Day 68 - The Extraordinary Landscape Of The Takachiho Gorge, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan
Day 68 - The Extraordinary Landscape Of The Takachiho Gorge, The Kyushu 108 Temple Pilgrimage, Japan
The last time we visited this area, we didn’t visit the Takachiho Gorge, which I have deeply regretted ever since.
The gorge is one of the most scenic places in Kyushu, and on this pilgrimage, I made sure to take a full day to visit it.
From the city of Nobeoka, we took a bus to the gorge.
The bus had almost no passengers besides us, and it took about an hour and a half to get there.
The bus ride was beautiful, with valleys and small villages located along dense forests and rivers.
Amazing bridges were built over the Gokase river, which also runs through the Takachiho gorge.
The road to Takachiho, with its many arched bridges, are very beautiful with each bridge showcasing diverse construction technologies.
There were scenic rice terraces built into the mountains and green tea plantations at the higher elevations.
Takachiho community is a town with many surrounding villages.
The area has an ancient tradition of Mask Dances that last all night, telling different stories and local myths.
The myths have been performed in the communities of the area for over 800 years.
The bus was so empty that Jules was able to ask for a toilet stop in the middle of the drive, and the friendly bus driver showed him the toilets inside a hospital along the way.
The bus dropped us at the information center, where the friendly employee gave us maps of the area and explained the best way to get around on foot.
She also recommended that the next time we come, we should stay in the area for a night, so we can see and enjoy the Takachiho Kagura dances.
A performance center in town offers shows for tourists every night at 8pm, featuring mask dances from the 33 myths of Takachiho Yokagu-ra.
Every night they enact four theatrical dances.
Takachiho is the site of one of the most well-known legends in Japanese mythology, the story of Amaterasu — the highest deity in Japanese mythology.
Amaterasu is both the queen of the Kami (the divine beings of heaven and earth) and ruler of the universe.
The Japanese Imperial family claims to have descended from her lineage.
Legend has it that the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu hid in a Takachiho cave to escape from her younger brother Susanoo’s pranks and rampages, thus depriving both the world and the heavens of natural light.
Her elusive escape prompted other gods and goddesses to act.
A myriad of deities are said to have come together to perform a ritual involving dance and laughter in an effort to lure Amaterasu from her hiding place.
Amaterasu emerged from the cave, and natural light shone on the heavens and the earth again.
Today, Takachiho is considered a power spot in Japan, a place of profound religious importance and natural beauty.
The four dances you can see if you visit, are:
The Dance of Tajikarao, who is depicted seeking Amaterasu’s hiding place.
The dance of Ame no Uzume, a hilarious dance to entice Amaterasu out of her cave.
The Totori Dance, where a red-faced Tajikarao shatters the rock blocking the cave.
The Goshintai Dance, performed by a couple representing the husband and wife deities Izanami and Izanagi, who, legends say, gave birth to the islands of Japan, as they prepare rice as an offering to ensure a good harvest, a happy marriage, and healthy children.
The couple performs the dance while drinking rice wine, and their inebriated tumbling and stumbling among audience members is thought to transmit divine protection to the participants.
We saw many tourists arriving to visit the gorge.
Most tourists arrived by tour buses with huge groups from around the world.
Few came by car.
We walked through town, where we found a Buddha cave under a temple. It had small dark tunnels and many small Buddha statues.
Then we visited the Takachiho shrine, with very old and very tall sacred trees.
Established more than 1900 years ago, Takachiho Shrine sits on the grounds where Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, descended to earth.
At one point, there were more than 500 unique shrines located throughout the sacred area.
Then we walked steeply down into the gorge.
Takachiho Gorge was formed by four eruptions of the massive volcano located in the heart of Kyushu island called Mt. Aso.
The first eruption occurred 270 thousand years ago.
The second eruption occurred 140 thousand years ago.
The third eruption occurred 120 thousand years ago, and the fourth eruption occurred 90 thousand years ago.
Mount Aso is still an active volcano. It is the largest active volcano in Japan, and it is among the largest in the world.
It last erupted on October 2021.
The average height of the gorge walls is 80 meters and the highest point is 100 meters.
The V-shaped valley extends for about 7 km from east to west.
The gorge is extremely scenic, with tall waterfalls falling down from above the walls, and dark grey stone walls that look as if carved by man, but in fact are all natural.
The phenomenon is called the Columnar Joint.
The layered look of Takachiho Gorge, known as columnar joint-ing, was created from the rapid cooling of fast-flowing lava that eroded over time into the present deep V-shaped valley.
Manai Waterfall is about 17 meters in height and is located in the middle of Takachiho Gorge.
The sight of its waters crashing into the gorge is a highlight for visitors, and boats can be rented out during the day year-round, to experience the falls up close from below.
The gorge area has a gift shop selling local sweets and souvenirs, and an ice cream shop and cafe.
It has been such a cold day, that all we did after visiting the gorge was find a picnic table in the sun to drink our hot tea and eat the scones we had with us.
We walked up from the gorge and strolled around town.
The myths and stories of Takachiho were displayed around town in statues and in writings.
For me, it was an amazing experience to see the landscape with its colors and beauty.
The gorge with its waterfalls looked like paintings of a fantasy land, almost too beautiful to be real…
We returned to Nobeoka on the afternoon bus, where we were staying and enjoyed another simple but good dinner in our guesthouse.
With hugs and smiles,
Tali
Stats: 12,978 steps
Today’s walk: 9 km
Kilometers walked to date: 1153 km
Temples visited: none
