Tottori Sand Dunes: Japan's Coastal Dune Landscape and History

Tottori Sand Dunes (鳥取砂丘) sit on the Sea of Japan coast in Tottori City and are one of the prefecture’s defining landscapes. The dunes stretch 2.4 km north–south and 16 km east–west, and the most-visited portion is a 545-hectare area on the east side of the Chiyogawa River. The site is a designated Natural Monument of Japan (1955) and lies inside the special-protection zone of San’in Kaigan National Park; in 2007 it was also chosen for Japan’s list of 100 notable geological sites.

Compared with Daisen: a coastal symbol rather than a mountain

Tottori Sand Dunes are cited alongside Mount Daisen as a symbol of Tottori Prefecture. Where Daisen is a volcanic peak, the dunes present a rare open sandscape on Japan’s Sea of Japan coast: wind-driven landforms, shifting ridges and a sand-based ecology that sets them apart from the region’s mountains and forests. The dunes are counted as one of Japan’s three major sand dune areas, although the identities of the other two are variously argued.

Setting and scale

The dune system occupies a long, coastal belt and includes multiple landscape units. The well-known tourist area on the Chiyogawa’s east side covers 545 hectares. Across the dune system the maximum vertical difference can reach 90 metres; within that range large bowl-shaped hollows known locally as “suribachi” form, and the largest of these can reach about 40 metres in depth or height. Immediately to the southeast of the dunes a lake formed where the dunes cut the sea off from low ground.

How the dunes formed and how they are arranged

The sand derives from weathering of granite in the Chugoku Mountains; material eroded into the Chiyogawa River was carried to the Sea of Japan, where tidal currents and longshore movement concentrate sand on the coast. Prevailing onshore winds then blow that sand inland to build the dune ridges. Three dune ridges run roughly parallel to the sea; historically these ridges were numbered from the landward side, but the numbering convention was changed so that the seaward ridge is now called the first ridge, then the second and third, a change made so names remain sensible even if sand movement reduces the inland ridges.

Landscape features to notice

Surface forms on the dunes record wind and occasional water. Bowl-shaped hollows (suribachi) and cascading sand patterns called sand curtains appear where slumping has swept sand down slopes. Wind ripples form distinct linear patterns in places under winds of roughly 5–6 m/s. The surface is not uniformly dry: the deepest parts of some hollows tap groundwater and become small oases or shallow ponds at times. For example, heavy snowfall in 2017 produced large meltwater-fed pools near the “Uma-no-se” area, one oasis expanding to about 5,430 m2 with a depth up to 1.4 m.

Human use, management and local relations

The dunes have long been subject to human intervention. From 1897 the area was used as a training ground by the Army’s 40th Infantry Regiment and remained largely undisturbed until after World War II. Local attitudes shifted in the 20th century: a 1927 local newspaper poll did not place the dunes among the county’s top scenic sites, and a postwar mayor described treeless sand areas as a shame for the prefecture. In response to postwar food shortages and the 1953 national law to promote agriculture on coastal sandy land, large-scale sand-control afforestation and development were undertaken.

Planting windbreak forests reduced moving sand in places but also altered the dune’s size and ecology; reconciling conservation and residents’ needs has involved reducing the extent of windbreaks in some areas. Historically, before large-scale planting, the dune area had been smaller and more wooded; past cutting of trees for charcoal and fuel for tatara ironworking is recorded as one cause of artificial dune expansion. In the 2000s hotter summers advanced dieback in windbreak stands, and sand has at times drifted to cover a road south of the dunes. The prefectural response has included replanting with Japanese black pine, though that species grows slowly and measures have lagged.

On the visitor side, the dunes’ entrance area has rest houses and souvenir shops, and camels and horses are kept near the entrance as part of sightseeing activities. The dunes are a frequent destination for school excursions and are used for hang gliding and paragliding, yoga, fat-biking and other outdoor activities. The slope of the dunes hosts sandboard events; the All-Japan Sandboard Championship and related experience sessions are held there. On summer nights the lights of squid-fishing boats on the sea are a seasonal sight.

Research, plants and animals

Dune-specific plants and animals are a focus of research and conservation. Authorities list 16 dune plants of special interest including species such as hamagou, nekonoshita, hamabenogiku and hamahirugao; animal life includes earwigs and antlions, among others. The spread of invasive or opportunistic weeds has reduced the area available to those characteristic dune plants, and active weeding is carried out to protect both scenery and ecosystem. Tottori University manages the dunes as a joint-use research facility: its agricultural faculty and other researchers use the dunes for studies such as desert greening, and that research experience has been applied to greening work in parts of China.

Events, culture and high-profile incidents

The dunes host cultural and seasonal events. The Sand Museum, the world’s first museum specialising in sand sculpture, holds an annual exhibition with a changing theme. A light-art fair runs from late October through January, though one early proposal for a 7,000-m light tree was cancelled after experts raised concerns about ecological and landscape impacts. The dunes have also been used as a filming location to represent overseas deserts in TV dramas and commercials.

The site has been the subject of repeated vandalism incidents: high-profile cases in the 2000s prompted the Environment Ministry to issue admonitions, and in 2009 Tottori introduced a local ordinance to protect the dunes; it took effect on 1 April 2009 and makes graffiti subject to a fine of up to 50,000 yen. Despite the ordinance, graffiti and other illegal markings have continued on occasion.

A notable archaeological finding occurred in 2011 when a local resident found human remains on the dunes’ west side. Police excavation recovered four skeletons 30–40 cm beneath the sand, aligned with their heads to the west; the site was about 1.5 km west of the usual tourist area. Medical examination by Tottori University’s medical faculty dated the bones to the late Edo to early Meiji periods: three adults aged about 30–40 (male and female) and one male estimated 20–50. No sign of a criminal incident was found; authorities judged they were likely interments associated with a maritime accident, while a local physician and local historian suggested a possible link to a cholera outbreak recorded in 1886.

FAQ

How large are the dunes?

They extend 2.4 km north–south and 16 km east–west.

What official protections does the site have?

It was designated a Natural Monument in 1955 and was selected for Japan's geology 100 in 2007; it lies in a special-protection area of San'in Kaigan National Park.

What distinctive landforms will I see on the dunes?

Bowl-shaped depressions called suribachi, wind-formed ripples, and sometimes groundwater-fed oases; the maximum height difference can reach 90 m and the largest suribachi about 40 m.

Are there dune plants and wildlife being studied?

Yes; 16 dune plant species are noted and animals such as earwigs and antlions are recorded, and Tottori University uses the dunes for ecological and greening research.