Nabegataki Falls

5 November 2024

Nabegataki Falls is one of the most impressive waterfalls on the island of Kyushu in Japan and is only a 30 minutes drive from Kurokawa Onsen.

Although we visited on a weekday, I bought our entry tickets online (300 yen per person) one day before as it was recommended to do so during peak travel season where there may be a quota set for ticket sale. Once payment is made, we received an email with our tickets in the form of QR codes.

I had planned to visit this waterfall in the morning as I have read that the best time to take photos at this place is with the rays of the morning sun, streaming in through the leaves of the forest canopy and lighting up the mist in the air.

We arrived at the falls at 9.40 AM. There are free parking at Nabegataki Falls and there were plenty of spaces. After showing our QR codes to the attendants, we walked down a flight of steps into the valley below. The walk to the waterfall only takes five minutes but we took some time to appreciate the tall trees along the way.        

Path leading down to the waterfall.

Appreciating the tall trees and fresh morning air at Nabegataki Falls.

 A sign warns of snakes but we did not see any. Just a precaution, I guess.

The path would lead visitors to the side of the waterfall. We went off the path to view the falls from the river bank. Although the falls at 10 meters height and 20 meters width is not very big, it is extremely beautiful with the water cascading down gracefully in a gentle arc.

The falls are 10 meters high and 20 meters wide, with a curtain of water that is illuminated by sunlight.

I was slightly disappointed that we could not see the rays of the morning sun streaming through the trees. The sky was cloudy and the morning mist had already dissipated. Nevertheless, the waterfall is extremely attractive and I set up my Samsung S24 on a slim tripod to take some long exposure shots. I was glad I had learnt to use the newly available built-in Neutral Density (ND) Filter feature in the phone’s camera for such shots.

Setting up my phone mounted on my flimsy tripod on top of some moss covered rocks.

Nabegataki Falls is very popular and there are visitors streaming by almost continuously. It was good we came early and there were no bus loads of visitors. I had to be patient to wait for fellow visitors to get out of the frame so I could take my shots. I was glad my wife was patient with me and I could take my time to get the shots I wanted.

Long exposure shot of Nabegataki Falls.

Setting up my phone camera at the sides of the falls.

Long exposure shot of Nabegataki Falls from a different perspective. 

One cool feature of Nabegataki Falls is that we could see back of the waterfall. We walked behind the wide curtain of water, underneath the rock face that the torrent of water was pouring down from.

A rocky and muddy path leads to a cave behind the falls.

View from behind the waterfall.

See the lines on the floor where water level had recently been at. 

We could walk all the way to the opposite side of the waterfall from the back. Panoramic view of the waterfall.

A couple photo in front of the falls.             

Most people would return via the path behind the waterfall again. The more adventurous ones could skip over the rocks across the river in front of the waterfall if the water level was not too high. This was what we did.

Instead of going behind the falls, this group decides to cross over to the opposite side via the rocks first.

A fellow photographer had set up a tripod with a DSLR on some large rocks near the middle of the river. I set up my phone and tripod slightly behind to shoot a few photos from this viewpoint as well.

Photo of me and the other photographer taken by my wife.

One last long exposure shot of the waterfall from the center of the river.

After experiencing the beauty of Nabegataki Falls, it was good to understand how this waterfall was formed. Like many wonderful places in Kyushu, the Aso volcano was involved.

Information on how the waterfall in its present form was crafted by mother nature and father time.

A massive eruption from Mount Aso occurred approximately 90,000 years ago. The eruption created the Aso caldera that we would be visiting later in the day and the geological formations that the Nabegataki River cascades over.

The pyroclastic flow from the volcano’s eruption deposited over the existing river and hardened into rock to form the upper part of the present waterfall. The strata of soft sediment that used to be the existing river forms the lower layer.

Over the thousands of years, the softer layers was eroded by water flowing down the river and then the waterfall. This created the space at the back of the waterfall  that looks like a cave with the harder upper layer forming a cantilever over it.

Overall, we spent about an hour at this special place. Definitely a must see when visiting the northern part of Kyushu.