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

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Akiyoshido the Greatest Cavern in Japan

 

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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Akiyoshi Inari Shrine

 

On a small side road leading to the small settlement that has grown up around the entrance to Akiyoshido, the biggest cave in Japan, is the entrance to Akiyoshi Inari Shrine.

There was no signboard and I can find absoluteley no information online in either English or Japanese about its history.

Several visitors to the shrine mention that it rminded them of a Ghibli film, and while I have not seen a Ghibli film, I think they are referring to the shrines location i\within a forest with mossy steps leading to it.

The most intriguing thing for me was that a totally unique Torii that stood here when I first visited more than twenty years ago has now disappeared.

It can be seen in the final two photos of this post, and it had a unique curved top section that I can7t remember ever having seen anywhere else.

If you are visiting the area it is worth stopping in as it is quite atmospheric.

The previous post in this series on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Akiyoshidai International Arts Village nearby.

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