Iki Island

Sakyo-hana is located almost at the tip of the Yawata Peninsula on the east coast. It is one of Iki's most famous scenic spots, and the view of the cliffs stretching for about 1 km is a spectacular sight. The strangely shaped rocks, which look like a series of thin pillars jutting out of the sea, are called Kannon-bashira, and according to legend, they are one of eight pillars built to prevent the island from being washed away. The basalt is formed into columnar joints, and although it looks beautiful as if it were covered in snow, this is actually the droppings of cormorants. This is also a beautiful sculpture created by nature. There is a surviving biography that tells of a prolonged drought in the early Edo period, when the onmyoji Goto Sakyo and others prayed for rain at this place, heavy rain began to fall, and the villagers were saved.