Hirayu Great Falls

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

Hirayu OtakiOkuhidafrozen waterfallice festivalTakayama

Photo: photo: Qurren ( talk ) Taken with Canon IXY 10S (Digital IXUS 210) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · original

Gifu's geography does a lot of the work at Hirayu Great Falls — the rest is knowing when to show up.

Hirayu Otaki drops 64 metres in a single fall on the edge of the Okuhida hot spring villages, one of Japan's hundred waterfalls and one of the three great falls of Hida. In summer the volume and the spray make the approach several degrees cooler than the road.

In winter it freezes. The Hirayu Otaki Ice Festival runs from mid to late February and lights the frozen column in green and blue after dark, which is one of the more striking things happening in the Japan Alps in the coldest part of the year. The car park is free but closes under snow, so winter visitors take the bus or a taxi rather than driving. From the nearest bus stop it is about twenty minutes on foot through the valley.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Mid–late February for the frozen falls and illumination | July–August for the volume and the cool air

How long to allow

60–90 minutes

Hours

Open access in daylight | Ice festival illumination in the evening in late February

Closed: Open year-round | Car park closed during the snow season

Entry fee

Free | Free parking outside the snow season

Finding your way there

Access notes

Hirayu, Okuhida Onsengo, Takayama. By car from Takayama IC on the Chubu-Judan Expressway, with free parking that closes during the snow season — in winter, use a bus or taxi rather than driving. By bus, take the Nohi Bus toward Shinhotaka from JR Takayama Station to Otaki-guchi Camp-jo-mae and walk about 20 minutes. The Hirayu Otaki Ice Festival with evening illumination runs from around 15 to 25 February. The fall is 64 m and is one of Japan's 100 Waterfalls.

Local knowledge

**Do not drive in winter.** The car park closes under snow and the road is a mountain road in the Alps. Bus or taxi is the local advice, not a suggestion. **The ice festival is mid to late February.** Roughly the 15th to the 25th, with the frozen column lit green and blue after dark. It is the reason most people come at that time of year. **Twenty minutes on foot from the bus stop.** Through the valley from Otaki-guchi. In snow that walk needs boots and grips. **Summer is a different visit.** Full volume, spray and a marked temperature drop. Both seasons are worth it and they are barely the same place. **Okuhida has open-air baths everywhere.** Hirayu is one of five hot spring villages here, with over a hundred outdoor baths between them. Pairing the falls with a bath is the standard day.

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