Kotohiki Park and Zenigata Sunae

Kotohiki Park is a scenic coastal park at Kanonji in western Kagawa, spread over a pine-covered hill and shoreline overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. It is a pleasant green space in its own right — a designated Place of Scenic Beauty with walking paths, cherry trees, sea views and an old shrine — but its claim to fame is one of Japan's most unusual landmarks: the Zenigata Sunae, a colossal coin sculpted into the sand of the beach below.

The Zenigata Sunae is an enormous representation of an Edo-period coin, the Kan'ei Tsuho, carved as a great trench-and-ridge design into the flat sand of the bay. Measuring roughly 120 metres across and several hundred metres in circumference, it is far too large to make sense from ground level, where it appears merely as puzzling ridges of sand; only from the hilltop observation deck in Kotohiki Park does it resolve into a perfect, legible coin. According to local tradition it was created in 1633 by the townspeople to honour a visiting feudal lord, and it has been lovingly maintained and periodically re-raked by the community ever since. A charming legend promises that anyone who gazes upon the coin will be blessed with health, longevity and freedom from money worries — a happy thought that draws visitors up to the viewpoint.

The park around it is a lovely destination too. Wind-sculpted black pines cover the hill, framing views out over the sea and the coin, and in spring the cherry trees make Kotohiki a popular hanami spot. Paths wind up to the observation deck and down to the shore, and the historic Kotohiki Hachimangu shrine adds a sense of age and calm. In the evening the coin is sometimes illuminated, and the hilltop is a fine place to watch the sun set over the Inland Sea.

Kotohiki Park rewards an unhurried hour or so: climb to the observation deck for the classic view of the Zenigata Sunae, wander the pine-shaded paths, visit the shrine and enjoy the sea panoramas. Interpretive signs explain the coin's history and the traditions attached to it. Because it is an open park, facilities are simple but adequate, with restrooms, parking and a viewpoint, and it never feels crowded outside the cherry-blossom peak.

Getting there fits a western Kagawa itinerary. Kanonji Station on the JR Yosan Line is the nearest railhead, from which a short taxi or bus ride reaches the park; drivers will find parking near the viewpoint. Allow around an hour to take in the coin, the shrine and the sea views. Kotohiki Park combines superbly with the nearby 'mirror beach' of Chichibugahama and the island-studded viewpoint of Mount Shiude to make a full and varied day exploring the scenic Kanonji-Mitoyo coast, a quieter and often overlooked corner of Kagawa well worth the trip from Takamatsu.