South Miyazaki · Nichinan CoastNo.1235★★Open in map →
Sun Messe Nichinan
— A clifftop park on the Nichinan coast
A private park on a headland of the Nichinan coast, built around a row of full-size moai that Rapa Nui itself approved. The statues stand on a stone platform at the seaward edge of the grounds, with nothing but the Pacific behind them.
- FromMiyazaki Station
- ~1 h 20 minMiyazaki Kotsu bus 965, direct
- Get off atSun Messe Nichinan (Miyazaki Kotsu bus 965)
- On foot
- Sun Messe Nichinan
The sweet spot
Nothing about this place is hidden. It is signposted on the coast road and folded into most Nichinan itineraries. What varies is the sky. The row only works against open ocean, so a clear morning is worth planning for, and because the park keeps fixed opening hours everyone tends to arrive inside the same window.
Where it is
18 more notes in Miyazaki · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Moai Plazathe row of moai on a stone platform above the sea, each about 5.5 metres tall and 18 to 20 tonnes
- UNESCO World Heritage panels43 panels set around the plaza, shown with permission from the UNESCO office in Paris
- The lookout on the upper terracesgrass slopes above the plaza with a wide view along the Nichinan coastline
- Bell of Earth Gratitudea sanukite bell at the highest point of the park, ringed by stone pillars carved with messages from religious groups
How to actually get there
- Miyazaki Station West Exit, stand 1 → Sun Messe Nichinan stop (Miyazaki Kotsu bus 965 bound for Obi, about 1 hour 20 minutes).
- Walk in from Route 220 along the access road to the entrance building and buy a ticket.
- Entrance → Moai Plaza and the World Heritage panels → the lookout on the upper terraces → the bell at the top.
- Miyazaki Kotsu bus 965, direct from Miyazaki Station
- Miyazaki Station West Exit, stand 1 →(Miyazaki Kotsu bus 965 bound for Obi, about 1 hour 20 minutes)→ Sun Messe Nichinan stop on Route 220. The same service runs from Miyazaki Airport and from Aoshima, so you can pick it up partway down the coast. Buy the park ticket at the entrance, not on the bus.
- Return from the Sun Messe Nichinan stop
- The 965 runs back towards Miyazaki Station from the stop on the opposite side of Route 220. Services are not frequent along this stretch of coast, so photograph the posted timetable when you arrive rather than after the park closes. Southbound the same route continues to Obi if you are carrying on down the coast.
About the place
Sun Messe Nichinan covers about 20 hectares of headland on the Nichinan coast, south of Miyazaki city. Seven moai stand on a stone platform near the seaward edge of the grounds, with the Pacific filling the horizon behind them. They are licensed copies of Ahu Akivi on Rapa Nui, carved in Japan under permission from the island itself. The rest of the park climbs behind them in grass terraces, past a lookout and a set of brightly painted figures to a bell at the top. This is a private park with a gate and a ticket rather than a free roadside viewpoint, and the whole layout is built around one idea, gratitude to the earth.
How to enjoy it
Doors open at 9:30 and the official site lists last entry at 16:30, so arriving in the morning leaves time to walk up rather than ride. Start at the Moai Plaza while the light is still low on the water, then climb through the terraces to the bell at the top. A round car runs to the upper level if the slope is too much, and on wet days a shuttle bus takes its place.
Background & history
On Rapa Nui the moai of Ahu Akivi stand inland on a hillside, apart from the rows that face the island coast. In the 1990s a Japanese committee formed by the crane maker Tadano, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and the stonemason Katsuji Sano worked with Chilean researchers to lift the fifteen fallen moai of Ahu Tongariki back onto their platform. In return the Rapa Nui elders council granted the first permission ever given to reproduce moai outside the island. The figures on this headland were carved under that permission, which is why the park calls them a full reproduction rather than an imitation.
Before you go
- Cash
- This is a privately run park and a ticket is bought at the entrance, so check the current rates on the official site before you set out. The car park holds 220 vehicles and is free. Bring cash for the bus, which is separate from the park.
- Before you go
- The official site lists Wednesday as the regular closing day, with exceptions around public holidays and the busy seasons, and last entry half an hour before closing. The grounds are an exposed coastal slope with little shelter, so wind and rain are felt more here than inland.
- Another way
- The 965 also runs from Miyazaki Airport, which by car is about 40 minutes from the park. Driving is the common way to arrive, since the site sits on the coast road between Aoshima and Obi with other stops on the same run.
- After you get off
- The stop is on Route 220 at the northern edge of the grounds, a signposted roadside pair of poles. Walk in along the access road to the entrance building, a few minutes on foot, and start the climb from there.