Takachiho

Takachiho is a small town in the mountains of northern Miyazaki Prefecture, deep in central Kyushu, and in Japanese myth it is where the sun goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave, plunging the world into darkness until the gods lured her out. The town treats that story as living local history.

Row a boat beneath Manai Falls in Takachiho Gorge, where basalt cliffs squeeze the river into a ribbon of green, or walk the rim path when the boats are full. Amano Iwato Shrine faces the myth's cave across a sacred river, and nightly kagura performances retell the stories in masked dance.

Autumn dawns bring a sea of clouds to the Kunimigaoka lookout, and the gorge glows with foliage. Takachiho sits away from rail lines, so come by bus from Kumamoto or Nobeoka, or drive. An overnight earns you the kagura and the gorge before the tour buses arrive.