Tanesashi Coast

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

TanesashiKabushimablack-tailed gullsHachinohecoastal trail

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

The unusual thing about Tanesashi is that the grass runs to the rocks. Natural turf — grazed by horses for centuries, which is why it is turf and not scrub — comes right down to the shoreline and stops at the tide line, so that you walk out of a meadow onto black rock with the Pacific in front of you. There is nothing else quite like it on the Japanese coast, and it is part of the Sanriku Fukko National Park.

At the northern end sits Kabushima, formerly an island and now joined to the shore, which is a designated national natural monument for a specific reason: it is a black-tailed gull breeding colony, some thirty thousand birds, nesting on the ground around a shrine, at head height, without any regard for the people walking through them. From February to August the noise is continuous. Umbrellas are provided, and you should use one.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Coast open at all times | Information centre keeps daytime hours

Closed: Open year-round

Entrance Fee

Free

Best Season

February–August for the gull colony | May–October for the grassland and walking

Visit Duration

2–3 hours for the coast walk | 1 hour for Kabushima alone

Getting There

Access Information

Same-machi and Tanesashi, Hachinohe. Tanesashi-Kaigan Station on the JR Hachinohe Line is about 2 minutes from the Tanesashi Coast Information Center by the Umineko-go sightseeing bus, or a short walk. Kabushima is near Same Station on the same line. Free to visit. The Yodo pine grove trail runs about 1.5 km, roughly 30–40 minutes, south to the natural grassland.

Insider Guide

Premium

**February to August is the gull season, and it is intense.** Around thirty thousand black-tailed gulls nest on the ground at Kabushima and they will not move for you. Free umbrellas are provided at the shrine for the obvious reason. Take one. **Walk the coast, do not just stop at one point.** The Michinoku Coastal Trail runs the whole shore, and the section between the Yodo pine grove and the Tanesashi grassland is about 1.5 km and takes half an hour. **Sit on the grass.** The natural turf reaching the shoreline is what makes this coast different, and locals treat it as a place to lie down, picnic and do nothing. That is the correct use. **The Umineko-go bus links it up.** The sightseeing bus connects Kabushima, the information centre and the grassland, which removes the need for a car along a long shoreline. **Eat at the morning market first.** The Sunday market at Tatehana wharf is twenty minutes away and finishes at nine, which pairs neatly with a morning on the coast.

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