Amanohashidate

Amanohashidate, roughly meaning "bridge in the heaven", is a 3.6 kilometer long, pine tree covered sand bar, spanning across Miyazu Bay on the Tango Peninsula, northern Kyoto Prefecture. It is ranked as one of Japan's three most scenic views (nihon sankei).

The sand bar is best viewed from the hills on either side of the bay, which are both accessible by chair lift or cablecar.

To view the sand bar as a "bridge in the heaven", turn your back towards the bay, bend over and look at it from between your legs. Travelers to Amanohashidate have been doing this for more than a millenium.

At the southern end of the sand bar, which is just a few steps from the railway station, stands Chionji, a nice Buddhist temple with a small tahoto, a kind of pagoda which still resembles the Indian stupa more than the more common three and five storied Japanese pagoda.

It takes about two hours and 4,380 Yen to reach Amanohashidate from Kyoto by direct limited express train, while direct limited express trains from Osaka take a few minutes more and cost 5,240 Yen. By local trains, the trip takes more than twice as long, but is roughly half as expensive.

Japan Rail Pass users note, that the trains to Amanohashidate run on non-JR tracks (owned by the Kitakinkitango Railway) on the last 35 kilometers between Fukuchiyama and Amanohashidate. This means, that pass holders need to pay a supplementary fee of 1,480 Yen (one way) at Amanohashidate Station.

If you use local trains on the non-JR tracks instead of the limited express, the supplementary fee is 740 Yen between Fukuchiyama and Amanohashidate.

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