Kinosaki城崎（きのさき）温泉

A basaltic rock mass that measures 70 meters across by 35 meters high, with a historic hot spring resort.

Kinosaki is situated in northern Hyogo and has the Kinosaki-onsen Hot Spring Resort spreading along the Otani-gawa River branching off from the Maruyama-gawa River. Legend has it that the place was found in the 8th century by Dochi-shonin, a Buddhist saint. It is lined with community bathhouses, such as Ko-no-yu (hot spring of stork) that the legend says was used by storks to heal wounds, Sato-no-yu, Ichi-no-yu and Jizo-yu. The name Kinosaki became known all over the country when it appeared in a novel "Kinosaki Nite" (At Kinosaki) by Naoya Shiga, a famous novelist in the early 20th century.

The Kinosaki Hot Spring Resort was once a spa called Tajima-no-yu. Since more hot springs were found in 1950's, the area has grown to be a new sightseeing and health spot in and around the Hanshin (Osaka-Kobe) district. At Onsen-ji Station of the Kinosaki-onsen Ropeway is the Onsen-ji Temple believed to have been erected by Dochi-shonin, in which the standing images of Eleven-Faced Kan'non (Goddess of Mercy) and Eleven-Faced Thousand-Handed Kan'non are enshrined.

In the neighborhood of the Onsen-ji Temple, a basaltic mass formed of hardened lava lies 70 meters across and 35 meters high, in which a basaltic cave opens its mouth and draws many viewers at all time together with Byakko-do (white tiger cave) and Seiryu-do (blue dragon cave) nearby.