Hometown of Japanese Mythology – The Stunning Takachiho Gorge Waterfalls, a Popular Kyushu Attraction

Text & Photos /Kavanah
Takachiho Gorge is located in the central-southern part of Kyushu, within Miyazaki Prefecture. Geographically, it lies roughly midway between Kumamoto and Miyazaki Prefectures, making it a very famous and popular scenic spot in Kyushu. Those familiar with Japanese mythology and history will surely know Takachiho well — this is the birthplace of the “Descent of the Heavenly Grandson” myth, the legend of how Japan’s Emperor descended from heaven to rule the earth. As a result, there are many sites related to Japanese mythology here, such as Mount Kokusemi, Takachiho Shrine, and Amanoiwato Shrine. History enthusiasts visiting this area are sure to feel like they’ve struck gold.

However, during this trip to Takachiho, the travel time was quite long — it took over two hours by car from downtown Kumamoto to reach Takachiho, and local bus services were infrequent. As a result, I only had time to visit Takachiho Shrine and Takachiho Gorge, and couldn’t make it to Amanoiwato Shrine, which I had been really wanting to see... quite disappointing...

I departed from Kumamoto Bus Center, and the round-trip fare was 4,110 yen.

After arriving at Takachiho Station, it’s a 10-minute walk to Takachiho Shrine. In front of Takachiho Shrine, you can take a bus to Takachiho Gorge (100 yen to get to Takachiho Gorge).

Takachiho Gorge isn’t far — it takes less than ten minutes by bus to reach the entrance of Takachiho Gorge.

There’s a park and food/souvenir stands at the entrance.

For some reason, there’s a pond in the park where people can fish — it suddenly reminded me of Taiwan’s shrimp fishing ponds.

In another part of the park, there’s a pool where they keep these huge fish called butterfly groupers.

Keep walking forward, and you’ll enter the area of Takachiho Gorge.

As I walked, I suddenly looked back and saw a small waterfall… so I snapped a quick photo, then continued on to find Takachiho Gorge’s signature sight — the Manai Falls.

Later, I realized I was super silly — because this was actually Manai Falls!! (Since boat rides weren’t available that day, and there were no boats under the waterfall, I didn’t recognize it at first.)

Takachiho Gorge was formed about 100,000 years ago, when Mount Aso erupted and lava flowed into the Gokase River. The river water cooled the lava, forming columnar basalt. Over time, erosion by the Gokase River’s waters carved out a gorge approximately seven kilometers long, with cliffs reaching over 80 meters in height.

The Oni-hachi Power Stone is said to be where Emperor Jimmu, after his eastern campaign, returned to the Takachiho area and subdued a troublesome demon that had been terrorizing the region, then ordered the demon to throw this massive stone here.

Walking further ahead, you can see columnar basalt rocks formed from volcanic lava — due to their resemblance to a folding screen, they’re called the “Immortal’s Folding Screen Rocks.”

Continuing downward, I saw a group of people carrying tripods, heading in my direction while taking photos. Looking closely — wait?! Isn’t that Manai Falls?! So the one I just saw was actually Manai Falls. I thought to myself, I’m really so silly!!

I quickly walked back toward Manai Falls, set up my tripod, and started taking photos.

Manai Falls is one of Japan’s most spectacular waterfalls, created by basalt columns formed from cooling lava.

On this day, boat rides inside Takachiho Gorge were unavailable due to boat maintenance, so Manai Falls lacked the usual charm of being viewed from a boat.

A view of Manai Falls taken from the bridge.

Transportation to Takachiho (this image is fromhttp://takachiho-kanko.info/tw/#lnk_access)

Bus schedules can be found at:http://takachiho-kanko.info/tw/#lnk_access

Kavanah @ Kyoto – Living Freely. A Second Life, Starting in Kyoto.