Autumn Colors Report 2014 - Hossawa-no-taki Waterall, the Only Waterfall in Tokyo Designated as Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/4.5, 1/400 sec, ISO-100)

Today, I'm going to see Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall, the only waterfall in Tokyo which is designated as Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls. It is located in Hinohara, a village in the west of Tokyo, and welcomes visitors mostly by bus from Musashi-Itsukaichi Station.

As soon as I reached Musashi-Itsukaichi Station, I made a big mistake. There were tens of people waiting for the bus. I guess some of them are for the waterfall, but most are coming here to enjoy climbing. I was not willing to get on the bus full of people so I decided to walk, not knowing that it's a long trip from here to the waterfall.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/3200 sec, ISO-100)

No need to get lost because all I need to do is to walk straight to the west. I just walked and walked through the town.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO-100)

As the street goes along Akikawa Valley, I walked down to the valley once. The water was surprisingly transparent.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/500 sec, ISO-100)

I went back to the street and started to walk again. The street goes into the mountainous area.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO-100)

Once you look at the right side of the street, you will see Akikawa Valley. It does look like a valley. The river is much narrower and steeper. But the season of autumn colors has ended already.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/640 sec, ISO-100)

I walked and walked. Now the street is not for pedestrians at all. I'm happy to see some beautiful sceneries on the way, but I was kind of regretting not getting on the bus now...

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/2000 sec, ISO-100)

Finally, I found a bus stop of Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall! It was around two and a half hour's walk. If I have a chance to come here again, I will definitely use the bus. *laugh*

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/1000 sec, ISO-100)

OK. Let's change my mind and start walking to the waterfall!

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/500 sec, ISO-100)

It is quite easy to walk here. You won't lose your way because there are lots of signboards to the waterfall.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 4 sec, ISO-100)

It takes about 10 or 20 minutes from the bus stop. Now I found Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall! The surroundings still have some autumn colors. It seems like surroundings of waterfalls have the peak period of autumn colors 2 weeks later than their regions in general.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 6 sec, ISO-100)

The water flows gently. This is Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall, one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls, and the only one in Tokyo.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec, ISO-100)

The bottom of the waterfall looks like this. The water hits the rock and the basin, and it makes refreshing sounds.

After taking many photos here, I decided to see two other waterfalls near Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall. But soon, it started SNOWING.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/3.5, 1/100 sec, ISO-100)

As far as I know, this is the first snow in Tokyo this year. Mountain weather is changeable. But my intuition tells me this snow stops soon. I decided to walk.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/50 sec, ISO-200)

Here's the entrance of the area of waterfalls. The snow has already stopped.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec, ISO-200)

The path continues like this. It is a mountain path, but it only needed 10 minutes to see the first waterfall.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 15 sec, ISO-100)

Here's Shou-Tengu-taki Waterfall, which literally means a small waterfall of a long-nosed goblin.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 3.2 sec, ISO-400)

I saw autumn colors around the waterfall. Indeed, autumn colors near waterfalls come later.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 4 sec, ISO-100)

Another 5 minutes is all you need to see Tengu-taki Waterfall. The name literally means a normal version of Shou-Tengu-taki Waterfall, but the volume of the water looks much smaller.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/100 sec, ISO-100)

Then, let's walk again to Ayataki Waterfall. The signboard says it is 0.7km from here.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM (50mm, f/1.4, 1/50 sec, ISO-200)

I walked on the mountain path again for about 15 minutes.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (24mm, f/22, 6 sec, ISO-100)

And this is Ayataki Waterfall. Hmm... the volume is so small that I barely hear the sound from a distance. I remember Otonashi-no-taki Waterfall in Kyoto (It literally means the waterfall without sound.), but this waterfall has less sound than that. I dare to say that Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall is much better so I'll add another photo of Hossawa-no-taki Waterfall here.

Canon EOS 6D, Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 IIDG HSM (14mm, f/22, 8 sec, ISO-100)

I climbed the slope and shooted from the top. The basin of the waterfall looks green and transparent. This waterfall freezes beautifully in February so I must visit here again.