Northern Ibaraki - Hananuki Valley & Rokkakudo



What?

Hananuki Gorge (花貫渓谷) is pleasantly located in a valley filled with small waterfalls and is famous for its small suspension bridge next to the Shiomi Waterfall (汐見滝). While it is most popular during autumn when the leaves change color it can be enjoyed all year long, especially with the nearby hiking courses and camping grounds. One of the hiking courses leads to the top of the 600 meter high (small?) Mount Tsuchidake (土岳山).

The Rokkakudo Pavilion (六角堂) was designed by modern arts pioneer Tenshin Okakura. While it was destroyed in 2011 during the Tohoku earthquake and following tsunami, it can now be visited again in a small park dedicated to the formerly mentioned artist.

Where?

Both Hananuki Gorge and Rokkakudo are located in the north of Ibaraki Prefecture (茨城県) and are difficult to reach. For Hananuki Gorge you need to get off at Takahagi Station (高萩駅) on the JR Joban Line (常磐線). From there you can take a bus but it will only take you halfway. The easiest is to take a taxi, but it will cost you dearly.
To reach Rokkakudo you need to take the same Joban Line but get off at Otsuko Station (大津港駅). A few days a week a bus runs between the station and the nearby Ibaraki Museum of Arts, but as it runs incredibly infrequent a 50 minute walk is the better option. There are different approaches, but all lead through the Japanese countryside and have their charm.


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Japan Travel (Hananuki Valley)
Japan Travel (Rokkakudo)

Everybody has their favorite things while travelling; for some it’s temples and shrines, others love castles while some folks love the bustle of the big city. I love nature and enjoy a good hike. This doesn't have to be tough. Nor does it have to have too much elevation change. I just want a decent walk or hike in beautiful nature. As I knew that the Fukuroda Falls would give me a good view but not a good walk or hike, I anticipated with adding Hananuki Valey to my itinerary. I chose Hananuki Valley because Tsukuba seemed a bit too hard to fit in my schedule and because the pictures on the Ibaraki Tourism website seemed very appealing.

But there were 3 problems:
1/ There is barely any info on walking courses near Hananuki Valley, so I didn’t know what to expect.
2/ The pictures on the internet are all taken in autumn when the leaves changes color. I was going in the heart of summer.
3/ Accessibility is a huge problem: you can go halfway by bus, but otherwise you need to walk or take a taxi.

Without knowing what to expect and how much time I would spend in the valley, I decided to go there anyway. A little bit of adventure. Problem No. 3 came right at me though. A one way trip by taxi costs more than 3000 yen! So this valley would better be very good.

The driver dropped me off at the Hananuki Keikoku Parking Lot. There are 2 waterfalls around 30 meters away, but I decided to keep these for last. The walk from the parking lot to the Shiomi Waterfall Supension Bridge – the bridge that figures in all the pictures – was very lame. It runs over a concrete road, and while the neighboring river seems pretty it’s impossible to enjoy from the road. The scenery at the suspension bridge and waterfall is quite nice though, especially because I was all alone. However nothing to justify a taxi fare of more than 6000 yen.

And here Problem No. 2 kicked in; it was off-season for this spot, so the path beyond the suspension bridge was blocked for maintenance works. So was the concrete road, which left me with nowhere to go. But I didn’t come here and spend all that money to leave after half an hour, so I ignored the signage and took the path beyond the bridge anyway. And rightfully so, as the works only extended to around 5 meters at the end of the path. Even so, this was not a really exciting walk of merely 15 minutes, so I decided to look at the signage posts and to climb Mount Tsuchidake (土岳山) that tops at 600 meters. Not too tough, right?

Wrong. The start is pretty straightforward, but quite quickly followed by a long stretch of stairs. This is already a bit tough, but the hard part only starts where the stairs ended. The path pretty much became a mere sea of boulders. Tsuchigatake is only 600 meters high but the ascent is really challenging (and so would be the decent – these rocks and boulders are really dangerous!). The path was quite overgrown and I didn’t meet anyone on the way up (I would meet 1 person going down). Blame the off-season part and the rain that was coming up. I arrived at the top quite early, but already clouds were closing in rapidly and it started to drizzle. I enjoyed a few minutes at the pretty open field and watch tower on the top, but the clouds chased me down quite fast.

At this point I’d say that Hananuki Valley and Mount Tsuchidake were quite pleasant despite the weather, but absolutely not worth the money you have to spend to get there.
Arriving back at the parking lot though I checked out the Fudo Waterfall (不動滝) and Otome Waterfall (乙女滝) and while still not justifying the money, they were both of above average beauty, not in the least because I was all alone and could sneak up quite close.

I ended the trip in the nearby Torisone Soba/Udon restaurant where I had a very nice chat with the proprietress. So all in all I don’t regret coming here, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t have your own wheels.


As I had a very early start I had a whole afternoon left over. I decided to travel on to Otsuko Station (大津港駅) and visit the Izura Rokkakudo. This small building is part of a picturesque garden created by Tenshin Okakura, one of the forerunners of Japanese modern art. The building was destroyed during the 2011 earthquake and following tsunami (and is still listed as such on the English Ibaraki Tourism website), but has been rebuild one year later.
Just like with the Hananuki Valley, the problem is not the quality of the attraction. I spent around 30 minutes watching the rather wild waves crashing onto the coast; just enjoying the moment, the nature and the peacefulness of the small garden. But the problem is the accessibility. The small garden is 50 minutes away from the station on foot. On Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a very infrequent bus to the nearby Ibaraki Museum of Arts, but that’s it. So again: yes, it was nice, but I wouldn’t recommend this if you don’t have your own wheels.



>>More pictures<<


Yoris

Just dwelling away.

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