Fukuroda Falls

70 minutes away from Mito (using the JR Suigun line = less than 1000 yen) you will get to Fukuroda station. The free tourist bus (観光バス) will take you anywhere around a nice tourist loop. Hop in. Watch the video in the bus about the places to see in the Fukuroda and Daigo areas. The bus stops already. This is the Fukuroda Falls stop. Where are the falls? OK, we have to walk a while. 5 minutes or so and we see the first Fukuroda Falls shops. We are lucky; though there are many shops the area is far from being crowded. We will take beautiful pictures there. Wait; is this really a great spot? It should be, I saw some promising pictures of the site on internet. Whatever, being here is already satisfactory. The air of the mountains is pure. There is nature everywhere I look.

Oh, here is the entrance (300 yen) and . . . a big tunnel. It leads to 2 different viewing spots. One faces the falls. The Fukuroda falls started to freeze a few weeks ago. This looks pretty nice. These are not the Niagara Falls but they possess their own and unique charm. Wait, have we come all this way just to see this? What is over there? Let's go back. Let's cross this suspended bridge. Indiana Jones would have been really happy for once to have a solid bridge like this. Ok, we crossed it. And now? Metallic stairs. There must be another viewing spot, observatory deck or something over there but we can't see it. Let's climb up and see what's next. . . .

Further stairs. These are made out of stone. The view is interesting from here too. We get to see the viewing point we were at before, as well as a bit of the falls. But the stairs still go up. The higher we get, the stranger they look. Their shape is not uniform. Call someone to fix that! It's good exercise though, and there is a rail. That helps. One question: does this ever lead anywhere? The footsteps in the snow prove we are not the only ones to take this path. Wait, they go in only one direction. Are we adventurers, on a path of no return? OK, I have been watching too many films. No really, this is getting very steep. I hope we will be coming back on a safer path. My shoes are not made for this. Look, on the left . . . the falls . . . splendid view! Wow! Terrific cliff too.

It seems we are getting to the top. No, we are not. And the stairs don't look like stairs anymore. I am both excited by this improvised hike that is offering us three adventurers (yes we are three, just giving the info now) beautiful scenery, and the slippery stairs our feet are stepping on. The falls were great but I am enjoying this even more. Breathe, breathe this air. No city pollution. Listen to the quietness. No city noise. Watch, watch the trees and these mountains far, far away . . . is this a ski slope? You have an amazingly good eyesight, hike-partner number 1. You saw a snowboarder fall, hike-partner number 2? Give me a break, will you. Since when have you become bionic man and woman Steve Austin and Jamie Sommers? You can't even stand on your feet from the climbing. Ok, it's not related, you may have good eyes but you will have to hang on partner number 1 and partner number 2. See over there? New steps! Well, I do secretly hope myself that we will be done soon. I am not that tired but we have no idea if we will have to climb down from where we came and/or if what is coming next will be more difficult or not. Yet, we are delighted by the view. No regrets . . . even if the footsteps we were following disappeared. Mmmh . . . did it snow over the footsteps or did the hiker before us decided to jump off the cliff? Bad joke, I know.

We made it. This is the top of the mountain. The top of 月居山 (Tsukiore-san)! Only one hour of climbing? No way. That was fast actually. And the view is awesome. We are enjoying and celebrating the moment by taking more pictures before going down. The next steps are safer and lead us to an isolated Kan'non temple (観音様の御堂 Kan'non-sama no Midō). It is covered by snow, just like the surrounding trees and other plants. We stay a little while before deciding to go down the gentle slope waiting for us. We made it to the bottom! Ok, nothing really exciting about that. That was easier indeed. But we deserved anyway the local beer and some amazake, sweet hot sake, that we bought in one of the shops near the falls.

I think, from that experience, that the Fukuroda Falls should be done along with the Tsukiore-san climb. As you climb the mountain, you get many different views of the falls as well as from the surrounding mountains and parks. It is refreshing and not really hard to do. Total cost? 300 yen and some calories. And that is cheap for what you actually get. I really fell for Fukuroda Falls. . . .

With a height of 120 meters and a width of 73 meters, the "Fukuroda Falls" are one of the most renowned, vast waterfalls in Japan. The waterfall is also known as "Yodo-no-Taki" (四度の滝) since it drops down over four cascades. It is also said that this other name came from a remark uttered by Saigyo-hoshi (a Buddhist priest and famous poet in the Heian era) when he visited this spot: "To appreciate the true tastes of this spot, one has to visit it in each of the four seasons." The falls offer their unique attractiveness in each season—tender greenery in spring, echoes of splashing sounds in summer, tinted leaves in autumn, and an entirely frozen waterfall in winter. Presumably, many literary artists or calligraphers were deeply impressed by such a variety of beauty that turns as do the four seasons.