Ajigaura

This bathing beach is located in Hitachinaka city, in central Ibaraki prefecture. It is on the northern side of the Naka Plateau, which juts out into the Pacific Ocean, and in a slight inlet is the fishing port of Isozaki, a scenic spot that continues on to the sand dunes of Tokai village. At the tip of the plateau is a washboard-shaped reef that is a prefectural natural monument as a strata of the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era. The name of the beach comes from the fact that the surface of one of these rocks, called Gomadanishi, resembles the character "A", which is how the rock got its name. The clear water and shallow depths make this the number one bathing beach in northern Kanto. The area produces sweet potatoes, and dried potatoes are a specialty. The Minato Line of the Hitachinaka Seaside Railway runs from Katsuta to this point, and it is the terminus of that line.

[Akitoshi Sakurai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

茨城県中央部、ひたちなか市にある海水浴場。那珂台地が太平洋に突き出た北側で、わずかに湾入して磯崎(いそざき)の漁港があり、東海村の砂丘に続く景勝地。台地先端は洗濯板状の岩礁で、中生代白亜紀層の地層として県天然記念物となっている。このなかの護摩壇石(ごまだんいし)といわれる岩石の表面が阿の字に似ているところから地名が出たという。水が清く遠浅なので北関東第一の海水浴場となる。付近はサツマイモを産し乾燥イモは名産。勝田からひたちなか海浜鉄道湊線が通じ、その終点。

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