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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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Komadome is a two-tier fall on the Yosasa River, about 20 m high. Its pools can appear blue or milky white, influenced by sulfur compounds and water volume—a striking contrast with autumn’s red maples and yellow beeches.
A local story says travelers—and even their horses—stopped to admire the waterfall. The tale lives on in 駒止の滝 (Komadome no Taki), often rendered in English as “Horse-Stopping Falls.”
Before a viewing platform was built in 2011, foliage hid much of the falls; its full outline was easiest to see after the leaves dropped. That hard-to-catch view earned it the nickname “phantom waterfall.”
Komadome’s overlook is in Nasu Heisei-no-mori, once part of the Imperial Villa grounds. In 2008, about 560 hectares of the woodland passed to the Environment Ministry; the forest opened to visitors in 2011.
