West Kanagawa · ManazuruNo.099★Open in map →
Mitsuishi
— three rope-bound sacred rocks offshore
At the tip of the crane-shaped Manazuru Peninsula, three rocks rise just offshore, joined by a heavy shrine rope. New Year's Day draws crowds when the first sunrise of the year climbs through the gap between the rocks.
At the southern tip of Manazuru Cape, three rocks rise from the shallows just offshore, known as the Mitsuishi ('Three Rocks') or Kasajima. A thick shimenawa — the sacred rope of Shinto, used to mark holy ground — is strung between the two larger rocks. On New Year's Day, crowds gather because the first sunrise climbs precisely through the gap between rocks and rope, a scene long treasured as an auspicious start to the year. At low tide in the warmer months the reef is bared and you can walk toward the rocks, though the town's own guidance warns this is a tombolo — a rock bar that the rising tide can cover. The setting is more shrine than sightseeing spot: Sagami Bay opening ahead, the volcanic peninsula behind, and the salt wind of a working fishing town.
Why it stays quiet
It sits nearly two hours from Tokyo, one stop before the popular hot-spring town of Atami, so day-trippers usually push on to Hakone instead. There is little English information about it, the bus is infrequent, and the best moment — dawn low tide — comes before the bus even starts running, so most visitors never see it.
Background & history
The Manazuru Peninsula is a plateau of lava from Hakone's ancient volcanoes, and its outline — said to resemble a crane with wings spread — gives the town its name. The shimenawa across the Mitsuishi was first installed in 1977 by the Manazuru Tourist Association. Documented at roughly 13 cm thick, about 37 m long, and close to a ton in weight, it was renewed after some 44 years in December 2021.
What to look for — in walking order
- Mitsuishi Beach approach
- 5-minute walk from the bus stop to the rock viewpoint, paved path downhill
- The three rocks
- sea rocks off the cape, appearing as three from the main viewpoint
- The shimenawa rope
- the heavy sacred rope strung between the two larger rocks — about 37 m long and near a ton
- New Year first sunrise
- on 1 January the sunrise rises directly through the gap between the rocks and the rope
How to enjoy it
The signature moment is dawn — above all the New Year first sunrise — seen from the viewpoint at the cape. If you hope to walk out onto the reef, go only at spring-to-autumn low tide and check the tide table first, since the way back floods as the water rises. The coastal Statue Path from the bus stop to the viewpoint is also walkable in about 30 minutes.
How to actually get there
- Tokyo Stn → Manazuru Stn (JR Tokaido Line, ~90 min).
- Manazuru Stn → Cape Manazuru stop (Izuhakone bus Shin-13, ~15 min, about hourly).
- Cape Manazuru stop → the three rocks (~5 min walk downhill).
- JR Tokaido Line + Izuhakone bus
- Tokyo Stn →(JR Tokaido Line, ~90 min)→ Manazuru Stn →(Izuhakone bus, route Shin-13, bound for Cape Manazuru, ~15 min)→ Cape Manazuru stop. Total about 2 hours plus your wait for the bus. The bus runs only about once an hour, and there is no service before 8 a.m. on weekends and holidays — check the day's timetable before you leave.
- Return bus to the station
- The return bus from Cape Manazuru also runs about once an hour, and services end in the late afternoon (the last departures are around 4 p.m.). When you arrive, check the return times posted at the bus stop so you do not get stranded.
Before you go
- Cash
- The bus fare is about 290 yen. Rural buses and the small cape shops are often cash-only, so carry coins.
- Closing days
- These are sacred rocks beside a working harbor. Do not climb the rope or the rocks, and watch the tide if you walk onto the reef.
- Another way
- If the bus wait is long, you can walk the cape's coastal 'Statue Path' one way in about 30 minutes.
- After you get off
- From the Cape Manazuru bus stop it is about a 5-minute walk downhill on a paved path to Mitsuishi Beach and the rocks.