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Fuji-Hakone-Izu NP, Tokyo
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“Urami” means viewing from behind: the path follows an 18th-century irrigation channel cut through lava. Yamashita Yozaemon led the work, replacing a 10-m wooden trough and carrying spring water to Nakanogo’s rice fields.
A local legend links the waterfall path to Minamoto no Tametomo: a shrine is said to honor one of his children, and nearby Blood Pond is said to have been stained by the child’s blood. This is folklore, not documented history.
The small Tametomo stone sanctuary on the route was carved in 1840 from Hachijo-grown olivine basalt by Senjiro, a stonemason exiled to the island. Hachijo Town recognizes it as local cultural heritage.
Although the falls lie on the Mihara River, the river usually carries little water except after rain. A local history guide notes that water is diverted from other ponds to keep this section flowing; heavy rain can swell the falls.
Right by the waterfall path, Nakanogo residents manage the free Uramigataki open-air bath. Hachijo Town lists the spring temperature as 61.1°C—a strikingly warm source in the same fern-green ravine as the falls.
The greenery around Uramigataki is more than a general “jungle” impression: the Environment Ministry’s national-park plan records clusters of tree ferns and several other fern species around the lower Mihara River, where the falls are located.
Yamashita Yozaemon, who led the lava-cut irrigation work, had an unexpected next chapter: after serving as Hachijo’s ship overseer from 1770 to 1787, he went to Edo and became a monk at Zojoji Temple. He was also known as Heizaemon.
