Introducing scenic spots
Kudan no Taki Waterfall & The Senjo Iwa Rock

Taking the electric bus from the Hoheikyo parking lot, the Hiyamizu Tunnel is the first tunnel you reach. As you emerge from the other side, look left from the bridge crossing the Taki no Sawa River to be greeted with the sight of the Kudan no Taki waterfall. Counting the tiers with heights of 5 to 10 meters from the bridge, at first glance the name literally translating as “the nine-step waterfall” seems to be a misnomer. In fact, not all of the nine tiers are directly visible from this vantage point.

To the right is the Senjo Iwa rock, the highest and largest rock face among Hoheikyo’s myriad fascinating geological formations. The rocks reach a peak height of 802m and feature a 200m sheer vertical face that almost seems to have been carved into the landscape with a great blade.

Before the completion of the Hoheikyo Dam, the spring snowmelt led to the emergence of seasonal waterfalls in Hoheikyo between April and June. Of these, the Senjo Taki waterfall springing from the Senjo Iwa rock was the highest and most abundant.

Hoheikyo was once a series of rocky peaks. With the Hiyamizu Sawa River flowing down from Mt. Sapporodake, and the Taki no Sawa River home to the Kudan no Taki waterfall, it was renowned as a scenic area where the Toyohira River seemed to writhe between the rocks like a great white serpent. The Oyabuchi pool was surrounded by fascinating rock formations and groups of fish could be found playing in the water alongside springs with carbonated water, while the Akatsuchiyu hot spring was famed for its intensive warming and healing properties.

At the natural carbonated spring once found 2km upstream, local children and large hiking parties would arrive bearing sugar to make their own thirst-quenching “natural soda” drinks. However, with the construction of the Hoheikyo Dam, which started in 1967 and was completed in 1972, the gorge that once boasted unparalleled beauty found itself at the bottom of a newly-formed lake, taking the spring along with it.