South Miyazaki · NichinanNo.536★★★Open in map →
Udo Jingu
— A shrine built inside a sea cave
A shrine on the Nichinan coast whose vermilion main hall stands inside a sea cave in the cliff. You reach it by descending stone steps cut along the rock face, with the surf breaking below. Entry is free.
- FromMiyazaki Station
- ~1 h 30 minMiyazaki Kotsu coastal bus
- Get off atUdo Jingu bus stop (Miyazaki Kotsu)
- On foot
- Udo Jingu
Where it is
18 more notes in Miyazaki · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The romon gatea vermilion tower gate on the clifftop, where the descent begins
- The cliffside stepsstone stairs cut along the rock face, dropping toward the mouth of the cave
- The main hall in the caverna vermilion hall standing on the cave floor, directly above the breaking surf
- Ochichi-iwatwo rounded formations on the cave wall behind the hall, with water seeping from them
- Kameishi and the undamaa turtle-shaped rock below the hall with a hollow the luck balls are aimed at
How to actually get there
- Miyazaki Station → Udo Jingu stop (Miyazaki Kotsu route bus bound for Obi, about 1 h 30 min).
- Udo Jingu stop → shrine entrance (walk about 10 minutes through the cape tunnel).
- Pass the romon and take the stone steps down the cliff to the mouth of the cave.
- Visit the hall inside the cavern, then the Ochichi-iwa behind it and Kameishi below.
- Miyazaki Kotsu bus from Miyazaki Station
- Miyazaki Station →(Miyazaki Kotsu route bus bound for Obi, about 1 h 30 min)→ Udo Jingu stop, then about a 10-minute walk to the entrance. This is the one-seat option and it is a long ride down the coast, so take the earliest departure you can if you want the cave before the coach parties arrive.
- Return from the Udo Jingu stop
- The same coastal route runs back toward Miyazaki from the stop on the other side of the road. Buses along here are widely spaced, so photograph the timetable when you arrive rather than working it out afterwards. Missing one means a long wait with very little shelter.
About the place
Udo Jingu occupies a cave in the cliff of Cape Udo, on the stretch of the Nichinan coast running south from Miyazaki city. The approach reverses the usual shrine geometry. Past the tower gate the stone steps descend along the rock face, and the hall appears below you inside the cavern rather than above you at the head of a climb. Inside, the building is painted vermilion and stands on the cave floor, with the Hyuganada surf working the rocks at the mouth. The precinct itself is free to enter.
How to enjoy it
The gates open at 6:00 and close at 18:00, and the first hour is the one worth having. The cave opens east onto the Hyuganada, which is the direction the morning sun comes from. Buy the undama at the counter and throw for the hollow in Kameishi — men with the left hand, women with the right, as the shrine sets it.
Background & history
The principal deity is Ugayafukiaezu, and the shrine's tradition holds that the cave is his birthplace, which is why the hall sits inside the rock rather than on the headland above it. Successive lords of the Obi domain maintained and rebuilt the buildings through the Edo period, and the vermilion Gongen-zukuri hall standing there now comes out of that line of work. In 2017 the whole area around the shrine, cliff and coast together, was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty under the name Udo.
Before you go
- Cash
- Entry to the precinct is free. The undama and amulets are received at the counter, and cash is the safe assumption along this stretch of coast. Parking at the shrine is free, with room for a few hundred cars.
- Before you go
- Hours shift over the New Year period. The steps run along an exposed cliff and the cave mouth takes spray, so access is restricted in storms, and the Nichinan coast sits on the typhoon track. The real hazard here is wet stone rather than the height.
- Another way
- The shrine's own guidance splits the trip: take the JR Nichinan Line from Miyazaki to Ibii or Aburatsu, then change to a coastal route bus for the same stop. From Miyazaki Airport a route bus bound for Nichinan, Obi or Toi-misaki reaches the shrine in about 60 minutes. On foot, the old pilgrim path of Hatchozaka climbs from Fukeii port with 438 steps up and 377 down.
- After you get off
- From the Udo Jingu stop the road continues to the shrine entrance through the tunnel under Cape Udo. Beyond the entrance the romon stands at the high point of the site, and everything after it is a descent.