Tsurugikei Gorge

photo by 藤谷良秀(Yoshihide Fujitani) · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0

Ayatori Bridge (94.7 m, S-shaped) was designed by an ikebana master as a gorge-flower.

The Daishōji River flows for 1.3 km between Kōrogi Bridge and Kurotani Bridge, through a gorge of eroded rocks and deep pools that can be followed on a walkway along the water. Kurotani Bridge, a stone arch, marks the lowest point of the gorge; halfway along, Ayatori Bridge (an S-shaped footbridge 94.7 metres long, built on the idea of ‘arranging the gorge like an ikebana’) is lit at night in the five colours of Kutani ceramics. From April to November, close by, a café on stilts in the riverbed (川床) serves desserts by chef Michiba Rokuzaburō.

A gorge carved by the Daishōji River along the stretch that runs through Yamanaka Onsen, a hot-spring resort mentioned by poets such as Matsuo Bashō; the present footpath and the two footbridges are twentieth-century additions to a landscape visited for centuries. Kurotani Bridge dates from 1935; Ayatori Bridge was designed by the third master of the Sōgetsu school of ikebana, Teshigahara Hiroshi.

ℹ️ Public path along the river, always accessible. The café on the riverbed operates from April to November. A few minutes’ walk from the centre of Yamanaka Onsen, which can be reached by bus from Kaga-Onsen Station.

🚉 Yamanaka-Onsen Bus Terminal · 7 min walk

Sources: yamanaka-spa.or.jp · hot-ishikawa.jp

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