Michi-no-Eki Kushimoto Hashigui-iwa (Roadside Station)

Overview

This roadside station sits right beside the Hashigui-iwa, Kushimoto's celebrated line of sea rocks and one of the sights of Honshu's southern tip. A second-floor observation deck looks out over the pillars as they march from the shore toward Kii-Oshima island, so you can take in a nationally designated natural monument while you rest.

The Hashigui-iwa themselves are a procession of more than 40 rock columns, large and small, running about 850 metres out to sea. Their orderly spacing gives them their name — 'bridge-pillar rocks' — and legend says the priest Kobo Daishi raised them overnight in a wager with a mischievous demon. Formed as softer rock eroded away and left the harder cores standing, they lie within the Yoshino-Kumano National Park. Inside the station, the shop sells local specialities including sanma-zushi (mackerel-pike sushi) and, its star item, a soft-serve made from 100% ponkan-orange juice from nearby Mt. Kasanari — the same juice is sold by the bottle.