Genbudo Park
玄武洞公園
Regular hexagonal columnar joints formed when lava cooled about 1.6 million years ago. The word “basalt” (genbugan) is said to have originated here.
Genbudo was formed when volcanic lava cooled and contracted about 1.6 million years ago, leaving huge hexagonal stone columns neatly stacked together. In 1807, the Confucian scholar Shibano Ritsuzan named it Genbudo after the Four Symbols of Chinese cosmology, and the name “basalt” (genbugan) is said to have come from this. The park also contains Seiryū Cave (Azure Dragon), Byakko Cave (White Tiger) and the North and South Suzaku Caves (Vermilion Bird). It is a National Natural Monument and a core site of the San'in Kaigan UNESCO Global Geopark. Entry to the park is free, and there is also a paid Genbudo Museum. It is about 15 minutes from Kinosaki Onsen by bus or taxi.
Opening hours
About 09:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Onsen-ji Temple
- Kinosaki Onsen Ropeway
- Kinosaki Literary Museum
- Otani River Willow Street
- Kinosaki Seven Public Baths
- Hyogo Park of the Oriental White Stork
- Kinosaki Marine World
- Takeno Beach