Sekinoo Falls

8 November 2024

After a drive down Miyazaki’s scenic Nichinan Coast, we headed inland towards the mountains of Kirishima. We had time to visit one more attraction on our way to Kagoshima where we would be staying for the night. It was either Kirishima Shrine or Sekinoo Waterfall.

We had seen enough of shrines for the day, so Sekinoo Falls was our choice.

Sekinoo Falls

It took about 1.5 hours of driving to get to the falls from Udo Shrine. We parked our car in front of the Snow Peak Cafe (Google Map location here).

When we got out from the car, we could hear the sound of the waterfall. Sekinoo Falls is one of Miyazaki's largest and most powerful waterfalls. No wonder we could hear it from the car park. This waterfall is also selected as Japan’s Top 100 Waterfalls and Japanese Geopark!

A signboard explaining the origin of the waterfall and what to see at this place.

There is a walking trail that leads down to a suspension bridge that offers the best view. Along the trail to the falls, we saw a small red shrine that looks a bit peculiar. Unfortunately I did not take a photo of the shrine.

View of Sekinoo Falls and the suspension bridge at the start of the walking trail.

There is also a deep drain with fast flowing water along the side of the trail. I believe this drain is the source of one of the smaller waterfalls we saw downstream from the main waterfall.   

The suspension bridge is the best place to view the waterfalls.     

We stood in the middle of the bridge to watch the torrential falls crash onto volcanic rocks below. By this time, we were the only persons on the bridge. A slight spray from the waterfall could be felt on the bridge.          

Sekinoo Falls throws up a spray with a roaring sound as it falls down the cliff. 

The majestic Sekinoo Falls is comprised of three waterfalls: Ootaki, Otokotaki, and Onnataki. Ootaki being the largest one has a 40 m width and 18 m height. One of the smaller falls is at the right side of the main falls and was partially covered by trees. The other smaller falls is downstream from the suspension bridge.

Ootaki as viewed from the middle of the bridge.

Another angle of Ootaki from near the end of the bridge.One of the smaller waterfalls downstream from the bridge. There is a separate walking path from the car park to this waterfall that we did not take.  

View of lower Shonai River, downstream from the Sekinoo Falls.

After crossing the suspension bridge, we climbed up some stairs to get to the top of the waterfall. 

View of the Shonai River at the top of the waterfall.

Here we saw the shallow river flowing over many flat rocks, one to two meters in size, that seemed to scatter all over. The river bed is actually a single connected rock formation with “ouketsu ” or cracks on it. “Ouketsu” are translated as potholes. 

“ouketsu” or potholes at the top of Sekinoo Falls.

There is a walking path next to the river. We strolled up the path to view the over 600m long stretch of river with the potholes. 

Concrete bridge over the upper Shonai River where we could get closer look at the potholes.

Water flowing over the cracks in the river bed or potholes.

Long exposure photo of the flowing river.

It was a quiet and peaceful park. There was a camping ground on our left but there was no activity on the large field.

Further upstream, we spotted a family of small wild ducks playing on the river. They were quite fearful of humans and I could not get within range to photograph them.

Another concrete bridge further upstream.

We turned back at a concrete bridge that is located further upriver.  The path across the river was closed, so we had to use the same path we took back to the car park.

It was almost 4 PM when we returned to our car. The sun sets at about 5.30 PM in Kyushu and we wanted to avoid driving the rural roads in the dark. It took us about 1.5 hours to drive to Kagoshima, getting there just in time for check-in before sunset.