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
I used to think that suspension bridges were built out of necessity, but seeing this made me realize that they were purposely built in places where they didn’t need to be built, just to make people feel scary. Many people walk on the suspension bridge, which looks just like a wide pedestrian bridge. Although the suspension bridge uses fairly thick wire rope, you can still feel some sway. There is a magnificent waterfall that can only be seen from here, but the scale of the view from the suspension bridge is so large that the waterfall feels small.
Once you cross the suspension bridge, you will see a building that looks like a haunted house at the festival venue. In front of the house, there was a crowd of people who seemed to be hesitating whether to enter or not. This place holds a spectacle where customers can touch and hold white snakes in hopes of attracting financial luck. I was reluctant to enter, but my companion was blinded by financial fortune and we decided to enter.
suspension bridge6 white snake named toguro
suspension bridge7 white snake named makitsuki
When I pay, the thick curtain in front of me opens and I come face to face with two white snakes. One of them is called “Toguro,” which coils itself on my hand, and the other is “Makitsuki,” which wraps around my arm.” No matter who holds them, these snakes maintain the same posture as their namesake, so these must be their favorite poses. The touch was unlike anything I had ever felt before, neither cold nor warm, and I was filled with the desire to return them as soon as possible. In the end, it was the people at the show booths who were lucky to make money.
Detour
Tonight we will be staying at Kiyasuya in Sujiyu Onsen, but Sujiyu Onsen is also home to a famous public bathhouse “Utase-yu.” The name Sujiyu originally came from the fact that the hot spring ingredients are effective for soothing tired muscles, but the public bath is an ultimate hot spring where the hot spring water is dropped from a height of about 3 meters to soothe the body.
It became famous after it was used in the filming of several tea commercials on TV. It was created by erosion after the eruption of Mt. Aso 90,000 years ago. It’s fascinating to go behind the waterfall. However, people accumulate there, so if you take a photo of the waterfall from outside, people will appear behind the waterfall curtain like ghosts. It seems like admission is now restricted by advance reservations online.
You won’t be able to see the waterfall until you have descended quite a bit from the entrance, so you can see the sunlight shining into the basin of the waterfall, which is beautiful.
nabegataki waterfall with sun rays
It’s difficult to talk about the beauty of waterfalls. First of all, there is no taxonomy of waterfalls, so each person imagines a waterfall in a variety of ways. There are waterfalls that fall in a dynamic straight line, waterfalls with many tiered basins, waterfalls that cascade down the rock surface, and waterfalls that flow delicately and quietly as if pulling a thread, each with its own unique charm. Under such circumstances, I wonder whose permission they get to decide on the top 100 waterfalls. There are wonderful waterfalls all over Japan, so I hope you find your favorite one by yourself. Here I will introduce my favorites, Snoopy Falls and Nametsu Falls.
miroku waterfall like snoopy
nametsu big waterfall2
Detour
There is a restaurant near the waterfall that serves my favorite lunch. Last time I stopped by, I bought a bunch of herbal tea.
Nametsu Otaki Waterfall is a two-tiered waterfall that covers a wide river width (30m), but the remarkable feature is the smooth surface of tuff under the waterfall. So I intuitively thought it would be interesting if this was a water slider. Another idea is to pour somen (noodle) from the top of waterfall and scoop it up at the bottom of waterfall. It would be a fun for cool noodle !
Shichikashuku town wouldn’t adopt these ideas……..
shichikashuku road soba festival
There are a lot of soba restaurants along Shichikashuku Highroad connected to Takahata town, Yamagata where Takahata winery is located. In this season we can eat fresh buckwheat noodles by grinding freshly picked soba with a stone mill. Especially you can try some remarkable restaurants at the same time at cheap price during soba festival.
As you enter the temple next to the Botanical Garden, you will find a place overlooking the famous Akiu Otaki Big Waterfall. Before that, there is something to write down. There is a store selling various herbs at the entrance. Among them was a tree of eye drops found in the real botanical picture book in the garden. ‘Tree of eye drops’ is just the name of tree. When the bark of the tree was boiled, it turned into a pink liquid, and drinking it helped with eye fatigue. I felt a bit bitter but healthy.
akiu big waterfall walking
A trail extends to the bottom of the waterfall. The bottom of the waterfall was wider than I expected. I’ve come a long time ago, but at that time I had a narrower memory, but has it collapsed?
As the waterfall runs down east, if you try to take a picture, it will be backlight or strong shade unless it is early in the morning.
Although it is close to the border of Yamagata prefecture, I arrived in about 30 minutes from Sendai city due to the development of transportation.
The botanical gardens have wonderful flowers, fresh greenery and autumn leaves in each season(closed in winter), but in
sudare waterfall
addition there are two wonderful waterfalls that cannot be seen unless you enter here. A typical tourist will return home after seeing Akiu Otaki Big fall near here, but let’s step on the fallen leaves and find your wonderful autumn here.
It appears in front of you the moment you turn the promenade. There is no doubt that it looks snoopy no matter what you look at. I recognized this waterfall when watching TV program casually a few years ago. The official name is Miroku Waterfall, which come from Buddhist thought. Certainly, I felt that way because it suddenly appeared after turning the promenade.
I was planning to make a detour* on the way back from Lake Towada on 2nd day but the sunset was early in the deep mountains, so I gave up to stop by and next day challenged.
*)It is on the way down from Lake Towada to Iwate prefecture through the southside of Aomori prefecture. Entering from the main road**, it is at the end of a dead end road. No gas station nearby around Lake Towada. Be careful !
**)Takko Town is located along the main road. The garlic in Takko Town is famous for its quality, which makes it possible to revitalize the town.
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)
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.
