Nikko Waterfalls

Last weekend I spent a day in Nikko, Japan photographing waterfalls.  It was my second trip to Nikko, a beautiful national park and UNESCO World Heritage site located in Tochigi Prefecture, a two hour train ride from Tokyo.  You can view all of my images from both trips here. On this trip, I focused on the several waterfalls in the area.

Unfortunately, the weather was not completely cooperative, and I was fighting against cloud cover and intermittent rain throughout the day. It was also pretty cold, and I was largely on foot and on buses througout the day, making it a somewhat grueling trip.  But I did some away with some interesting new shots and some fun experiences.

Kegon Falls

One of the most breathtaking waterfalls is Kegon Falls, which drops approximately 97 meters from a cliff face into a pocket canyon and then cascades down. To get to the falls, you take an elevator through the bedrock down to an observation deck on the side of the canyon.

While I was at the observation deck waiting for the fog to lift, I made some new friends. I randomly offered to take a picture for a Japanese family. As it turned out, they are fellow Latter-day Saints. The mother of the family served in the same Sapporo mission as I did but a little earlier and we did not know each other. They live in Yokohama and know the another family I know in that area. Small world.

Yu Falls

After Kegon Falls, I took another bus ride up to near the top of the park to visit Yu Falls (a.k.a. Yutaki). These falls are a long widening cascade that tumbles down a rocky mountainside.

The next stop on the return trip was Takinoue, which means “Top of the Falls.”  I walked down the meandering cascade and took this panorama shot.

All the while I was descending the path, I was wondering if it would end in a location with a bus stop or if I would end up hiking back up with all my gear (Nikon D2X, 12-24mm, 18-200mm, 105mm, 50mm, Manfrotto tripod, iPad). Luckily, the path ended at Ryuzu Falls.

Ryuzu Falls

Ryuzu Falls is actually two falls that converge in a single pool.  It makes for an interesting effect.

While I was leaving, I spotted a viewpoint on a ravine just below Ryuzu Falls that looked promising.  I took a big risk scrambling down the mossy rocks to get there, but it was worth it in the end.  Here’s the shot looking back up the ravine under the bridge to to one side of Ryuzu Falls.

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