Uriwari Falls

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

Researched and written by Hinato

Uriwari Fallsfamous waterWakasaspring waterTentokuji

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

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

The name means the melon splitter, from a story that the water was so cold that a melon left in it cracked. It comes out of the rock behind Tentokuji temple in Wakasa at a steady eleven or twelve degrees year-round, in enough volume to form a small fall, and it was selected as one of Japan's hundred famous waters in 1985.

What you find is a short wooded walk from a car park to a mossy rock face with water pouring out of it, and — more to the point locally — a row of taps where people fill containers. This is drinking water that people drive for. The surrounding area has been laid out as a park with a shop, and containers and a fee sticker are sold there for taking quantities home. It is free to visit and free to drink on the spot.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Year-round | Summer for the cold air around the falls

How long to allow

30–45 minutes

Hours

Open access during daylight hours

Closed: Open year-round

Entry fee

Free to visit and to drink on site | Sticker for taking larger quantities home around ¥300

Getting there

Getting there in detail

Tentokuji, Wakasa, Mikatakaminaka District. By car from Tsuruga IC on Route 27 toward Obama, or from Obama-Nishi IC toward Tsuruga. By public transport, take the JR Obama Line to Kaminaka Station then the Wakae line bus toward Obama to the Tentokuji stop and walk about 5 minutes. Free to visit, with a car park and water-drawing taps; a sticker for taking larger quantities home is sold nearby for around ¥300.

What to bring

**Bring a bottle.** The taps at the car park are the practical point of the place for most visitors, and drinking on the spot is free. For larger volumes a sticker is sold at the shop. **Eleven or twelve degrees, all year.** That is genuinely cold to the hand in August and it does not vary with the season, which is why the melon story exists. **It is a short walk.** Car park to the falls is a few minutes on a made path through moss and cedar. This is a stop, not an excursion. **Combine with Kumagawa-juku.** The post town on the mackerel road is about twenty minutes away in the same municipality and the two make an easy half-day. **Do not treat the water as ornamental.** People are here to collect drinking water. Keep the taps clear and do not wash anything in the pool.

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