing platform at the point, and a glass-floored deck called Skellucce, rebuilt in 2022, puts you out over the drop. Nearby, at Kurusu no Umi, the sea has worked along the joints into a cross-shaped inlet with a rock beyond it forming the character for heart when seen from the clifftop lookout, which the city has made into a wishing spot.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Year-round | Clear days for the Pacific horizon

How long to allow

60–90 minutes with Kurusu no Umi

Hours

Open access | Daylight for the viewing platforms

Closed: Open year-round

Entry fee

Free | Free parking for about 50 vehicles

Access route

Getting there in detail

Hososhima, Hyuga, at the tip of the Hyuga peninsula in the Nippo Kaigan Quasi-National Park. Car recommended. Free to visit, with a car park for about 50 vehicles at the Hyugamisaki Umagase tourist information office; the viewing platform is about 6–a short walk. The Skellucce glass-floored observation deck, renovated in 2022, stands at the point. The columnar-jointed cliffs rise up to about 70 m and are the largest such formation in welded tuff in Japan. Kurusu no Umi, a cross-shaped inlet, is a short drive away with its own free lookout.

Beyond the guidebook

**Stand on Skellucce.** The glass floor over the drop, rebuilt in 2022. It is the reason most people now come and it is not for everyone. **Look at the columns.** Welded tuff jointed into vertical columns seventy metres high, the largest such formation in Japan, formed by a submarine eruption fifteen million years ago. **Kurusu no Umi is a separate stop.** A short drive along the cape with its own free lookout, where the inlet forms a cross and a rock beyond completes the character for heart. **Six or seven minutes on foot.** Each way from the car park, on a made path. It is not a hike. **Wind comes straight off the Pacific.** Exposed clifftop with nothing between here and the ocean. Hold on to hats and phones.

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