Kanmangafuchi Abyss

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

Researched and written by Hinato

KanmangafuchiJizo statuesNikkogorgequiet walk

Photo: 663highland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Kanmangafuchi Abyss rewards a slow visit more than a quick photo stop — there's more to read in the grounds than the entrance suggests.

A twenty-minute walk from the Toshogu crowds, on the far bank of the Daiya River, a lava gorge runs between the trees and a line of stone Jizo statues sits along it, moss-covered, tilted, red-bibbed, facing the water. The row is properly called the Narabi Jizo, the ranked Jizo, and it was donated by around a hundred disciples of the priest Tenkai. A flood in 1902 swept away the parent statue and several others, and because people counting the remainder kept arriving at different totals the name shifted to Bake Jizo — the ghost, or shape-changing, Jizo.

The gorge itself was cut by the Daiya through lava from Mt. Nantai, and the water runs fast and loud below the path. What makes it worth the walk is the ordinary fact that almost nobody is here. Nikko takes several million visitors a year and nearly all of them stay on the shrine side of the river. The path along the Jizo is quiet enough to hear the water, and it can be walked in half an hour.

Visiting essentials

Best time to visit

Late October–November for autumn colour | Year-round; quietest early morning

Hours

Open 24 hrs | Daylight recommended

Closed: Open year-round

Admission

Free | Free parking nearby

Time to allow

45–60 minutes

Finding your way there

Access notes

Hanaishi-cho, Nikko. About a short walk from JR Nikko or Tobu Nikko Station, or take the bus to the Kanmangafuchi and Bake Jizo stop, or to Anagawamachi and walk about 20 minutes. Free to visit at any time, with free parking at the adjacent park about 200 metres from the statues.

Visiting etiquette & tips

**Walk it from the shrines, not from the station.** From Rinnoji and Toshogu it is roughly twenty-five minutes on foot across the river, which turns a separate trip into a natural extension of the morning. From the station it is closer to forty. **Morning light is on the statues.** The row faces the water on the east bank and the light is best before about ten. That is also when you are most likely to have the path entirely to yourself, which is the whole reason to come. **Do not bother counting.** The tradition is that the number comes out differently every time. People still try. **Land leeches in summer.** There are reports of leech bites along the damp path in the warm months. Long trousers and closed shoes; check yourself afterwards. It is a real nuisance rather than a danger. **Combine with lunch on the west side.** This bank of the river has small soba and yuba places aimed at residents rather than coaches, which is a very different lunch from the Toshogu approach.

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