Josei Falls

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Josei Falls100 waterfallsMiyoshiSakugiscenic beauty

Photo: murakami_tak / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · original

A visit to Josei Falls is easy to underplan — bring more time, and less certainty about what you'll find, than you'd expect.

Josei drops 126 metres in three stages down a rock face on a tributary of the Sakugi river, and it is the only waterfall in Hiroshima on the national hundred waterfalls list as well as a prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty. The three tiers are named — Bird, Wind and Snow — and they are separately visible from the viewing platform.

Getting to it is unusually easy for a fall of this size: a riverside path of about five hundred metres from the car park, ten minutes on foot, on the level. That combination of scale and accessibility is rare, and it means the falls can be fitted into a drive across northern Hiroshima rather than needing a day. The car park is beside the Sakugi branch office of Miyoshi city hall. Autumn is the season.

What to know before you go

Access hours

Open access | Daylight only

Closed: Open year-round

When to go

Late October–November for autumn colour | Spring after rain for volume

Fee

Free | Free parking

Time to allow

45–60 minutes

Access route

Access notes

Shimo-Sakugi, Sakugi-cho, Miyoshi, on a tributary of the Sakugi river. By car from Miyoshi IC on the Chugoku Expressway via Route 54 and Prefectural Route 62 toward Sakugi, with parking south of the Sakugi branch office of Miyoshi city hall. From the car park it is about 500 m and a short walk along a riverside path to the viewing platform. By bus, take the Bihoku Kotsu service from JR Miyoshi Station to Sakugi-yakuba-mae, about 40 minutes, then walk about 20 minutes. Free to visit.

Beyond the guidebook

**Ten minutes on the level.** Five hundred metres of riverside path from the car park. For a 126-metre waterfall that is close to unheard of. **Three tiers with names.** Bird, Wind and Snow, top to bottom, and they read as separate falls from the platform once you know to look. **The only one in Hiroshima on the national list.** Prefectures usually have several; this one has one, and this is it. **Autumn is the season.** Late October into November for colour on the rock face. Spring after rain gives the most water. **Combine with the Mononoke Museum.** Both are in Miyoshi, about forty minutes apart, and make a full day in the north of the prefecture.

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