(''lit.'' 'Pure Land Beach') is a series of rock formations along the coast of Miyako Bay in the city of Miyako,

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

, in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

of northern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The area is part of the

Sanriku Fukkō National Park is a national park extending along the Sanriku Coast of Japan from Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture through Iwate Prefecture to Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture. The national park was created on 24 May 2013 and covers a land area of . History On ...

, and is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty.

Overview

The area consists of groups of

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

period

volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...

formations in a sandy beach area, which have been weathered by wind and rains into fantastic shapes. Together with

Japanese red pine ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia and Siberia. In China, the plant is known as 赤松 (pinyin: chì sōng, literally "red pine"). Distrib ...

trees, the rocks form a natural version of a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

. The rock formations have inspired many fanciful names, and by the early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

has been identified in popular imagination with various landscape features of the Buddhist Western Paradise. The name of "Jōdogahama" was coined by a

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the ...

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

priest who toured the area in the

Tenna was a after ''Enpō'' and before ''Jōkyō.'' This period spanned the years from September 1681 through February 1684. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * '': The new era name of ''Tenna'' (meaning "Heavenly Imperial Peace") was creat ...

era (1681–1684), and this name appears in the official records of

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū ...

under the rule of

Nanbu Toshitaka was a mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 10th ''daimyō'' of Morioka Domain in northern Japan. He was the 36th hereditary chieftain of the Nanbu clan. His courtesy title was ''Daizen-no-daifu'', and his Court rank was Junior 4th Rank, Lowe ...

in 1797. The area was also popularised by the works of

Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist, poet, and children's literature writer from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social ...

in 1917. Formerly part of the Rikuchū Kaigan National Park from its formation in May 1955, the area was incorporated into the Sanriku Fukkō National Park after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

Gallery

浄土ヶ浜 - panoramio - くろふね.jpg 浄土ヶ浜 - panoramio (7).jpg Jyoudo9.jpg

References

Beaches of Japan Landforms of Iwate Prefecture Places of Scenic Beauty Miyako, Iwate Tourist attractions in Iwate Prefecture IUCN Category III {{Iwate-geo-stub

Overview

Gallery

See also

References