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Chubu-Sangaku NP, Nagano
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A local Edo-period tale says fisherman Zengoro hooked a huge char in this pool. It pulled his line toward the brink, so he dropped his rod and fled—and the waterfall took his name.
Zengoro Falls spills over the edge of lava laid down by Mount Norikura about 43,000 years ago. Those flows filled old valleys; their cliffs became waterfalls across the highland.
Zengoro Falls is slowly retreating upstream: erosion wears away its volcanic rock and shifts the brink higher over time. This waterfall is a changing landform, not a fixed line on the map.
The falls are about 8 m wide and drop roughly 22 m. Because they face east, morning sunlight can catch their spray and create a rainbow—a little color shaped by the waterfall’s orientation.
In winter, the rushing water can freeze into a full icefall that appears deep blue. The dramatic frozen cascade is a striking seasonal change from the same waterfall’s summer spray and motion.
