Futamiura is a delta form at the inlet of Ise Bay located 300 km southwest of Tokyo where the Isuzu River enters the bay. It is part of Ise-Shima National Park and has been selected as one of Japan’s 100 best beaches. Known as the Wedded Rocks, two rocks in the bay are tied together by a ceremonial rope of entwined and twisted rice straw to mark off this sacred area.
Geographic Overview
The entire stretch of coast in Mie Prefecture along Ise Bay on the Shima Peninsula is an area of scenic beauty that has been designated the Ise-Shima National Park. The coastline here consists of an intricate pattern of inlets and islands and offers magnificent views.
Sand Location
See where this sand sample was collected on Google Maps.
Virtual Sand Tour
Explore an interactive map of Futamiura Ise on Google Earth.
Sand Gallery
This sample of sharp-edged geological sand grains includes off white quartz, yellow feldspar, reddish-brown grains, tan and greenish grains that are probably a variety of quartz common on this beach, and black grains that are a form of basalt. A large white mollusk shell fragment with subtle parallel grooves is a sole representative of a biogenic sand grain.
A mixture of clear, translucent white, yellow and tan sand grains represent of spectrum of quartz and feldspar grains with some lighter colored grains containing black inclusions. The more solid black grains are likely basalt. A white rectangular shell fragment at the left edge stands out as the single representative of a biogenic sand grain.
Beach sand includes a mixture of very small rough-edged terrestrial sand grains including opaque quartz, tan feldspar and black basalt. Many quartz grains contain black inclusions. A double triangular large mollusk fragment with smooth edges presents a solitary biogenic sand grain in this primarily geological beach sand.
This low magnification features a spectrum of relatively small sand grains including off white quartz, pale yellow feldspar, a mixture of gray and greenish grains, and black basalt grains. At least 4 relatively larger grains include a shell fragment with parallel tan linear stripes at the bottom to the left of center, a red and tan mollusk fragment in the center, a white shell fragment partly covered by a yellow feldspar grain, and a large triangular greenish gray fragment, presumably a piece of mollusk shell, toward the middle right edge.
This higher magnification of a portion of Figure 4 features the large red and tan mollusk fragment to the right of center. More detail of the various geological sand grains shows black inclusions in many of the quartz grains.