Daigo, Ibaraki
Fukuroda Falls Still looking up at the frozen falls
From the viewing platform, I looked up at the four-tiered falls wrapped in ice. Read about the winter trip when I was so caught up in the view that I forgot to take a photo.
A winter trip to look up at the ice-covered falls. Even tracing them from top to bottom with my eyes gave me a sense of their scale.
WinterWinter, admiring the frozen falls
I stood there, mouth hanging open, looking up at the frozen falls
As soon as I stepped onto the viewing platform, the falls towered before me, and I caught my breath. I’d come to see them in winter, but I hadn’t expected ice to spread across so much of the falls. I just stood there, unable to look away.
Following the falls from top to bottom with my eyes, I could see the ribbons of ice continuing over each tier. This is where the water usually flows. Even the part that first looked like one huge block was full of fine, delicate lines when I looked closer, and I wanted to start again from the top.
Before I knew it, my mouth was still hanging open. If someone took a photo of my astonished face, it might be the best way to show just how big the falls are. If I told my friend that, I thought she’d probably look at my face before she looked at the falls. That made me laugh.
I took out my phone and tried to fit the whole waterfall in the frame. On the screen, I wasn’t sure how to capture the scale of the falls I’d just been looking up at. After checking the photo, I looked up again. Seeing the falls right there in front of me moved me more than the photo did.
This time, I didn’t take a photo. I took my time looking from the platform: the ice above, the tiers in the cliff, the ribbons trailing down. It was the same waterfall, but every time I looked somewhere new, a different shape caught my attention. I stayed there with my head tipped back, reluctant to leave.
Just before leaving, I turned around for one last look. When I show my friend the photos, I’ll tell her how I stood there with my mouth hanging open. I suppose I don’t mind if she laughs. A single photo just can’t capture how stunned I was when I looked up at the falls.
The story sections are fiction inspired by this location. For accurate information, please consult official tourism and information websites.
Local specialty
Okukuji Shamo dishes
In Daigo Town, you can find soba, oyakodon, and curry made with Okukuji Shamo chicken. While I was looking up at the falls, I was completely caught up in the view. Now that I’m thinking about what to eat on the way back, oyakodon has caught my eye.
Highlights
A four-tiered waterfall, 120m high and 73m wide
Fukuroda Falls is 120m high and 73m wide. The water cascades down a vast cliff in four tiers. From the viewing platform, the falls looked far bigger than those numbers suggested, and I caught my breath.
An up-close look at the winter icefall
In harsh winters, the waterfall can freeze over and become an icefall. When I visited, the channels where the water usually flows had turned to white ice. I found myself studying them closely, trying to trace the water’s path through the ice.
Also known as Yodo Falls
Because the water cascades down in four tiers, the falls are also called Yodo-no-taki. There’s also a story that the name comes from the poet Saigyō praising the falls as a place whose true beauty can only be appreciated by visiting in all four seasons. After seeing them frozen, I wanted to come back and see the water flowing, too.
Road details
From Naka IC to Fukuroda Falls
- Drive time from Naka IC
- About 60 minutes
- Walking distance to the falls
- About 1km from Car Park No. 1
This route leads from Naka IC on the Jōban Expressway to Fukuroda Falls. The walk after parking was part of the fun before I even saw the falls.
From the town’s free car park No. 1, it’s about 1km to the falls; from car park No. 2, it’s about 1.5km. Once I reached the viewing platform, I wanted to spend plenty of time taking in the falls.
More Spot Guides
If you enjoyed this story, you might like these places too. I've gone back to each of them in different seasons, again and again.
