Obako and Kobako Pillars

Obako ("big box") and Kobako ("small box") are two named gorges in the upper Ishikari River canyon, 4 km east of Sounkyo Onsen toward Mikuni Pass. Both are short cliff-side walks from a roadside parking pullout, with views straight up the columnar basalt walls characteristic of the entire Sounkyo gorge. The pillars formed when 30,000-year-old andesite lava flows from Daisetsuzan cooled inside the river-cut canyon. Better as a stop on the drive between Sounkyo and Lake Akan than as a destination.