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Seseki Waterfall (seseki-no-taki [セセキの滝])

Rausu, Hokkaido, Japan

About Seseki Waterfall (seseki-no-taki [セセキの滝])

Rating: 2
Difficulty: 2
Hiking Distance: 1.6km round trip (from public car park); otherwise roadside
Suggested Time: 1 hour
Date first visited: 2023-07-18
Date last visited: 2023-07-18
Waterfall Latitude: 44.17259
Waterfall Longitude: 145.30662
Directions: Get to the waterfall
Vicinity: Find nearby waterfalls
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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

The Seseki Waterfall (seseki-no-taki [セセキの滝]; “Hot Spring Falls” in Ainu?) was a rather unsung and obscure but tall seaside waterfall spilling towards a sleepy village on the east coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula.

Of course, this was really a waterfalling excuse to experience the Seseki Onsen, which was a seaside hot spring that’s free and public when it’s not high tide.

Seseki_081_07172023 - The Seseki Waterfall in the Eastern Shiretoko Peninsula
The Seseki Waterfall in the Eastern Shiretoko Peninsula

When it’s high tide, then the onsen can be submerged under the sea water, making it unsafe for bathers given the combination of deeper water and waves.

Nevertheless, seaside hot springs like this aren’t very common in Japan (let alone the world), and the novelty of bathing here while staring at the sea or even the Seseki Falls in the distance was a real treat.

There were two pools at the Seseki Onsen, but the smaller cold one was a feeder pool for the larger hot one.

Needless to say, it’s the larger hot spring that you’ll want to bathe in, but definitely watch out for very hot water that bubbles in because it can easily burn you in those spots.

Seseki_027_07172023 - Looking at the context of the larger pool of the Seseki Onsen with Seseki Falls way in the distance (hard to see in this photo)
Looking at the context of the larger pool of the Seseki Onsen with Seseki Falls way in the distance (hard to see in this photo)

The water in the Seseki Onsen can also be a bit on the slimy side given the amount of algae that grows here.

Apparently, donations are appreciated for periodic clean up of these onsens.

Anyways, going back to the waterfall, despite it being essentially roadside, it’s so obscure that it didn’t even appear to have an official sanctioned pullout or car park.

Therefore, we actually had to walk to this waterfall from the Seseki Onsen, which did have a public car park (see directions below).

Seseki_051_07172023 - Mom and my nephew walking along the Route 87 towards the Seseki Waterfall
Mom and my nephew walking along the Route 87 towards the Seseki Waterfall

The roadside walk along the narrow road between Seseki Onsen and Seseki Waterfall (so passing cars did have to swerve around us) was about 800m in each direction (or 1.6km round trip).

It was during this walk that we noticed the main industry was cultivating seaweed (so there was definitely a strong seaweed smell here).

Harvesting seaweed was apparently a big deal in and around the Rausu side of Shiretoko Peninsula because they apparently supply high quality seaweed to the rest of Japan.

There was also road work going on during our mid-July 2023 visit, where we saw crew rappelling and doing dangerous work trying to mitigate against rockfalls potentially impacting the Route 87 Road.

Seseki_056_07172023 - Looking up at some workers trying to perform rockfall mitigation measures to protect the Route 87, which is the only road up and down the east coast of Shiretoko north of Rausu
Looking up at some workers trying to perform rockfall mitigation measures to protect the Route 87, which is the only road up and down the east coast of Shiretoko north of Rausu

It was dangerous, but necessary work because this was the only road going up and down this coastline.

Overall, we spent about 45 minutes away from the car.

That said, I did see one driver “cheat” by pulling out in an unsanctioned driveway to get his shot before continuing on.

Authorities

The Seseki Waterfall resides north of the town of Rausu in the Menashi District of Hokkaido, Japan. It may be administered by the local authorities in Rausu. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Nasukarasuyama Tourism Association website.

Seseki_003_07172023 - Looking back at the public car park and restroom facility directly opposite the Seseki Onsen
Seseki_004_07172023 - Looking way in the distance to the south along the coastline towards the Seseki Waterfall (which is kind of thin and hard to see from this far away)
Seseki_008_07172023 - Some kind of memorial with Japanese inscription nearby the Seseki Onsen
Seseki_013_07172023 - Looking down at the steps leading to the pair of pools of the Seseki Onsen. The larger on the right is the one you bathe in while the smaller one on the left (where Mom and Josh are at) is a cold, feeder pool that you shouldn't be bathing in
Seseki_015_07172023 - Looking across the Seseki Onsen towards a protected part of the Sea of Okhotsk
Seseki_020_07172023 - Another look across the larger pool of the Seseki Onsen with the Seseki Waterfall in the background
Seseki_022_07172023 - Looking over the colder feeder pool at the Seseki Onsen towards the Sea of Okhotsk
Seseki_004_iPhone_07182023 - Joshua trying out the smaller, colder pool at the Seseki Onsen when we didn't know that you're not supposed to bathe in there
Seseki_033_07172023 - Some kind of private pool that I think belongs to the owner of the Seseki Onsen
Seseki_040_07172023 - Josh and Mom starting to walk towards the Seseki Falls after having our fill of the Seseki Onsen
Seseki_044_07172023 - Looking towards a large net that I think they use to capture and harvest large quantities of seaweed
Seseki_045_07172023 - Josh and Mom continuing along the narrow Road 87 towards the Seseki Waterfall
Seseki_049_07172023 - We noticed this empty sea urchin while making the walk towards the Seseki Waterfall
Seseki_053_07172023 - Looking up at the fencing to try to mitigate against rockfalls onto the Route 87
Seseki_058_07172023 - Closer look at road crews doing the dangerous work to mitigate against rockfalls onto the Route 87
Seseki_061_07172023 - Another look back at the road work going on besides the Route 87 between Seseki Falls and Seseki Onsen
Seseki_063_07172023 - Approaching the giant protruding cliff fronting the Sesekinotaki Waterfall
Seseki_064_07172023 - Getting closer to the Seseki Waterfall
Seseki_067_07172023 - Context of a passing car going around Joshua as we were getting close to the base of the Seseki Falls
Seseki_069_07172023 - Looking back towards the north along the Route 87 towards the large cliff backing the Seseki Falls
Seseki_070_07172023 - Looking up towards the top of the Seseki Falls
Seseki_072_07172023 - Portrait look at the Seseki Falls right from its base
Seseki_011_iPhone_07182023 - Pano look up at the color and the entirety of the drop of Seseki Falls from close up its base
Seseki_013_iPhone_07182023 - Another pano look up at the entirety of the drop of Seseki Falls from close up its base
Seseki_075_07172023 - Another portrait look back towards the Seseki Falls as we were moving a little further away from it for a more contextual perspective
Seseki_089_07172023 - Another direct portrait look right at the Seseki Waterfall as seen from the opposite side of the Route 87 Road
Seseki_014_iPhone_07182023 - Pano look at the larger context of the Seseki Falls spilling towards the coastline against the Sea of Okhotsk
Seseki_093_07172023 - Looking back at a contextual look towards the south of the Seseki Falls with the coastline along the Route 87
Seseki_102_07172023 - Looking towards some people out in the water harvesting seaweed
Seseki_105_07172023 - Another look back along the coastline over some seaweed cultivation infrastructure towards the Seseki Onsen after having our fill of the Seseki Falls


The Seseki Waterfall resides north of the town of Rausu on the eastern coastline of the Shiretoko Peninsula.

We drove here from the Kiki Shiretoko Natural Resort in Utoro so I’ll describe the driving route that we did from there.

Seseki_015_iPhone_07182023 - Due to the lack of a sanctioned pullout or parking area in front of the Seseki Falls, we actually had to drive a little past it before walking back to the base of the falls to enjoy it
Due to the lack of a sanctioned pullout or parking area in front of the Seseki Falls, we actually had to drive a little past it before walking back to the base of the falls to enjoy it

So starting from Utoro, we headed north on the National Route 334 for 32km going over Shiretoko Pass towards the town of Rausu on the east coast.

Then, at the signed junction with the Route 87 within Rausu, we turned left to cross the bridge over the mouth of the Rausu River to continue going north on the Route 87.

We followed this coastal road another 22km to the signed car park for the Seseki Onsen, which was about 800m past the Seseki Waterfall.

Again, there wasn’t a legal car park specific for the Seseki Falls, which was why we had to keep driving to the car park and then we had to walk back to the falls.

Seseki_106_07172023 - Approaching the sanctioned car park for the Seseki Onsen, which was directly opposite the seaside hot spring
Approaching the sanctioned car park for the Seseki Onsen, which was directly opposite the seaside hot spring

Overall, this drive took us a little over an hour give or take.

For some geographical context, Rausu was about 32km (over 30 minutes drive) east of Utoro, 68km (under 90 minutes drive) northeast of Shari, 155km (over 2.5 hours drive) northeast of Kushiro, 265km (about 4.5 hours drive) northeast of Obihiro, 303km (over 5 hours drive) east of Asahikawa, and 439km (about 6.5 hours drive) northeast of Sapporo.

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Context of the Seseki Onsen (both pools) starting with a distant look at the falls


Sweep panning up along the falls before backing up to the other side of the road for a more contextual look at it


Brief sweep showing the context of the falls with neighboring cliff and the road passing before them

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Tagged with: seseki falls, sesekinotaki, sesekino falls, sesekino waterfall, rausu-cho, shiretoko, hokkaido, japan, seseki onsen, sesekionsen, seseki hot spring, rausu, shiretoko pass, mt rausu



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

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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