Ama No Yasukawara Cave
From the Ama No Iwato Shrine take a 10-minute walk along the Iwato River, past many delicious looking icecream stalls, descend a steepish path over a simple, arched bridge into the river valley, follow the river path for a few minutes and rounding a corner you will suddenly come to a vast cavern by the river. This is the legendary spot where the Japanese Gods descended to Earth to discuss how to tempt the Sun Goddess Amaterasu out of hiding.
The cavern is a mysterious place, in the dark recesses a simple Shinto shrine stands, displaying nothing more than a plain, round mirror; the symbol of the Sun Goddess. Stranger still surrounding the shrine, spreading out across the cave floor and balancing precariously on the cave walls all the way to the riverside are thousands and thousands of small rock piles. These originate from the custom for visitors to carry stones to the site and arrange them in small piles as a prayer that their wishes may be answered. This gives the site the feeling of a huge sculptural art installation adding a truly mystical and sacred feeling to the site.
Travel Tips:
To reach the cavern, is a 20 minute drive from Takachiho Town, either rent a car or take a taxi and ask the driver to wait for you (expect to pay around 4000 – 5000 Yen) or how about taking a private tour to the Takachiho area, contact Explore Kumamoto for details.
The cavern is free to enter and the nearby shrine offers free parking.
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