On the way to Matsukawa Hot Spring village there is a local but famous attraction that tourists miss in the countryside.
Columnar joint with autumn colors decoration welcome you when getting off on the river. It is located on the east side across the river, so it would be better in the afternoon to take a photo of shining autumn colors with columnar joint under the sun. Near here the view from “the big bridge of forest ” is also recommended.
Surrounded by Mt.Hachimantai and Mt. Iwate, the Matsukawa basin is a countryside full of autumn colors. It is the best place to enjoy autumn in Tohoku.
Main tourist area is the flat top of Hachimantai mountains with alpine plants and panoramic view around the tourist road named Hachimantai Aspite Line. The mountains are volcano formed by lava with low viscosity. That is why the top is flat. > > read more about volcano story
The origin of the name is told to come from God of battle luck ‘Hachiman-sama’. ‘Hachiman’ is a symbolic icon related to ‘Genji’ that created the first samurai society in Japan.
There are many hot springs in Machimantai volcano. Matsukawa hot spring village, very attractive one of them, is located in the south of Hachimantai and it seems to be floating on the forest sea, especially autumn colors sea. The big truss structure bridge, 5 mins abover the village, has been left due to the cancelation of the traverse road construction plan reflecting natural environment movement and now it fortunately became a great view point !
Panorama View from the bridge (click photo)
panorama left
panorama center
panorama right
Left: toward the flat peak of Mt.Hachimantai
Center: Matsukawa valley (Matsukawa Hot Spring)
Right: toward Mt.Iwate
Matsukawa Hot Spring watching autumn colorsexplanation on the way
A walking tour with a guide (no charge) is held every morning at the hotel ‘Kyounso’ where we stayed at Matsukawa Hot Spring of Hachimantai. Extensive explanation and stories over one hour before breakfast made us feel rich nature of Hachimantai. The following stories, for example, are very attractive !
find water passage on the beech tree surface
<Story 1> (photo 14)
Each beech tree is stored 8-tone water under the ground through the mechanism of the shape of a leaf and water passage on a trunk . So landslide or wildfires do not occur in the beech forest, and they are naturally digested even if they are bonfired or left in the forest. It would be an overstatement to not extinguish the bonfire.
<Story2>
Why is the beech tree growing straight and thick, but not suitable for building materials? It has the property that it cannot grow easily because it is covered with bamboo grass when it is small, and it grows all at once when the bamboo grass dies in about 50 years. As a result, the beech grows straight and large, creating a genuine beech forest like the Shirakami Mountains. Therefore, the center of the annual ring is dense (that is, hard), and the outside of the annual ring is sparse (that is, soft), so it is not suitable as a building material. It is the only building material used in the main hall of Yamadera, Rissyaku-Temple, in Yamagata Prefecture, so be sure to take a closer look before heading to the summit if you go there.
walking 9 Mori-Utsuri
<Story3> (photo 9)
The raw material for Japanese paper is said to be Kozo-mitsumata, but glue is required to bond the fibers. It can be collected from the tree “Nori Utsuri”(see photo 9 below), as the name literary “glue transfer”.
walking 10 Kuromoji
<Story4> (photo 10)
The “Kuro-moji” tree (see photo 10 below) is a material for high-class toothpicks used when eating Japanese sweets in the tea ceremony. Kuro-moji tree is a relaxing fragrant tree and is said to relieve the tension of the tea ceremony.
<Story 5> (photo 13)
A maple designed for Canadian flag colors the forest as autumn leaves. The size of leaves in Japan are small and the Japanese name ‘KAEDE’ came from a flog(‘KAERU’)’s hand(‘TE’), ‘KAEru-no-T(D)E’.
walking 17 Honoki
<Story6> (photo 17)
“Honoki” (see photo 17 below) is a material that is neither hard nor soft. Therefore, it is used as a material for cutting boards that do not lack the teeth of kitchen knives and clogs (wooden shoes) with good cushioning.
I was told a lot of plant names and useful stories, but I couldn’t remember them because of the capacity of my brain.
Is there something like this? Even thought it’s the highlight of the tourist spot ! But few tourists and the roof of trees as an umbrella made us refreshing.
oirase valley waterfall here and there
Surprisingly a few person walk* from Ishigedo to Choshi-Ohtaki for 4 hours. Walking road almost goes along the Oirase river and is flat like the flow. Let’s watch slowly calm flow and attractive waterfalls here and there. Choshi-Ohtaki(big waterfall) flown from Lake Towada welcome you at the goal. Coincidentally we saw the moment when part of the waterfall wall collapsed with explosive sound. I’m sure the wallrock broke along the columnar joints.
choshi big waterfall
*)You can pick up a bus almost every hour at several bus stops on the way. If you use a rental car, it would be difficult to find out your parking space at Ishigedo in high season, especially weekend.
At Ishigedo, the cup of coffee using Oirase flesh water after long walk was full of bliss !
Highlight from Ishigedo to Choshi-Ohtaki(click photo)
Many photographers visit Tsuta swamp for the bright red autumn leaves illuminated by the morning sun. Therefore, general vehicles are restricted from early morning except for the shuttle bus during this period. You’ll have to choose between booking the historical hotel near here or giving up on the relaxing breakfast at other hotels to get a shuttle bus. Fortunately or unfortunately, we enjoyed a calm and fresh walk in the light rain. The hotel will lend you an umbrella and boots.
tsuta swamp
tsuta swamp right
The bathtub of Tsuta Hot Spring is deep and is filled with overwhelming hot water. And don’t forget that there is a fresh hot spring right under the bathtub. You can directly receive the blessings of the earth with delicious dinner.
The origin of the name Hakkoda Mountains seems to be that there are many shell-shaped peaks and marshes. Therefore, it is a very complicated terrain. So the next tragedy may have been born.
What comes to mind at Hakkoda Mountains is the 1902 distress of 200 people during the snow march training of the Japanese Army. It seems preparing for the war against Russia. Meanwhile, another unit was also training at the same time, and it is said that it passed through the distress scene but was kept secret.
suiren swamp at hakkoda in autumn
Most travelers look at the rugs of autumn colors on the Hakkoda ropeway, but those who love the countryside want to immerse themselves in a quiet place. The route going through from Sukayu hot spring to Tsuta hot spring, which is opposite side of the distress, is one of my favorite driving roads. Stopping by at Suiren swamp is strongly recommended because Mt.Hakkoda mountains reflect on the surface of the swamp on a sunny day and in the silence, wild birds and toads ! (big frogs) echo their voices in the distance. Hell swamp with strong acid water near Sukayu hot spring, the photo of which is indicated on the top of this blog page, is also charming.
If you travel connecting Shirakami mountains and Hakkoda mountains or Lake Towada, going through Jougakura bridge is highly recommended especially in autumn season. The color around the bridge changes into red.
autumn leaves from bridge
You can walk on the bridge safely after parking at the edge of it. But strong winds on the bridge take away heat from the body.
center of bridge plate
Look down like a bird at the middle of the bridge ! Deep valley 122m below the bridge is trying to swallow you. The river is so acidic that no fish can live in it.
bird eyes
There is Sukayu Onsen(Hot Spring), the bath of which is made of Hiba wood and can accommodate 1,000 people at a time, but it is also strongly acidic and it makes you tingle when you take a bath, so be careful of people with sensitive skin. It is famous for mixed bathing, but there is a place to take it individually in the back.
It is easy to approach the entrance to World Heritage, but places inside where a tourist could reach by himself were limited. Furthermore ‘Anmon Fall’* was closed due to typhoon damages. You should chose between to be satisfied with a glance or to spend all day. Next time I would like to challenge with a guide.
kumagera tapping the tree
*)There are many approach routes to the heart of Shirakami mountains. ’Twenty ponds walking course’ is easily accessible from the sea side with public transportation and you can feel variety of nature.
On the way to Namegawa Hot Spring in Yamagata prefecture, I have been searching mobile radio wave to book an event ticket that starts from that day through the Internet. There was poor wave among deep mountains between Fukushima prefecture and Yamagata prefecture and I found a route sign of ‘Mountain Pass Station’ when the intensity of radio wave became strong. I recognized that mobile phone access point should be located at this station because passengers getting on or off the station can use mobile phone.
Mountain Pass Station1
The unmannedstation, the name of which is ‘Mountain Pass’, looked like a storage yard surely as a measure against deep snow but nobody seemed to use it. I heard the chirping of wild birds and felt the presence of wildlife outside the yard. A place left behind in the real world. Suddenly an alarm sounded in the yard and the Yamagata Shinkansen(High Speed Railway)* ran through the yard in a moment. And it returned to the original silence.
I felt a mysterious feeling that I could slip through the world of reality and fantasy in an instant.
*)Shinkansen transit times and local timetables are displayed in unmanned stations. It is rare for this station to meet a local line. There are rarely any places where you can see the Shinkansen passing by at the height of the tracks up close.
Mountain Pass Station3 plate
Mountain Pass Station4 and Highspeed railway
Before the Shinkansen passed, the local line seemed to switch back here and climb the mountain pass. The trace of the switchback can be seen from the photo below. You can also find the railroad crossing when the Shinkansen passes !
switch-back trace
Detour (Namegawa Hot Spring and Waterfall)
Please be careful when driving until you reach the hot spring. About one hour from the retro hot spring, there is a large waterfall that runs down onto a monolith 80 meters high. The suspension bridge on the side of the inn has collapsed, so you need to wear boots and cross the river yourself. I missed the chance due to no boots at that time, so photos in gallery are not Namegawa Waterfall.
I tried translating the name of this gorge into English without permission, so it became like this title. So, please do not search seriously with this name. Anyway in the old days, you couldn’t pass each other without hugging each other.
River Tamagawa flowing through this gorge is cobalt blue. It flows from Tamagawa Hot Spring* around Mt.Hachimantai, but since the strongly acidic water contains aluminum as a basic ion, the light with a short wavelength is scattered by its particles and the surface of water appears blue. For the same reason, the water in Lake Tazawa looks blue due to injection of water of River Tamagawa long ago.
If you go sightseeing near here, you will definitely go to the famous Kakunodate with old samurai residence, but as a countryside lover, you should definitely visit the gorge that makes you feel the traces of a volcano.
*)A hot spring that warms your body with geothermal heat while wearing clothes in a sulfur-rich crater is worth a try. Simply lay a straw rug on the ground and lie on your back. You can also enjoy a bathing style where you just put your head out of a box filled with steam.
