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.

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More AIAV by Isozaki

 

The Akiyoshidai International Art Village is a major project of renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.

It is located in a narrow valley below the Akiyoshidai Karst and near to Akiyoshido, the biggest cavern in Japan.

In the previous post I showed you the ancillary buildings that include a copy of one of  Isozaki's earliest works. In this post I look at the large main building.

It was quite eerie exploring as there was not a single other person around.

Most of the doors were locked....

I would have liked to have seen the main auditorium, capable of seating 300. It has a very unusual layout and has three floors. The space can be rearranged to make any part of it the stage.

To the rear is an outdoor performance area. This has a fan-shaped grassy slope that enables up to 600 people to view a performance.

There is a central courtyard that has a square stage in the middle of shallow pools of water. Some of the rooms facing the courtyard can open up to blur the distinction between inside and outside.

There is a large gallery for exhibiting visual arts, but there was no exhibition when I was there.

There are a bunch of studios, to be used by artists in residence. They appeared to be empty.

There is also a cafe space, but that was closed.

There are rooms for seminars, and dressing room spaces for performing arts.

I liked some of the spaces,... the outside area with canopy held up by narrow pillars..... the narrow tunnels between the main building and the outside performance area....

I also liked the various materials used on the different eteriors... concrete, marble, metal sheeting, glass....

I have posted on several of Isozaki's buildings before, like his early library, now the Art Plaza in Oita that also has a gallery of his models and drawings.

I also  did a short piece on the occasion of  his death in 2022.

The previous post was on the other structures that make up the AIAV.

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