NATURE
A Journey Through Japanese Waterfalls
Written in answer to the Reciprocal prompt: Wondrous Waterfalls
Reciprocal’s Sahil Patel asks in his writing prompt, Have you seen a waterfall?
Oh, Sahil. I have seen waterfalls. I hunt for them like elusive treasures. I scramble over disused and overgrown trails to find them. I venture to say, I collect them.
Here in Japan, waterfalls are so magnificent that some are considered Shinto kami, or deities. Like the country’s tallest, with a drop of 133 meters and one of Japan’s 3 Great Waterfalls, the glorious Nachi Falls in Wakayama.
But one needn’t go far to find waterfalls in this country.
In my home prefecture of Kagoshima, there are hundreds. Among them is the hidden Nagano Falls, where water cascades and twists between moss-covered craggy rocks into an open cave.
It is not easy to find. One must follow the few inconspicuous, small Japanese signs that point the way along narrow country roads, passing by age-old farms, rice fields, and vegetable gardens. Then down an even narrower road to a path that leads…
