Tsukimachi Falls

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Tsukimachi Fallswalk behindDaigowaterfallsoba

Photo: t.kunikuni / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · original

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

Tsukimachi is 17 metres high and 12 metres wide and comes down in three separate strands, and its local name is the fall seen from behind — because you can walk in behind the curtain of water without getting wet. That is rare in Japan and rarer still without a ticket barrier and a queue.

The falls sit on a tributary of the Kuji River in Daigo, the far north of Ibaraki, and the whole thing is free. A tea house called Momijien stands at the foot of them and is the reason a lot of locals come: it serves soba and, in summer, all-you-can-eat somen noodles eaten within sight and sound of the water. Autumn colour arrives from late October through late November. Nearby Fukuroda Falls draws the coaches; this one does not.

What to know before you go

Access hours

Falls accessible during daylight hours | Momijien tea house 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Falls open year-round

When to go

Late October–late November for autumn colour | Summer for the cool air behind the falls

Fee

Free | Free parking | Tea house food priced separately

Time to allow

45–60 minutes | 90 minutes with a meal

Making the trip

Getting there in detail

Daigo, Kuji District. Car recommended. Free to visit with free parking.

Beyond the guidebook

**Walk behind it.** The path around the back of the falls is the point of coming and is easy to miss if you only view from the front. You stay dry; the noise from inside is considerable. **The tea house is half the visit.** Momijien does soba year-round and all-you-can-eat somen in the warm months, served within sight of the water. **Late October to late November for colour.** The gorge turns later than the Ibaraki lowlands. That is also the busiest window, though busy here means a full small car park rather than a crowd. **Skip Fukuroda if you want quiet.** Fukuroda Falls, twenty minutes away, is one of Japan's three great waterfalls and is served by ticket gates, a tunnel and coach parking. Tsukimachi is the one people from the area actually take visitors to.

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