Taisho Cave

 

After descending from the Akiyoshidai plateau, I visited another of the 400 caves that extend underneath it.

The first hundred meters or so of the cave was used in earlier times by local people to hide their livestock during times of war and banditry and was known as Ushikakunodo, or "cow hiding hole".

In 1921, early Taisho Period, the deeper reaches of the cave were first explored and so it was named Taishodo.

The cave consists of a series of chambers arranged vertically.

The public section covers about a kilometer, and while not as dramatic as Akiyoshido, the fact that I was able to explore alone was a big plus.

In 1970 a tunnel was made connecting the upper level to the outside so that visitors can exit without having to return the way they came.

Taisho Cave is a National Natural Monument as well as being part of the Mine Akiyoshidai Geopark.

The five levels of the cave system are named with the lowest being Hell, and the highest being Heaven. many of the festures of the cave are also named, including Cow Hideout, Niomon Gate, Yoromeki Passage, Otowa Falls, Child-rearing Kannon, Pine Trees in the Snow, Lion Rock, Lotus Pond, Cave Pool, Romance Passage, Jellyfish Rock, and Okunoin.

There is an infrequent bus service to and from Hagi.

The previous post in this series on day 28 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage was on the early morning walk across the Akiyoshidai Plateau to get to the cave.

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A Walk Across Akiyoshidai at Sunrise

 

Day 28 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage began high on the Akiyoshidai Plateau, a karst, treeless landscape dotted with limestone pinnacles.

I needed to reach Hagi today, on the Sea of Japan coast, and being mid-winter the days were short so I headed off before sunrise.

The first part of the walk was across the plateau, mostly on some of the many footpaths that criss-cross the plateau.

It is great to have such a long stretch of walking off-road.

The different junctions on the paths are sometimes confusing and not well signed, but it is not so difficult to match the map to the surroundings....

I did not pass another walker in the several hours it took to reach the edge of the plateau and descend into the more normal landscape....

For more details about Akiyoshidai, please see the previous post...

The previous post was on my brief exploration of part of Akiyoshidai the evening before...

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Akiyoshidai Plateau

 

After exiting Akiyoshi-do cavern via the elevator I made the short walk to the observation deck overlooking the plateau.

Akiyoshidai is a karst plateau covering about 130 sq kilometers, about a third of which is classified as a Quasi National Park.

The circular observation platform has great 360 degree views over much of it

It is a very unusual landscape for Japan, and that for me in some ways is reminiscent of the moors back in the UK or some of the grasslands in the west of the US.

It was once completely forested, like the rest of Japan, but the local people took to burning the land cover once a year to stop the trees from growing and to allow susuki to grow.

Susuki is commonly known as Japanese pampas Grass, and was grown as feed for animals and as thatching material for roofs.

This annual burning still takes place every February and is known as yamayaki.

The other notable feature of Akiyoshidai is the limestone pinnacles, some as high as two meters, that dot the landscape.

Dozens of footpaths criss-cross the plateau, and the next day I would be walking clear across it on my walk to Hagi, but this evening I chose a simple circuit that stayed close to the observation deck.

After my walk I walked a few hundred meters to my room for the night in the youth hostel.

Unfortunately, it no longer exists.

The previous post in this series on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Akiyoshido cave beneath the plateau

If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts