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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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From Akechidaira’s lookout, Mt. Nantai, Lake Chuzenji, and 97-meter Kegon Falls line up in one sweeping view. Nantai’s lava dammed a valley to form the lake, whose outlet is the waterfall—a landscape shaped by fire and water.
Akechidaira’s ropeway first opened in 1933; Tobu describes it as Japan’s second-oldest. It stopped during World War II in 1943 and resumed in 1950, giving this mountain link a remarkable history of its own.
Before road travel took over, visitors could reach Akechidaira’s lookout by a memorable relay: streetcar from Nikko to Umagaeshi, cable car up to Akechidaira, then ropeway to the observation platform. The first 2 links later disappeared.
Local legend links “Akechidaira” to warlord Akechi Mitsuhide: it says he survived the Battle of Yamazaki, became the monk Tenkai, and named the plateau to preserve “Akechi.” This is a legend, not established history.
Akechidaira lies near the top of the uphill Second Irohazaka, where the bends carry the first 20 signs from the 48-character Iroha poem. The downhill First Irohazaka continues from character 21 to complete it.
The streetcar that once carried travelers toward Akechidaira began as a copper-transport line. Tourists rode it too, and Nikko’s rickshaw pullers objected that the new service threatened their livelihood; in 1913, the line reached Umagaeshi.
The celebrated view faces Mt. Nantai, Lake Chuzenji, and Kegon Falls—but look the other way from the observatory and the panorama can reach Nikko’s town, Mt. Tsukuba, and, depending on conditions, even the Pacific.
