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［Last updated: August 4, 2022］
The city of Hakui in Ishikawa Prefecture is not your average tourist destination. Famous for UFO sightings, it’s made the news in recent years for a new reason: its so-called “JoJo stones,” which have become the talk of the internet. Today, we’ll take you on a virtual trip to Hakui for a delightfully bizarre sightseeing adventure.

The Truth Is Out There?

Hakui has been promoting itself as “UFO city,” thanks to the numerous reported sighting of curious flying objects within its borders. The city has even gone so far as to build a space museum, Cosmo Isle Hakui, with the official cooperation of NASA. Outer space enthusiasts—including many fans of the manga Space Brothers—flock to the museum, which counts one of Japan’s foremost ufologists as its curator emeritus.
Cosmo Isle Hakui:http://www.hakui.ne.jp/ufo/

Strike Your Best Pose

Step out into the plaza at JR Hakui station and you’ll find five curious sculptures depicting the onomatopoeic sound effects found in Japanese manga. These have come to be known as the “JoJo stones,” with fans of the manga and anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure traveling from far and wide to take pictures of themselves striking the trademark poses from the series. It’s a truly unique destination for the most devoted and discerning of manga fans.

These JoJo stones are, in fact, the work of Hiroshi Mabuchi, a sculptor and graduate of the Kanazawa College of Art, and were placed in their current location at the direction of the Hakui Station Shopping Arcade Cooperative. Clearly, there are many people in the world today who share this unique sense of aesthetics. If you’re a JoJo fan as well, why not take a trip to Hakui and snap a picture of yourself striking your best JoJo pose for all the internet to enjoy?

Still More Wonders Await

But wait! There’s more to Hakui than just UFOs and JoJo stones. The Chirihama Beach Driveway is the only place in Japan where you can drive a car on the sand at surf’s edge. Keta Taisha is a beautiful shrine popular among female visitors for bringing them luck in love. The temples of Myojoji, Yokoji, and Buzaiin, as well as the Hakui Municipal History and Folk Museum (Hakui Rekishi Mizoku Shiryokan) house countless historical treasures.

What makes Hakui such a compelling destination for so many tourists? We asked Ms. Akemi Okada from the Hakui Tourism Association for her thoughts.

“Reports of a mysterious phenomenon called ‘sohachibon’(*1) can be found in the records at Keta Taisha dating back to the Edo Period (1603-1868). We believe that the perception of Hakui as a home for UFOs dates back to this time. We also get see many fans of literature come to Hakui to visit the grave of Shinobu Orikuchi(*2). From historical treasures to the JoJo stones, Hakui seems to have something for the most obsessive fans of just about everything,” Ms. Okada said with a laugh.

One thing is clear: the city of Hakui is simply overflowing with subculture and eccentric appeal. If this sounds up your alley, why not take a trip there and experience a bizarre adventure of your very own?

*1 The term sohachibon originally referred to a traditional musical instrument resembling a cymbal that was used in Buddhist rites. The term was then applied to strange glowing lights seen floating in the sky—the UFOs of the Edo Period.
*2 Shinobu Orikuchi (1887-1953) was a renowned Japanese folklorist, literary figure, linguist, and poet.

*This article was originally posted on April 16, 2015.

Translation: Jon Machida