Shosenkyo is famous as a beautiful valley that anyone can easily walk and enjoy, but Ryumonkyo is also a valley where you can enjoy outdoor activities such as going down to the bottom of the gorge or climbing up a ladder. The ground underfoot is soft and fluffy with fallen leaves, and there are wooden paths that make it easy to walk. However, the valley is deep, there are waterfalls everywhere, and there are wooden bridges that have been washed away by rapids.
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Along the way, there is a place where you can hear a drum-like sound when you step on it. Apparently, this is because there are many gaps in the roots of the trees in the soil. In addition to this, the 1 hour and 15 minute promenade is full of changes, such as a narrow gate made of huge stones piled up, and a zelkova tree that stretches out by splitting the stone in half.
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Ryumonkyo walking map @source: Koshu city HP
Unlike the Ojira River Valley map, the map does not lie about the time required. Finally, after seeing Kumo no Abyss, which is full of water, we climb steeply and arrive at our next destination, the entrance to Tenmokuzan Seiunji Temple with the view of the head of Mt.Fuji.
Kumo no Abyss at Ryumon GorgeHead of Mt. Fuji arriving at seiunji templeGo back to itinerary
There are three parking lots along the 5km promenade. There is also a bus stop at each parking lot, which connects these parking lots once almost every hour, so it is convenient because you can walk one way and then use the bus to return to the parking lot.
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As you climb the gentle promenade, you will see one after another of strangely shaped rocks carved out of granite by rapids. The amount of water is huge, and large rocks that appear to have fallen in chunks are scattered along the mountain stream. The scenery looks like something out of a Chinese ink painting. And at the end, there is a waterfall that falls violently vertically.
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Yamanashi Prefecture has long been famous as a crystal production area. It is said that since the Jomon period it was used as an arrowhead instead of the precious obsidian mined in nearby Suwa, so in retrospect, it is quite expensive, so I hesitate to shoot it carelessly with a bow. Quartz is formed when silicon dioxide dissolved in water gradually crystallizes under high temperature and pressure underground for a long time. At a souvenir shop, a stone cut in half (a geode) is on display, and you can see how the cavity is filled with crystals that have grown. It was strange that it was inside the stone, but I heard from the man at the crystal processing craft shop that it was the result of water containing silicon dioxide entering granite or igneous rock and gradually growing crystals. That made sense to me.
shosenkyo stone (1) tiger eye
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I was completely taken in by the store owner, and in the end I was forced to buy a bracelet made of terahertz stone, which was made by melting and alloying crystals. It is said that the power stone activates the body with terahertz. However, when I got home and put it on ice, I was surprised to see that the ice quickly melted into the shape of a bracelet. By the way, if you buy some tourmaline and add it to your tap water, it will remove the chlorine odor and make the water mellow, which will make the coffee you brew delicious.
The name of the valley is “Akasai Valley”. It is usually read as “Akanishi”, but this is the Kansai way of reading it. I happened to see a website that said “Oirase Valley in the west,” but I think the people of Tohoku might have hurt their pride by saying something outrageous (⇒ see a trip on Oirase Valley).
The above is Oirase valley resemble to Akasai valley, simiar to Oirase valley?
I had a suspicion that I had never heard of a valley comparable to Oirase Valley, so I thought I had been fooled and wanted to check it out, so I decided to make this my main purpose for this trip.
akasai valley map
The valley is located on the border with Tottori Prefecture, making it difficult to reach. Moreover, cars are not allowed inside the valley, so you will need to rent an e-mountain bike at a nearby roadside station. However, this is cheap at 1000 yen for 2 hours. After being thoroughly instructed on the functions of the bike by a kind clerk (Listen carefully as this will be important later), we set off. After getting used to the controls on the first paved road, we finally headed out onto the gravel road in the valley. If you get stuck in a rut and try to force your way out, there is a risk that the handle will be grabbed and you will fall. Come to think of it, if one person gets hurt and can’t move, the other one should abandon him and come back to the roadside station to inform the emargency. In other words, there is no cell phone service in the valley.
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The road along the valley used to run on a forest railway used to transport lumber, so there are no steep slopes, and the valley runs along the road all the way, so you can enjoy forest bathing while looking out at the valley as you head deeper into the valley. I thought the water would be murky because of the heavy rain that came in the linear precipitation belt early in the morning, but the clear water was flowing down between the moss-covered rocks of various sizes. Ah, this feeling definitely reminds me of Oirase Valley. As I went deeper, that belief became more and more certain.
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akasai valley (14)batterfly
Along the way, you will also see the scenery that was used as the title back for the NHK historical drama “Gunshi Kanbei,” who was a tactician for Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Even though it was a hot summer, I was able to get to the place where I could ride my bike in the natural air conditioning of the forest within an hour without meeting anyone. I was able to enjoy a rich time. I brought a bear bell just in case, but no bears have been spotted in this valley yet. In autumn, the entire area could be covered with autumn leaves.
The return trip is downhill, although the slope is small, so be careful and brake only on the rear wheels. I was so fascinated by the Oirase Valley that I almost slipped and fell twice. The water from the valley is the drinking water for the city and the brewing water for sake breweries.
For backpackers coming from Sendai, I recommend getting off at the next station, Nakayama-daira Onsen, instead of Naruko Onsen Station (2.5 hours by JR from Sendai). The reason for this is that you can briefly glimpse the core of Naruko Gorge that you are about to see between the tunnels passing through the gorge, and the walk from the station to Naruko Gorge is short (about 30 minutes) and there is a flat footpath.
naruko gorge from train (2)
However, as soon as you get off the train, you’ll see a quiet village that makes you wonder if you’ve made a mistake. On the way to Naruko Gorge, you can see the steam rising from the hot spring village where the hot springs are gentle on the skin. You can stop by on your way home.
walk from nakayamadaira station (1) hotspring
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walk from nakayamadaira station (6)
Naruko Gorge suddenly appears at the end of the pine forest. When viewed from the top of a steep cliff, it looks like a series of folding screens of autumn leaves.
not just naruko cover photo
naruko gorge view point (1) left
naruko gorge view point (2) center
naruko gorge view point (3) right
naruko gorge upper (4)
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naruko gorge upper (2) train
In the gorge at the bottom right, you can clearly see the railroad tracks that the train passed through earlier. Many photographers are ready to take pictures of the train coming out of the tunnel exit on the cliff covered in autumn leaves.
Feeling depressed about the prospect of climbing back up, I descended from the steep cliff for 15 minutes and arrived at the deepest part of the gorge surrounded by cliffs covered in autumn leaves (Kaiko Bridge).
naruko gorge deepest part (9)
naruko gorge deepest part (1)
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Returning to the top of the cliff, you can see the deep meandering of the Otani River, which created Naruko Gorge, from the midway point of Ohfukasawa Bridge, which is located directly above the Kaiko Bridge.
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (1) panoramic view
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (2) left
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (3) left
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (4)
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naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (7)
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (8) directly below
naruko gorge from ohfukasawa bridge (9) right
Beyond that bridge is the entrance to a quiet road that Edo period haiku poet Matsuo Basho wrote about in his travelogue on Oku no Hosomichi (about 45 minutes on the Ohfukasawa Promenade). There is “Shitomae barrier for defense” nearby.
ohfukasawa promenade (1)
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“Shitomae barrier for defense”
The literal translation of the Japanese word naruko into English is a crying child. There is a theory that Naruko was named after the cry of a child that Minamoto no Yoshitsune’s wife gave birth to while he was on his way to Hiraizumi, and that the place was named “Shitomae barrier for defense” because the child urinated there for the first time.
Basho is said to have been suspicious of this barrier official when he was leaving for Yamagata, and he also wrote a poem in which he woke up to a horse urinating on his bedside in the stable of a private house where he was staying in the constant rain. However, it is said that this is just an exaggeration since they probably won’t be able to sleep in the stables. When I read that haiku for the first time, I believed it with all my heart.
