Atago Forest Preservation Association

At the back approach of Atago Shrine, next to the torii gate at the foot of Sakurazaka, which passes in front of Kannon Denji Temple, there is a sandstone dent that is said to have been eroded by the waves, and it was once washed by the waves of the sea. It is explained as proof. However, recent studies have shown that Atago has never been an "island," and that it has always been land, even if it may have been a tidal flat. Even if it was not washed by the waves, it may have been formed by "cloud-shaped erosion" due to the action of salt. It is a weathering action called "tafoni" in earth science terms, and it is a phenomenon that is not directly related to sea erosion.

This rock depression is named "Snake Rock" because of its appearance, but it is written as "Snake Stone" on the map of the Japanese Imperial Land Survey (predecessor of the Geographical Survey Institute), and in ancient times it was called "Wave Stone" in the local area. I did. It is thought that such terrain existed in other places at the foot of Mt. Atago, but it is now left only in this place due to the mining of "Meinohama stone" as a stone material. Some stones used as stone materials sometimes have erosion marks.

The legend of the tragic love that can be said to be Atago version Romeo and Juliet is told in this snake rock.

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