One of Japan's three great waterfalls: 13 meters wide at the lip, with a 10-meter-deep basin, it drops 133 meters in a single fall. The waterfall itself is the sacred body of Hiro Shrine, an auxiliary shrine of Kumano Nachi Taisha, and tradition holds that worship here began when Emperor Jimmu revered the falls as a deity. Near the viewing platform, the "water of long life" can be drunk from a small ceremonial cup. The falls were designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1972 and became part of the World Heritage site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range" in 2004.
Sources: pref.wakayama.lg.jp ja.wikipedia.org
This moment in the journey
Nachi Falls, one of Japan's three great waterfalls
My first stop was Nachi Falls, one of Japan's three most famous waterfalls. Beyond a vermilion three-storied pagoda, a white ribbon of water dropped in a single straight line.
Past a stone marker reading "World Heritage: Nachi Falls," I walked down an approach lined with cedars. Above a rocky bed hung with a sacred rope, the 133-meter waterfall came crashing down. It has long been worshipped as the sacred body of Hiro Shrine, and its history is said to reach back before the common era. Legend also has it that touching the spray will help you live a long life.
At the shrine counter, firewood burned in a brazier, and the votive plaques bore the three-legged crow Yatagarasu, the divine messenger said to have guided Japan's first emperor. I climbed a stone stairway between the cedars and gazed at the mossy roots of a great tree. It was a place where I could touch Japanese history.
Watch this scene on YouTube1:43
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From: Nachikatsuura: the sea from a fishing-village window
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From: Nachikatsuura: the sea from a fishing-village window
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From: Nachikatsuura: the sea from a fishing-village window
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From: Nachikatsuura: the sea from a fishing-village window
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