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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Shizuoka
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One local legend gives “Nanadaru” a storybook origin: 3 tengu brothers lured a seven-headed serpent with 7 sake-filled barrels, then tossed the barrels into the river, where they supposedly became the falls’ pools.
About 25,000 years ago, lava from Noboriominami volcano flowed into the Kawazu River valley and travelled about 2 km. The river later cut steps into the hardened lava, creating the seven falls.
The clear water around Nanadaru helps support local wasabi paddies. Kawazu’s simple wasabi-don tops rice with freshly grated wasabi, bonito flakes and soy sauce—a local taste built around the valley’s famous crop.
O-daru is the tallest of the seven, plunging 30 m—and hot spring water wells up right beside it. It’s a striking volcanic double act: a waterfall and a natural onsen sharing the same cliffside.
Kawazu’s Taki Matsuri has gathered at Shokei Falls since 1973. At recent festivals, local association members have dressed as yamabushi and served wild-boar stew, ayu, grilled mushrooms and other local foods.
In Kawazu, waterfalls are called “daru,” not the more familiar “taki.” Shizuoka Prefecture traces this local folk word to “tarumi,” describing water streaming or dripping, and says it dates back to the Heian period.
Several falls have names that work like tiny field notes: Ebi-daru’s flow resembles a shrimp’s tail, Hebi-daru’s basalt patterns look like snake scales, and Deai-daru marks the meeting of 2 streams.
Near O-daru grows Natishida, a large tropical fern. Its colony became a national Natural Monument in 1953 as a northern-limit habitat—but later populations were found farther north, making that title a historical snapshot.
Just upstream of the falls is Saruta Pool. Local lore says the traveler deity Sarutahiko passed by, caught a leaping yamame trout there, and gave the pool its name.
At Shokei Falls, a bronze pair depicts “The Dancer and I” from Kawabata Yasunari’s “The Izu Dancer.” The 1926 story grew from the author’s own youthful journey through Izu.
The pillar-like patterns in the cliffs are columnar joints: as lava cooled, it shrank and cracked. Over time, the river wore away the rock and exposed these hidden columns along the falls.
“Kawazu Nanadaru” names the 7 best-known waterfalls in the area—not every waterfall in Kawazu. The town’s tourism guide notes that the wider region has many falls.
