Hagi Geopark

The Hagi Geopark covers roughly 1,100 square kilometers around the city of Hagi, preserving geological evidence of volcanic activity spanning tens of millions of years. The city itself was built on a river delta formed by sediment carried down from volcanic mountains, with Hagi Castle sited on a dormant volcano called Mt. Shizuki at the tip of the triangular land. At the Susa area, the Susa Hornfels is a striking 12-meter banded cliff of stratified mudstone and sandstone thrust upward by volcanic forces around 15 million years ago. Wind holes called kazaana near Mt. Kasayama blow cool air year-round from underground fissures.