Taisho Cave

Japan Nature: 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

Japan Nature

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

Akiyoshido the Greatest Cavern in Japan

Japan Journey

Beneath the Akiyoshidai limestone karst in central Yamaguchi, sit 400 caves, the largest of which is named Akiyoshido.

It is said to extend 10 kilometers, but only the first kilometers is opend to the public.

The cave was formed by limestone being dissolved in water, and through the first part of the cave a river still runs....

The first part is truly a cavern, the size of an aircraft hangar...

later the path into the deeper reaches does some climbing and descending...

many of the formations encountered have evocative names. There are multilingual explanations at many points.

For those that don't want to walk the full kilometer back to the etrance, an elevator takes you up to the plateau from where a shuttle take you back to the entrance during the busy season.

Or you can, as I did this time, walk from the elevator exit to the observation deck overlooking the plateau.

When I first visited Akiyoshido many years ago, many of the formations whoilluminated with coloured lights. A few shots from then can be seen here.

Though it is not far from Hagi, Akiyoshido is much esier to reach by public transport from Shin Yamagucho or Yamaguchi stations.

The previous post was on the nearby Akiyoshi Inari Shrine

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