Ginga Waterfall (Ginga-no-taki [銀河の滝]) and Ryusei Waterfall (Ryusei-no-taki [流星の滝])

The Ginga Waterfall (Ginga-no-taki [銀河の滝]; Ginga Falls) and Ryusei Waterfall (Ryusei-no-taki [流星の滝]; Ryusei Falls) comprise another set of Japanese waterfall twin towers. What really mades this one stand out for us was the huge rock cliff protruding between the falls with hints of a snowy mountainous backcountry right behind the scene. Being in Hokkaido (North Sea Island as the Chinese refer to it and is reflected in the kanji), it was also a pretty peaceful experience visiting the waterfall pairing, and it reminded us of how waterfalling should be, which was a notion that was easily lost when we were waterfalling in

Nearby these falls is the Sounkyo Gorge where there was also a popular onsen complex. Had we been really healthy and knew how to survive in bear country, then we could've also taken a 7-hour long trek through nearly pristine alpine scenery that hooked up with the Tenninkyo Gorge on the other side of Daisetsuzan (Big Snow Mountain if I read the kanji correctly) National Park. Needless to say, we didn't do that (especially with Julie's phobia of bears that were bigger than the California black bear that we were more familiar with).

Right behind the shops at the large car park (see directions below), we walked up a series of stairs (with wood chips in them probably to keep the path from getting too muddy) to a pair of viewing decks. The middle one was about half-way up and provided a view much better than the one we got at the car park. But the upper viewing deck was even better as we were further above the tree line that would've blocked parts of the falls in the distance from our line-of-sight.

It was interesting to note that local signs here had also referred to this waterfall pairing as the "husband and wife" falls. Which one was the hubby and which one was the wife? We'll leave it up to you to decide though we can probably guess in a mostly male-dominated society which one's which.

And speaking of which, we thought it was a good idea to hire a car in Hokkaido instead of catching the buses which seemed to come here quite infrequently. I'd say Hokkaido was generally the exception to the rule of trusting the excellent Japanese public transport system.

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The Ginga Waterfall

The Ryusei Waterfall; a sign there spelled it Ryu Sei No Taki

Some wildflowers were growing in front of Ryusei-no-taki

Wood chips on the stairs

Julie checks out the scene from the middle platform

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Looking up at just the Ginga Waterfall


Bottom up view of the falls pair from the middle platform


View of the falls pair from the upper platform


Looking up at the falls from the river level

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TRIP REPORTS

• June 6, 2009

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