Desert landscape architecture8/8/2023 ![]() ![]() The dunes bring in millions each year in tourism earnings, but there’s a catch: they’re shrinking. Tourists can visit a Sand Museum, go sandboarding and ride camels. Today, the dunes are a central fixture of Tottori prefecture’s tourism industry, hosting an average of 1.2 million visitors per year. The dunes were relatively unknown to those outside of Tottori until 1923, when they made their way into the writings of famed Japanese author Takeo Arishima, which sparked their ascent to a tourism hotspot. Over the centuries, wind and currents moved the sand back onto the shore. The dunes were formed over the course of 100,000 years, as sand transported from the nearby Chūgoku Mountains via the Sendai River was deposited into the Sea of Japan. Osaka is about 200 km (124 miles) away Hiroshima is 300 km (186) miles in the other direction. Tottori is Japan’s least populous prefecture. The Tottori dunes are located on the western coast of Honshu, Japan’s largest and most populous island. They’ve been around for thousands of years, but are slowly disappearing – not because of climate change, but because of the community’s efforts to protect the planet. The dunes extend 16 kilometers (10 miles) across the coast, with their tallest peaks jutting over 45 meters (150 feet) high. But these are the Tottori Sand Dunes, wedged along the coast of Japan’s sparsely populated San’in region, the country’s very own slice of desert. You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d landed in the Middle East. ![]() From the base of the desert’s tallest dune, a bright blue sky peeks out from beyond the vast expanse. Sprawling heaps of golden grains of sand rise in peaks toward the hot sun. ![]()
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