Chiba · ChoshiNo.941★★Open in map →

Byobugaura Cliffs

natureOff the trail — and worth it

A wall of eroding sea cliff on the Pacific coast of Chiba, protected as a national scenic site and natural monument. A paved promenade beside Choshi Marina runs along the foot of it, so the whole face is read from below rather than from a railing above.

FromTokyo Stn
~2.5 hrJR + local bus
Get off atChiba Kagaku Daigaku Marina-mae (Naarai bus line)
On foot
Byobugaura Cliffs

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a protected landscape rather than a hidden one, and it sits close to Choshi's better known cape. It stays low-key because there is only one proper way to see it, the promenade at the marina end, and most people who come to Choshi head for the lighthouse.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Choshi Marina and the start of the paththe sandy end of the coast, with parking shared with the beach and the promenade beginning here
The cliff face above the walkwayan unbroken wall of cut sediment rising directly beside the path, grass and pine along the rim
The banded strataochre and grey layers of old sea floor, capped by the darker reddish band of Kanto loam
The coastline toward Cape Gyobuthe same cliff receding westward, thinning into haze on a clear day

How to actually get there

Tokyo Station → Choshi Station (JR Sobu Line; Shiosai limited express, or local trains via Chiba).
Choshi Station → Chiba Kagaku Daigaku Marina-mae (bus toward Chiba Kagaku Daigaku and Naarai).
Bus stop → the seaside promenade beside Choshi Marina (walk, downhill to the shore).

JR to Choshi, then the Naarai bus: Tokyo Station to Choshi Station on the JR Sobu Line. The Shiosai limited express is the fast option; local trains with a change at Chiba are the slower one. At Choshi Station take the bus toward Chiba Kagaku Daigaku and Naarai, and get off at Chiba Kagaku Daigaku Marina-mae, a short walk from the promenade.
Return from the marina: The same bus line runs back to Choshi Station for the Sobu Line toward Tokyo. Read the return departures on the timetable at the stop when you arrive, not after the walk, and allow margin at Choshi Station for the change onto the express.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The cliffs run for about ten kilometres along the Pacific, from Inuiwa in Choshi to Cape Gyobu in neighbouring Asahi. They are sea cliffs in the literal sense: the ocean cuts into the edge of the Shimosa plateau and carries the debris away. Before coastal defences went in, that retreat was measured at fifty to a hundred centimetres a year. What it leaves is a cut face of sediment, banded in ochre and grey, with a green lip of grass and pine along the top. Visitors are asked to keep off the clifftop, which is high, unfenced in places and partly private land. The view is from sea level instead.

How to enjoy it

The promenade is a dead end, so you walk out and turn back, and the wall reads differently in each direction. Pair it with Inubosaki at the other end of the Choshi peninsula for a half day on this coast. In summer the neighbouring beach opens for swimming and the shared car park fills early.

Background & history

The rock is young. Its layers, the Inubo group with the Katori formation and Kanto loam above it, were laid down on a sea floor from roughly three million years ago, then lifted and cut open. The face has been a named view since the late Edo period, when it appeared in guidebooks to famous places and in a print by Utagawa Hiroshige. National protection came in March 2016, when it was listed as both a Place of Scenic Beauty and a Natural Monument for its geological and scenic value.

Before you go

Cash: The promenade has no gate and no ticket office. Bring what you need for the bus fare from Choshi Station. The car park at this end is shared with the neighbouring beach.
Good to know: The clifftop is off limits: it is high, unfenced in places and partly private land, and the view is from the promenade instead. The path faces open sea and is exposed in bad weather.
Another way: The Choshi Electric Railway runs from Choshi Station to Tokawa, about thirty minutes on foot from the cliffs; walking the whole way from Choshi Station takes about fifty minutes. By car it is roughly an hour from the Sawara-Katori interchange on the Higashi-Kanto Expressway via Route 356.
After you get off: From the Chiba Kagaku Daigaku Marina-mae stop, walk down toward the marina and the beach, about six minutes on paved road. The promenade begins beside the sand and runs east under the cliff.