Joren Waterfall (Joren-no-taki [浄蓮の滝])

Izu Peninsula / Yugashima District, Shizuoka, Japan

About Joren Waterfall (Joren-no-taki [浄蓮の滝])

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Joren Waterfall (Joren-no-taki [浄蓮の滝]; also just called Joren Falls) was a gushing waterfall backed by some pretty pronounced basalt columns at its base.

According to the signage, the Joren Waterfall was the largest waterfall on Mt Amagi at 25m tall with a plunge pool that was said to be a pretty deep 15m.

Joren_Falls_021_10162016 - Joren Waterfall
Joren Waterfall

The mountain (more accurately a mountain range) was responsible for the formation of the Izu-hanto (Izu Peninsula).

The basalt that we noticed underneath the waterfall was said to have come from a lava flow sourced by the eruption of a “parasitic volcano” neighboring Amagi-san called Mt Hachikubo.

The signage here also said that the Joren Waterfall was one of the Top 100 Waterfalls in Japan, which was a list backed by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in 1990.

The waterfall was on the Kano River (狩野川), which happened to be a major river draining into the Surugawan (or Suruga Bay) by Numazu northwest of the Izu Peninsula so it was a permanent waterfall.

Numazu was a city where my Dad spent some time working in his younger days so he had a little personal connection to this area.

Experiencing the Joren Waterfall

Joren_Falls_050_10162016 - People donning umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain while experiencing the Joren Waterfall
People donning umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain while experiencing the Joren Waterfall

We happened to visit the Joren Waterfall on a day where it was raining pretty hard so the river took on a more swollen, turbulent, and muddy appearance.

Although the falls itself was naturesque, the developed footpath was flanked by a bit of infrastructure in the form of little cafes and farm shops both at the trailhead as well as at the viewing area at the base of the falls.

Given the developed nature of the walk, the rain waters seemed to be well channeled, and we surprisingly didn’t encounter big puddles or as much slick footing as I would have expected.

Unlike most of the signage we encountered around waterfalls like this (which were almost exclusively in Japanese), the interpretive signs here were multi-lingual including not only English but Korean, Chinese, and Portugese.

Joren_Falls_007_10162016 - Mom and Dad passing by some of the shops alongside the descending path to the bottom of the Joren Waterfall
Mom and Dad passing by some of the shops alongside the descending path to the bottom of the Joren Waterfall

This led me to believe that this waterfall wasn’t as far off the beaten path as I would have expected.

Detailed Description of our Joren Waterfall Visit

Our visit to the Joren Waterfall was pretty straightforward.

We started by descending from a well-signed and pretty spacious car park (see directions below) along some steps past some shops and a restroom facility.

Even from the elevated vantage point near the top of this trail, we were able to catch a partial glimpse of the Joren Waterfall down below.

Joren_Falls_014_10162016 - Descending the stepped walkway towards the base of the Joren Waterfall with the Kanogawa rushing down below
Descending the stepped walkway towards the base of the Joren Waterfall with the Kanogawa rushing down below

Encouraged that the view would be better at the bottom, we kept going down the path to get a closer look.

The descent continued past one switchback before terminating just past a few more buildings where the Joren Falls could easily be seen.

Apparently, this area was also known for growing fresh wasabi, and the buildings here actually sold some freshly-grown wasabi, which we learned was actually a plant where you grind its stem.

It definitely was not that green paste you might see in Japanese restaurants that maybe wouldn’t have access to the fresh stuff.

Joren_Falls_048_10162016 - Context of the Joren Falls with some neighboring shops and cafes, including one that apparently served locally grown wasabi
Context of the Joren Falls with some neighboring shops and cafes, including one that apparently served locally grown wasabi

We really came to appreciate this fact later on in our Japan trip when we mixed some of the fresh stuff into a shoyu mix as a very potent soba noodle dip.

Anyways, we wound up spending under an hour here encompassing the walking, the picture taking, and some extra preparation time to handle the fairly heavy rain during our visit.

Yet even with the bad weather and our visit being on a Monday, we were surprised to see that the falls was still pretty popular.

Joren Waterfall and the Legend of the Joro-gumo

While the swollen state of the Joren Waterfall kind of instilled a sense that it was forbidden to get near it, fittingly we had read a sign talking about the Legend of the Joro-gumo or Wasp Spider.

To make a long story short, a farmer took a web wound around his leg (thinking the spider who wound this had mistaken it for a tree branch) and placed it on a tree stump.

Joren_Falls_017_10162016 - Some plaques written in kanji put on a large boulder before the Joren Waterfall
Some plaques written in kanji put on a large boulder before the Joren Waterfall

But soon thereafter, the stump was dragged into the basin of the waterfall and the local farmer warned the rest of the villagers about the wasp spider.

Years later, a lumberjack from a different village was felling a tree near the falls before he dropped his hatchet into the waterfall’s plunge pool.

Thinking he had lost his tool, he eventually got his hatchet back only after some beautiful woman returned it to him.

However, she only did so under the condition that not a word about her existence be uttered lest he would lose his life.

Sure enough, after drinking with friends and letting out word of his experience with the beautiful woman (who happened to be a shapeshifted wasp spider), he never woke up again after passing out.

Authorities

The Joren Waterfall resides in the Yugashima District near Izu of the Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is administered by the Izu Peninsula Geopark. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: izu, shizuoka, joren, waterfall, yugashima, kano, river, kanogawa, jorogumo, prefectural national monument, japan, top 100



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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