Nachi Falls

One of the three most famous waterfalls in Japan, this 133-meter-high waterfall breaks through a deep primeval forest. The drop is the highest in Japan. It is also called “San-suji-no-taki” (three-suji waterfall) because there are three cuts in the bedrock at the choshi (choshi mouth), and the waterfall begins to fall in three separate drops.　The waterfall is revered as the sacred body of Tobitaki Shrine, and the “Otaki shimenawa-henshi event” is held twice a year, on July 9 and December 27, in accordance with an ancient ritual. In the past, people from all over the world who came to the waterfall would put sutras in a sutra case, pass through the Otorii gate at the entrance to Otaki, and deposit them in the “Nachi Sutra Mound” on the left side. Whenever members of the imperial family made a pilgrimage, they erected a memorial stupa along the approach to the waterfall, and a copy of the stupa erected by Emperor Kameyama on his visit in the 4th year of the Kouan Era is still kept in the treasure hall. The path from the entrance to the Otaki Main Shrine is made of stone tatami mats and is called the “Kamakura Stacked Stone Staircase.