Yatsubuchi-no-Taki

What?
According to the Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan guidebook (2001 version), the Yatsubuchi-no-taki hike (八淵の滝) is "a thrilling climb up a narrow gorge with eight lovely waterfalls* topped off with great views of Lake Biwa (琵琶湖). Probably the most exciting one-day hike in Kansai"*.
Where?
The waterfalls all are located in Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県), west of Lake Biwa in the Hira Mountain Range. The course describes the starting at Kurodani bus stop (黒谷) which can be reached from the Ohmi-Takashima Station (近江高島駅) on the Kosei Line (湖西線). This line is directly connected with Kyoto (京都) and Osaka (大阪). From there the hike is supposedly to go up a gorge with eight waterfalls, over a few mountain ridges and down to Kitakomatsu Station 北小松駅 on the same Kosei Line. We however went further than that to Hira Station (比良駅).
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I’ve done my fair share of walks and hikes in Japan, but in general I like to do them alone, in one single day and on a fairly easy level. However it always pained me that I had barely used my old Hiking in Japan Lonely Planet guide book that I had bought several years ago. It’s a 2001 edition, but hey, nature doesn’t just vanish, does it?

I read and re-read several blogs of people who have done this hike and it was clear that I should not be doing this alone, so I invited 2 of my fellow Belgian friends.
The 3 of us left early from Hyogo-prefecture to go via Ohmi-Takashima station to the Kurodani bus stop as indicated in our Lonely Planet guide. As I read in other blogs it’s normal that all Japanese get off at Gulliver Mura, so we weren’t alarmed that we were the only ones getting off at this extremely remote village – if we can even call it that.

The first issue with the antiquity of the Lonely Planet guide came quickly. Getting to the top of the valley there should have been a fork in the road and we should have taken the right. No fork. Only one way blocked by a fence. We had to go straight though. The fence didn’t mean that it was prohibited to enter, but it was just put there to keep bears out. So we passed the fence and had a very leisurely walk until we came to the first chains.
The thrill of the chains and ladders of the course adds even more to the mesmerizing beauty of these unspoiled waterfalls. But I should mention that this course is extremely dangerous. One unsteady foot on a slippery rock and you are sure to have at least wet clothes. But people die every year at this hiking trail, so it could be way worse.

At a certain point we came to the famous rock with strange inscriptions that is supposed to say “Yatsubuchi-no-Taki”. Lonely Planet mentions a track that goes to Iburigi-no-Koba, but for the love of me I have no clue why they included this. It’s only confusing and send us in the wrong way. Everyone who wants to try this course with their Lonely Planet in hand: ignore this Iburigi-part and just climb straight up the waterfalls. We had taken this track behind the rock and climbed around 300 steep meters before realizing that we never should have parted from the main waterway.
At this point we had to change our plan to arrive on time at the foot of the mountain. Recent versions of the Lonely Planet guide will probably have been corrected, but my 2001 version still mentioned the Hira Cablecar. So our new plan was to track back to the waterfalls, finish the absolutely stunning waterfall-part of the hike, get to the ropeway and go down from there.

View on the first waterfall: Gyodome Waterfall.

Some serious stunts to be made at Shoji Waterfall.

One of the many ladders and chains.

Rocks and water make for beautiful scenery.

The waterfalls kept on following each other, the next always a bit more impressive than the other. The climax was the gigantic Kibune Waterfall which is 30m in height. Arriving on top of this waterfall there should have been a junction leading us to the cablecar, but signage was very confusing and we could really only figure out one single path: the one indicated by red paint on rocks and red stripes on white tape on trees. According to Lonely Planet it should have been a 30 minute climb, but somewhere along the way we must have lost orientation. We did see one arrow to the microwave relay station, but that would mean that we surpass the ropeway and Hira lodge that we were aiming for. So we tracked straight ahead on increasingly difficult terrain, following yellow tape that had at one point replaced the red and white ones. We were starting to get worried, but decided to follow the only arrow we had seen pointing to a pond. If our map and instincts were right, this pond would be right nearby the Hira Lodge and Cablecar.

We were quite euphoric that after an hour and a half or so through dense woods we came upon a clearing on top of the mountain with clear signage. However, the arrow pointing to Hira Lodge and Hira Cablecar was painted over in red paint… it couldn’t be…
We left the pond for what it was and went to take a look in the direction of the “vandalized” arrow. Alas, it was not vandalized… Arriving at the junction that we were aiming for it was instantly clear that there was nothing to be found here. A map sign that we had seen on a previous blog was broken and lay partly on the ground. The Hira Lodge visible in the distance was clearly abandoned and there was no sign whatsoever of a cablecar. Looking at the old map signage, traces of the lodge and ropeway where sprayed over with red point, just like the earlier arrows. Doing some research on the internet later at home showed me both were abandoned in 2004… quite a while ago…

This was 4 o’clock in the afternoon and it started getting chilly and the sun was visibly on its way down. We started to talk about our options. The worst option is call 119. The fire department in the area had safety spots at regular intervals.
But although it would be a once-in-a-lifetime-experience, we didn’t want it to come that far. Tucking the Lonely Planet away we relied on google earth and headed for a point where a road would start. The only new sign post on the abandoned plateau indicated the Kita-Hira Pass. But while this sign was new, another old one showed the name of the pass again painted over in red. But we needed to go that way so we ignored this ominous sign. Initially this seemed a bad decision, as a landslide had clearly washed away any path there once could have been. A bit further we did see some signage so we risked the traverse over the landslide’s rubbish. This was clearly the most dangerous part of the whole hike and we only did this because time was running out. If you have time, look for a different access because this was beyond crazy.
However arriving at the signage the path was clear, easy to walk and most importantly going down. While going down was the only choice we had, we didn’t actually know where we headed until we met a reckless young hiker who turned out to be our savior. Hiking up in short sleeves with no trace of sweat nor a bell to scare away bears, this guy only had a tent and his good humour with him. And a good map! He said the Hira Ropeway still existed, but he pointed to another point on the map. This guy was so young that he probably never even heard of the original Hira Ropeway. Anyway, he showed us where we were and confirmed that if we would keep following the same path down we would eventually arrive on a road that could lead us to the nearest Hira Station. We wanted to kiss the guy and take him home with us as a souvenir, or at least to buy him a whole evening of drinks. But he said he was going to put his tent up at the pond that we previously left for what it was. What a hero!

From this point we hurried down the path without stopping, allowing us to arrive at the bottom of the mountain before it became dark. Following paved roads we still walked another hour to arrive at Hira Station and at that point it was already pitch- black.
It didn’t matter to us: in a very soapy dramatic spirit we were happy to be alive. So when we arrived at our place for the night (Miraikan near Ohmi-Maiko Station – a nice place with very friendly proprietors) we did what any man would do that had just a near-death experience: soak in a sento and enjoy some freshly poured beers.

Apart from crossing the first waterfall and the landslide at the top of the mountain I never really felt in great danger, but this hike is seriously difficult on very rugged terrain.
Most importantly, I learned to check mainly Japanese sources on the internet before I go somewhere, and always to have a topographical map with me.

All in all, Lonely Planet describes this as the most thrilling day hike in the Kansai area.
Well, thrilling at a whole different level, and though only completing half of the course (but doing some serious climbing instead), they were very correct: it was thrilling and beautiful.

We’ll go again with better preparations!