Hikes in Japan: The Nunobiki Falls Trail

BASIC INFORMATION

• Name: The Nunobiki Falls Trail
• Location: Kobe, Japan
• Distance: 3 miles (4.8 km)
• Max Elevation: 851 feet (259 m)
• Elevation Gain: 1,003 feet (305 m)
• Time: 1-2 hours
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: Hiking in Japan

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Elevation Map of the Trail

Directions

The trailhead for the Nunobiki Falls Trail is located behind the Shin-Kobe Station in Kobe, Japan.  This makes reaching the trailhead extremely easy by Shinkansen.  For those traveling by subway there is a station underneath the ANA Crowne Plaza hotel to access the trailhead from.

Parking

Adjacent to Shin-Kobe Station is the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel which has a very large pay parking garage in it.

Narrative

Whenever I travel to Osaka by car I like to stay in Kobe because of the cheaper prices, less traffic, and better parking options.  The hotel I stay at in Kobe is the ANA Crowne Plaza.  This hotel is located adjacent to Shin-Kobe Station which is set right below the steep mountains that backdrop the city of Kobe, Japan:

During my previous stays at this hotel, I had not realized there was an amazingly scenic trail to Nunobiki Falls nearby.  Nunobiki Falls is known as one of the three great divine waterfalls in Japan.  The others are Nachi Falls in Wakayama prefecture and Kegon Falls in Tochigi prefecture. Once I had learned about this trail I decided I had to check it out during my next stay in Kobe.  My family and I had decided to visit Universal Studios in Osaka and once again stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Kobe.  The morning after visiting Universal Studios, I decided to hike up to Nunobiki Falls.  To reach the trailhead, from the Crowne Plaza Hotel, I walked over to Shin-Kobe Station and took the escalator down to the bottom floor.  I exited the station and saw this large sign pointing hikers towards the Nunobiki Falls Trailhead:

I soon found this signboard with a nice map of the trails in the area. My plan was to take the main trail highlighted in the darker color on the map all the way up to the Nunobiki Reservoir:

From the signboard it was a short walk through a small neighborhood and across a bridge:

The water that flows under the bridge is the same creek that forms Nunobiki Falls further upstream:

On the other side of the bridge there was another map and one of many Shinto shrines that can be seen along the trail:

I was a bit surprised when almost immediately after entering the forest I came upon the first waterfall of Nunobiki Falls:

Nunobiki Falls is composed of four different waterfalls and the first one is called Mentaki Falls:

This is a very impressive waterfall to be seen so close to a Shinkansen station.  However, to see more of the waterfalls was going to require me to do a lot of ascending up the trail’s many stairs:

As I ascended up the stairs I passed this large rock with kanji carved into it.  If anyone knows what this says please leave a comment:

As I walked up the trail I saw the second waterfall known as Tsuzumigataki Falls:

Just above this waterfall there was a large pool of water that had a beautiful emerald green color to it:

I next came to the most spectacular part of this hike which is the two tiered Ontaki and Meotodaki Falls:

Ontaki Falls though is the waterfall most Japanese people picture when they think of Nunobiki Falls:

This is because of the waterfall’ is depicted in the book the Tales of Ise that describes a trip taken by a governmental official and his guests to Nunobiki Falls. Sitting here viewing this waterfall they decided to have a poetry contest. The government official wrote the below poem inspired by the waterfall:

It looks as though someone
Must be unstringing
Those clear cascading gems.
Alas! My sleeves are too narrow
To hold them all

Since I was hiking this trail in August, even in the morning it was extremely hot. I wish I could have jumped into the water to cool off, but there was plenty of signs saying no swimming.  This is understandable because if swimming was allowed here, this pool would be absolutely swamped with people in it:

After spending about 15 minutes enjoying the view of waterfall I then decided to keep hiking up the trail after another group of hikers arrived.  This of course meant ascending up more stairs:

At the top of the stairs I spotted another small Shinto shrine:

Near the shrine was a large teahouse that had not opened yet that morning for business. What I found amazing was that the teahouse had large vending machines and there was no road to bring them in on.  Did they wheel them in on dollies up the trail and all those stairs?:

Just a short walk up the trail from the teahouse there is a restroom facility:

The trail next comes to a large overlook of the city:

On the right I could see my hotel, the ANA Crowne Plaza where I began my hike from:

From the lookout I had a shortwalk to reach my final stop on this hike the Nunobiki Reservoir which was .6 kilometers away:

From this section of the trail I could see the ropeway that takes visitors from the station located near the Crowne Plaza Hotel up to the top of the mountain.  I also saw what appeared to be a swinging bridge:

Down below me I could see the viewing area for Nunobiki Falls that I was previously at:

As I hiked further up the trail I came to yet another large waterfall:

This waterfall poured down from the reservoir below it, but did not have any great views because of the foliage around it:

From this waterfall I ascended up more stairs to reach the dam:

Here is the view of the reservoir from the dam:

At the dam there is a signboard that explained how this reservoir stores Kobe’s drinking water.  It also explained how this dam is the oldest concrete dam in Japan that was built back in 1900.  The signboard also showed how the trail ascended even further up the mountain, but I needed to get back to my hotel to meet up with my family for breakfast:

So I took in one final view of the clear waters of Nunobiki Reservoir before starting my descent back down the mountain:

About .5 kilometers back down the trail, I decided to cross this bridge and take another trail down the mountain to turn this into a loop hike:

Here is the view across the bridge:

Here is the view looking down at the creek as it flows before the bridge:

On the far side of the bridge I saw some more kanji inscribed in the rock that I had no idea what it said:

After passing the bridge I then had a view of Kobe below me:

As I continued on the trail I was surprised to find it ascending up the mountain again.  I also found that the trail was overgrown in spots and not as well maintained as the main trail I was previously on:

I then found myself closer to the swinging bridge I saw earlier, but now I was close enough to see it was actually a safety net for the ropeway above it:

Eventually the trail began to descend down the mountain again and I began to get swarmed with gnats and mosquitos:

This part of the hike was horrible because I had to constantly swipe bugs off of me.  I highly recommend a bug net for anyone wanting to hike this trail down the mountain from Nunobiki Falls.  I began to trot down the trail in an attempt to escape the attacking bugs. I was eventually so happy to hear the sounds of the city below me and then eventually to see this home:

Passed this home I found myself back on the main trail in the small neighborhood behind Shin-Kobe Station and away from the swarms of bugs.  I had the corpses of insects all over my neck, face, arms, and legs.  I must have been quite a site as I walked through Shin-Kobe Station back to my hotel covered in sweat and dead bugs. For anyone wanting to do this hike I highly recommend that people just take the main trail back down the mountain during the warmer months to avoid the bugs.

Conclusion

Overall this is an easy hike if just hiking up to Nunobiki Falls.  This waterfall is one of Japan’s three most sacred waterfalls for good reason and its easy access makes it a must see site for anyone visiting Kobe.  A little more challenge can be added if hiking up to the Nunobiki Reservoir or other locations further up the trail is added.  Don’t miss seeing this scenic wonder in the fun city of Kobe, Japan.