Holidaying in Ibaraki, it was hard not to know about Fukuroda Falls. You'd come across signs pointing the way, travel brochures would feature little blurbs and, of course, you'd overhear snippets of conversations from people walking past talking about it. Well, with the heavens aligning, there really was nothing left but to go and visit.
A short fifteen-minute drive from Greenvila Auto Campground, a great camping park with excellent children's play facilities, Fukuroda Falls turned out to be just brilliant. At 120m in height, this magnificent waterfall turned out to be one of Japan's top three waterfalls and it shows. A massive cascade of winter water spraying out over four unique layers of rock was a sight to behold.
The falls are famous for their seasonal changes and the general consensus is that unless you have seen the falls in each season, then you haven't really seen the falls. Visiting in winter, the water flow was a bit sparse compared to some of the images we had seen from the other seasons but that didn't lessen just how impressive Fukuroda Falls are.
Entrance is through a 276m-long entrance tunnel in which lies an observation deck halfway through with a sculpture affectionately known as the Lover's Sanctuary Monument. Past this is the suspension bridge that crosses the Taki River into which the falls pour into while another deck just further on sits at the falls' base. At the end of the tunnel lies a shrine as well as an elevator taking you to a 3-storey observation deck. Needless to say, the views here are spectacular.
It would be an understatement to say that Fukuroda Falls was well worth the visit. Stunning in its natural majesty, the only down side is that you can only ever see the falls one season at a time.
