Naena Falls

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Naena Fallswaterfallcolumnar basaltMyokosnowmelt

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

Naena Falls looks different depending on the season, the weather, and the time of day — none of which a single photo can tell you.

Naena Falls drops 55 metres off a wall of columnar basalt on the Sekikawa river, right on the border between Niigata and Nagano. The volume in late spring, when the Myoko snowpack is coming off the mountain, is enough that the ground shakes at the viewing platform — which is where the local name jishin-daki, earthquake falls, comes from. It is on the list of Japan's hundred notable waterfalls.

The approach is short. A path of from the car park crosses a suspension bridge and ends at a platform facing the fall square-on, with the hexagonal basalt columns of the cliff visible on both sides of the water. The surrounding beech forest turns from mid-October, and in winter the road in is closed by snow.

Before you go

Access hours

Open at all hours

Closed: Access closed by snow in winter, roughly December–April — confirm road conditions before travelling

Entry fee

Free | Free parking for about 104 cars

Best time to visit

Late April–early June for peak snowmelt volume | Mid-late October for beech forest colour

Time to allow

1 hour including the 15-minute walk each way

Access route

Getting there in detail

Suginosawa, Myoko City. By car from Myokokogen Station; from Joetsu-Myoko Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen. Free, with a large free car park for about 104 cars and 11 coaches. Roughly a short walk each way to the viewing platform via a suspension bridge. Access is closed by snow in winter — confirm road conditions before travelling.

Beyond the guidebook

**Late April to early June is the loudest.** Snowmelt puts the most water over the lip and that is when the ground vibration the name refers to is actually noticeable. By August the fall is a third of that. **Mid to late October for colour.** Beech forest surrounds the gorge and the timing is reliable, which is not true of everything at this altitude. **The suspension bridge is the photograph.** Shooting from the platform gives you the fall; shooting from the bridge gives you the fall and the columnar cliff walls together. **Spray reaches the platform.** In high water you and the front element of your lens will get wet. A cloth is worth having. **Winter closes the road.** Suginosawa is a ski area and the falls approach is not cleared. Roughly December to April, the walk is not available. **Combine with Myoko's hot springs.** Akakura and Tsubame onsen are within 30 minutes and Tsubame's open-air baths are the strongest reason to stay the night in this valley.

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