The Eight Scenic Views of the Hirado Domain (the Hirado Hakkei): Kogan, Senryusui, Ishibashi, Daihikan, Iwayagu, Fukuishisan and Shionome

Takaiwa — The Towering Cliff

Located in Ehigashi, Takaiwa is a near-vertical sandstone wall that rises like a folding screen above the Emukae River. The geology dates back roughly 18 million years to the Sasebo Group's Fukui Formation. In Lord Hiromu's day, the cliff was crowned with ancient pines, and the old Hirado Highway ran directly between the cliff and the river. The path has since been moved to the opposite bank due to repeated rockfalls, but the imposing presence of the cliff remains powerful, especially when viewed against a clear blue sky.

Senryūsui — The Hidden Dragon Waterfall

Senryūsui is the most spiritually charged of the eight sites. Located on the upper Emukae River within Senryūgataki Park, this approximately 21-meter basalt waterfall splits at the top into two streams known as the Otaki (male falls) and Medaki (female falls). The plunge pool below measures roughly 25 meters by 15 meters and reaches about 6 meters deep, holding strikingly cobalt-blue water.

In 1829, while inspecting his domain, Lord Hiromu witnessed a moment when the rising spray seemed to take the form of a dragon's head emerging from the pool. Profoundly moved, he named the falls "Senryū" (Hidden Dragon) and declared the entire surrounding area a sacred precinct. He installed stone walls, stone gates, and bronze doors as boundaries, and erected stone pillars inscribed "no footwear" to enforce reverence. A stone torii gate bearing a "Ryūmon" (Dragon Gate) plaque dated 1830 still stands today, alongside a pair of stone lanterns from 1831. Practitioners of mountain asceticism still perform water austerities here.

Ishibashi — The Natural Stone Bridge

In Yoshii Town stands one of the most photogenic features of the entire ensemble: a pair of natural stone bridges formed when the roof of an ancient sea cave partially collapsed. The remaining arches stretch about 27 meters long, 4 meters thick, and rise 20 meters above the ground. Local legend tells that the monk Gyōki carved a Kannon image from a glowing piece of driftwood found in Sasebo Bay, and the resulting statue is now enshrined at Ohashi Kannon-ji at the foot of the bridges. The forested grounds are also designated a National Natural Monument for their fern colonies, and the area is a celebrated spot for autumn foliage.

Daihikan — The Great Compassion Cliff

In Kosaza-chō Kosaka, a 22-meter sandstone monolith rises like a fortress from the surrounding landscape. Carved into its vertical face are the three immense characters "大悲観" (Daihikan, "Great Compassionate View"), each one large enough that a single character is said to hold the volume of one bag of rice. The calligraphy was executed in clerical script under Lord Hiromu's own brush.

The story behind these characters is touching. Hiromu had dreamed of climbing the cliff to see the legendary view from its summit, but his retainers persuaded him not to make the dangerous ascent. In place of the climb, he had these enormous characters carved as an offering to the bodhisattva Kannon — the deity of great compassion — so that anyone who looked up at the cliff might receive the bodhisattva's blessing. A bronze statue of Kannon was later installed below the inscription. Smaller cliff-face Buddhas (magaibutsu) and stone pagodas at the cliff's base mark this as a sacred site for centuries.

Iwayagū — The Sea Cave Shrine

Located in Takanashi-chō, Iwayagū is a sea-eroded cave roughly 10 meters wide, 10 meters deep, and 20 meters long. Today it is more commonly known as Susa Shrine — said to be the oldest shrine in Sasebo — and it served as a site of worship as far back as the Sengoku period. Records indicate that Matsura Shigenobu, an earlier lord, prayed here for victory before the Korean campaigns of the 1590s. After World War II, families displaced by air raids took refuge in the cave, and a worship hall was built around 1955 to seal the entrance and protect the sacred interior.

Fukuishiyama — The Cavern of Five Hundred Disciples

At the western edge of Fukuishi Kannon (Seigan-ji) temple grounds opens an immense sandstone cave: roughly 60 meters wide, 4 meters high, and 5 meters deep, formed by water erosion over countless millennia. According to tradition, in the early 9th century, the great priest Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) installed five hundred Rakan (arhat) statues here in honor of the earlier monk Gyōki. Many statues were lost over the centuries, but the ninth Hirado lord, Matsura Kiyoshi, restored the collection in 1788. Today, 142 stone arhats remain — a deeply atmospheric assembly of stone faces watching from the shadows. Fukuishi Kannon itself enshrines an Eleven-Faced Kannon, counted among the Seven Kannon of Kyushu.

Shionome — The Rushing Strait

The eighth wonder is unlike the others — not a rock formation or waterfall, but a tidal phenomenon. Shionome is the narrow strait connecting Sasebo Bay to Ōmura Bay at the town of Haiki, approximately 10 meters wide at its narrowest point. Tidal differences between the two bays produce a powerful, churning current. The 8th-century "Hizen no Kuni Fudoki" describes the sound of the rushing waters as resembling thunder, and the place name Haiki itself derives from the ancient term "Hayaki" (swift coming) used in this passage. Today the strait is crossed by an iconic bridge and hosts a popular handmade-raft race in summer.