Shiraito no Taki (Karuizawa)

photo by Wei-Te Wong from Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic of China · CC BY-SA 2.0

photo by Sergiy Galyonkin from Raleigh, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

It falls three metres but spreads across seventy: water from Mount Asama, filtered over six years.

The drop is no more than three metres, but the wall of water spreads across seventy: it is not a stream, it is rain from Mount Asama that seeps into the rock and re-emerges after about six years, always at the same flow, without ever turning cloudy. The name, ‘waterfall of white threads’, comes from the many thin rivulets that fall side by side, whatever the weather at the surface.

It lies along the Shiraito Highland Way, the scenic toll road that climbs to 1,400 metres between Karuizawa and the Gunma side, and it feeds the headwaters of the Yukawa River. Not to be confused with the better-known waterfall of the same name, Shiraito Falls near Mount Fuji, at Fujinomiya, which is linked to the Fuji UNESCO World Heritage Site: they are two different places with the same name, a common one throughout Japan.

ℹ️ You reach it along the Shiraito Highland Way, a toll road (about 500 yen per car one way; toll booth hours not published online, check on site). In winter the road requires snow tyres or chains. The waterfall is right by the road, with open and free access on foot.

🚉 白糸の滝 · in front of the station

Sources: town.karuizawa.lg.jp · ja.wikipedia.org · karuizawa-shw.com

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