Goishi Coast

This 6-kilometer stretch along the Massaki Peninsula takes in sea arches, a working lighthouse, a rocky beach named for the smooth black-and-white pebbles that resemble go game pieces, and Thunder Rock, which booms when waves surge beneath it. Walking trails connect all the main points of interest through groves of 20-meter pine trees planted as windbreaks during the Edo period. Local fishermen run boat tours that sometimes thread between massive rocks and, weather permitting, pass through one of three sea arches in the offshore Anatoshi-iso Rock formation. The ria coastline was formed when glacial melt flooded ancient river valleys.