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Chichibu-Tama-Kai NP, Yamanashi
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Around Shosenkyo, quartz was once understood as water made solid, linking local crystal deposits to water-source worship. Nearby Kanazakura Shrine preserves polished “Fire Ball” and “Water Ball” crystals as sacred treasures.
Mitake soba began as a welcome for mountain ascetics traveling to Kanazakura Shrine: villagers made noodles for the pilgrims. The local style is thick soba served with sharp-tasting mouse-radish.
Rice scarcely grew in nearby villages, so residents hauled charcoal to Kofu. Nagata En’emon and local helpers spent 9 years cutting a new road through the gorge, completing it in 1843; the path later revealed its scenery to visitors.
“Shosenkyo” first appears in print in 1894, but its origin remains unknown; earlier names included Mitake Shindo, Koma-kei and Kinkei. A 1922 visit by Crown Prince Hirohito helped spread its fame.
Quartz from the mountains around Shosenkyo helped seed Kofu’s jewelry craft. Later, regional expertise helped drive synthetic-quartz production, whose tiny oscillators are used in smartphones and other electronics.
At Tenko-rin, a forest along the gorge, footsteps can make a hollow “pon, pon” sound. Local lore says a traveler imagined the trees had received a drum from heaven; the sound is said to echo from hollows carved by the stream.
Kakuenpo rises about 180 meters above the gorge. Local tradition says the monk Kakuen practiced on its tiny summit—just wide enough for a few tatami mats—and the peak took his name.
Look closely at Ishimon, the gorge’s natural granite arch: the tip of its huge upper rock stops just short of the stone beneath it. The tiny gap makes this seemingly precarious gateway especially memorable.
Some granite in Shosenkyo breaks along blocky, right-angled fractures. One such squared-looking formation earned the wonderfully everyday name Tofu Rock.
After opening the road, En’emon ran a rest hut, serving tea and selling straw sandals to travelers. His memorial praises a face “like a demon” but a heart “like a bodhisattva”—an unusually candid tribute.
Sengataki means “仙娥 Waterfall”; local sources connect “仙娥” with Chang’e, the figure in Chinese legend who flew to the moon. The waterfall plunges about 30 meters through the gorge.
The gorge attracted artists as well as pilgrims: ukiyo-e master Utagawa Hiroshige visited the old Mitake route and left sketches. Poet Yosano Akiko later wrote numerous tanka inspired by Shosenkyo.
Nagatoro Bridge, completed in 1925, is Yamanashi’s oldest surviving concrete arch bridge. In Shosenkyo’s sightseeing heyday, horse-drawn carriages clattered along the route beyond it toward the waterfall.
The Arakawa that carved Shosenkyo still serves people downstream: its upper reaches supply drinking water, while water gates channel the river to farmland. The gorge was selected for Japan’s Heisei 100 Famous Waters.
