Shizuoka · Miho PeninsulaNo.762★★★Open in map →

Miho no Matsubara

— A black-pine coast facing Mount Fuji

natureThe classic — done right

A black-pine shore on the Miho peninsula in Shizuoka, inscribed with Mount Fuji as World Heritage. Free and open, with an avenue of old pines running inland from the beach to the guardian shrine that most visitors never walk.

FromShizuoka Station
~55 minJR + local bus
Get off atMiho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi bus stop (Shizutetsu Just Line, Miho-Yamanote route)
On foot
Miho no Matsubara

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Hagoromo no MatsuAlpsdake / CC BY-SA 4.0

Miho Shrinethe grove's guardian shrine at the inland end, where the pine avenue begins
Kami no Michian avenue of aged black pines running straight from the shrine toward the sea
Mihoshirubethe city guidance centre at the shore end, with displays on the grove and its link to Fuji
Hagoromo no Matsuthe pine of the feather-robe legend, standing near the shore with its predecessor kept beside it
The shore itselfa pebble beach on Suruga Bay where the pines, the surf and the mountain line up

How to actually get there

Shizuoka Station → Shimizu Station (JR Tokaido Line).
Shimizu Station → Miho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi (Shizutetsu Just Line, Miho-Yamanote route, ~25 min).
Miho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi → Miho Shrine, then the pine avenue down to the shore (walk ~15 min).
Return the same way, or continue along the beach toward the guidance centre before heading back.

JR to Shimizu, then the Miho-Yamanote bus: Shizuoka Station →(JR Tokaido Line)→ Shimizu Station, then the Shizutetsu Just Line bus toward Miho, about 25 minutes to Miho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi. From the stop it is roughly 15 minutes on foot to the shore. Allow about an hour door to beach, and a little more if you walk the shrine end first.
Return from Miho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi: The Miho-Yamanote buses run back to Shimizu Station from the stop across the road, and JR connects onward to Shizuoka. Services out here are less frequent than in the city, so check the posted times before you set off down the avenue rather than after.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Miho no Matsubara runs along the outer edge of the Miho peninsula, the sandspit that closes the north side of Shimizu harbour. Black pines follow the shore for about seven kilometres, some thirty thousand of them by a recent count, with Suruga Bay on one side and Mount Fuji standing across the water. It is counted as one of Japan's three great pine groves, alongside Niji-no-Matsubara in Saga and Kehi-no-Matsubara in Fukui. Dark pines, white surf and the mountain behind is the combination Japanese painters and woodblock printers returned to more than any other. The shore is free and open.

How to enjoy it

Walk it from the shrine outward rather than from the car park in. The avenue is straight, shaded and level, and it delivers you to the shore with the mountain ahead of you instead of behind. Fuji is a matter of air rather than hour: it hides behind summer haze for days at a time and stands clear in the dry cold of winter, so treat a sighting as a bonus and the pines as the reason for coming.

Background & history

In 2013 the grove entered the World Heritage list as one of the components of Fujisan, listed for the view it holds across the bay rather than for the mountain itself. Its older claim is the Hagoromo legend. A celestial maiden bathing at this shore hangs her feather robe on a pine, a fisherman takes it, and she dances to win it back. The story became the Noh play of the same name. The pine it names still stands near the water, with its predecessor preserved beside it, and Miho Shrine at the inland end has long been the grove's guardian.

Before you go

Cash: The grove, the avenue and the beach are free to enter. There is a car park with room for 173 vehicles at the shore end. Buses are paid on board, and the guidance centre keeps its own opening days.
Good to know: The shore is exposed and the wind off Suruga Bay is strong in winter. The pine avenue is unlit after dark, and the beach is pebble rather than sand, so it is hard going in thin soles.
Another way: A passenger boat crosses Shimizu harbour from the Kashi-no-Ichi fish market at Ejiri to the Miho side, which turns the trip into a water crossing with a longer walk at the far end. On weekends and holidays a second bus stop, Sekai-isan Miho-no-Matsubara, is served and leaves a much shorter walk.
After you get off: From Miho-no-Matsubara-iriguchi, head south-east on the road toward the shrine, then pick up the pine avenue and follow it straight down to the shore, about 15 minutes in all.