With every post on medium I focus on something remarkable in Japan, variating from activities to places. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I just returned home from 5 months abroad in Japan.
In this post I will describe Takachiho, a tiny town on the biggest island in the south of Japan, Kyushu.
Kyushu
This island has many different amazing sights to visit and one of them is Takachiho. Kyushu is known for its volcanos, there are many and a few are active today. Due to the amount of volcanos, the island is mostly formed by eruptions over the years. Creating some amazing landscapes. The gorge in Takachiho is one of these amazing places created by volcanos.
Not internationally known
Takachiho is not so well known, at this moment it is only visited by national tourists. The Japanese tourist go there for a day trip. People go here because of its gorge, a narrow passage with steep rocky sides. The water flowing through the passage is naturally coloured blue green. The river in the small passage has some harmless rapids and some tributary rivers.
History
As the story tells, the passage was created by two separate volcano eruptions. The lava from the volcanos flowed down the mountain towards each other, almost resulting in an intersection. However both lava streams got stopped by this stream at Takachiho. Resulting in the steep rocky sides to either side of the stream.
Waterfalls
From these steep rocky sides multiple streams fall down into the river. Resulting in this magical place. We rented a boat here for half an hour to row up and then back down the river. From down there you can have a look at the vertical steep walls, which create the gorge. If you are not careful the waterfalls can plunge down into your boat, because the river is so narrow. Rowing there does require some attention, due to the waterfalls and a the flow of the river. Some people were paying to much attention to making a selfie and got a free cold shower. I can tell you, Japanese people are generally quiet, but in such a occasion they might surprise you.
More pictures?
All pictures are taken by me on film. More pictures and belated travel posts will be coming. More photography work of mine can be found on www.tomkluyver.com or follow me on Instagram.
If you are interested, I already dedicated a post to the remarkable transport system of Japan and one post to the recent law change that makes offensive manoeuvres politically correct.
