Exploring Mikaeri Falls Looking Up at the Falls Beyond the Hydrangea Path

On the way to Mikaeri Falls in June, I stopped to look at the hydrangeas again and again. The more I looked at each bloom, the harder it was to make myself keep walking. Still, the sound of the water up ahead kept drawing me on. I wanted to see both the flowers and the falls today, so I decided I’d take another look on the way back.

When I reached a spot where I could see the falls, a long stream of water was spilling down between the rocks. It came from higher up than I’d imagined; even when I tipped my head back, the top was still out of sight. Wearing a pink sleeveless dress, I rested one hand on my arm, following the waterfall upward with my eyes. After the flower-lined path, the scale of the scene suddenly hit me.

I compared the water dropping from high above with the smaller stream cascading down in tiers between the rocks on the left. The water sounded like one continuous rush, but the two streams followed different paths. I wanted to see where the other stream joined the main flow, all the way down at the pool. At first, I’d been amazed by the height of the falls; after a while, I was completely absorbed in the water winding over the rocks, too.

As I watched the falls, cool air brushed my arms. I took a slow breath and looked up; the sky between the trees was bright, too. I’d heard you can see the falls from all kinds of angles around the park. I wanted to remember the way the water fell here, so I lingered a little longer in the same spot. Even after taking a photo, I wasn’t ready to walk away.

On the walk back from the falls, I spotted the hydrangeas I’d seen earlier. After all that rushing water, it felt peaceful to slow down and look up close at their rounded clusters. I heard there are 50 varieties and about 40,000 hydrangea plants around the falls. Rather than trying to see them all, I felt like taking my time with whichever flower caught my eye.

After that, I had Karatsu’s local sweet, Keeran. As I savored bite after bite of rice dough wrapped around sweet bean paste, the walk among the flowers came back to me. A day filled with the roar of the falls gradually gave way to the quiet pleasure of something sweet. I think I’ll still be thinking about both the falling water and the hydrangeas once I’m home.