The blessings of volcanoes
that have nurtured life

Mt. Ryugan is a peculiar rock with huge, ragged peaks that reach up to the sky and overlap like waves. Located at the summit are the ruins of Iwami Castle, one of the mountain castles that guarded the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine. This rock is the part of a volcanic conduit where magma split the ground and rose up when the volcano erupted about 15 million years ago. When the magma stretched out and hardened in the direction it was rising, streaks called “flows” were formed, and as weathering progressed along these streaks, these shapes that stretch up toward the sky were created. The rock has several holes formed by weathering, the insides of which are a reddish color, likely due to deposits of iron oxide sediment, which makes them look like dragons' mouths. The largest rock wall is covered with trumpet vine, which is one of the city's natural monuments, and you can see vermilion flowers in the summer and vivid red leaves in late autumn.