Takachiho, Miyazaki in Japan

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Takachiho is a city in Miyazaki prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, which is famous for the story of Japanese mythology. This place is said to be the place of origin of the Shinto religion in Japan.  The most famous mythological story is the story about the legend of the goddess Amaterasu hiding in a cave because of her sister's disrespectful behavior.

The Goddess Amaterasu or Amaterasu Okami is the sun goddess and is the most important goddess in Shintoism in Japan. According to legend, the Japanese emperor is a descendant of the goddess Amaterasu. There are several tourist attractions that you can visit in Takachiho. The first is the Takachiho Gorge. Takachicho gorge is the most famous place in Miyazaki prefecture and is located on the banks of the Gokase river.  Takachiho Gorge was formed by the eruption of the Aso volcano about 120 million years ago.

This place was made a national monument in Japan because of its natural beauty. Here you can enjoy the view of one of the top 100 most beautiful waterfalls in Japan, called the Manai waterfall. You can rent a boat and go around Takachiho Gorge from under the cliff by boat.  You can enjoy the view from below, where you can see the high cliffs and enjoy the waterfall from below. There are also ducks to feed, and the ducks here are friendly to humans. You can buy duck food at a boat rental place. The boat rental fee is JPY 2000 per boat for a 30 minute journey and one boat can be boarded by up to three people.

This place is a popular tourist spot, so you need to come early in the morning and you should avoid the golden week holidays. If not, you can wait up to 3 hours to get your turn to rent a boat.  Another way is that you can call in advance to the Machinaka Information Center to make a reservation. Take it easy, here there is a service in English.  You can access the Takachiho Gorge by taking the Takachiho Kaiyu bus from Takachiho Bus Center for about 13 minutes and getting off at Takachiho Kyo Bus Stop (Takachiho Gorge). But remember that the Takachiho Kaiyu bus only operates on weekends and public holidays.

The second tourist spot is Amano Iwato Shrine. This shrine is located 10 km from downtown Takachiho. This shrine was built near the cave where the Goddess Ameretasu was hiding. According to legend, the goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave because of her sister's disrespectful behavior, so the world could not be lit by sunlight.

If you want to see this cave, you can ask the temple administration and a Shinto priest will accompany you. You can also visit another cave where the gods gather to discuss strategies to persuade Goddess Amaretasu to come out, called Amano Yasukawara, and there is also a small shrine here. Access to the shrine is a bus that runs from Takachiho Bus Center. It takes about 15 minutes and costs 320-yen one way and each bus runs every 1-2 hours. Alternatively, you can take a taxi for a taxi ride of around 2500-yen one way.  And access to Amano Yasukawara. You can walk 15 minutes from Nishi-hongu to the Iwato river.

The last place is Takachiho Shrine, where Takachiho itself has more than 88 temples and only 88 temples that have special features compared to others. One of them is Takachiho Shrine. This shrine has been around for 1,900 years and is the main shrine. Every November to February of the following year, the shrine holds an event called Yokagura which consists of 33 series of episodes that tell about gods and goddesses.  Every night, the shortened version is displayed for tourists at Takachiho Shrine. The show consists of several story scenes with a duration of one hour. Performances are performed by traditional dancers wearing masks and accompanied by traditional Japanese musical instruments. The show is held in the Yokagura performance hall, which is a few steps from the main shrine. Takachiho Shrine can be accessed by a 15-minute walk from the Takachiho Bus Center.

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