Ogawa Falls

Ogawa Fallsemerald poolOsumi peninsulaMinamiosumicolumnar basalt

Kagoshima · Minamiosumi

31.2212°N, 130.8067°E

Forty-six metres high and sixty wide, falling into a pool of an improbable emerald green enclosed by columnar basalt walls, at the head of a gorge on the Osumi peninsula. The colour is real and is a function of depth and the volcanic rock; the enclosure means you are standing in a bowl with the fall filling one side of it.

Getting there is a 1.2-kilometre walk along the river from the car park, about twenty minutes on a made path, and there is a second viewpoint above that looks down into the pool from the rim. It was almost unknown until a television drama used it in 2018, and it remains difficult to reach — no public transport at all, and a narrow road up from Nejime. An entry fee was introduced in July 2024.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Car park 8:00 AM until dusk

Closed: Open year-round | Paths may close after heavy rain

Entrance Fee

¥300 junior high school age and above | ¥150 elementary school children | Preschoolers free

Best Season

Year-round | Mid-morning to early afternoon for the pool colour

Visit Duration

1.5–2 hours including the walk

Getting There

Access Information

Kawakita, Nejime, Minamiosumi, Kimotsuki District. Car required; there is no public transport, and the road up the Ogawa river from near Nejime port is narrow. From the car park it is about 1.2 km, roughly 20 minutes, on foot to the lower viewpoint; a separate upper viewpoint looks down into the pool. Entry ¥300 for junior high school age and above and ¥150 for elementary school children; preschoolers free.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Two viewpoints, and they are not the same walk.** The lower one is 1.2 km along the river from the car park and puts you at the pool. The upper one is reached separately by road and looks down into it. Do both if you have the time. **Morning light for the colour.** The emerald is strongest when light reaches into the bowl, which given the enclosing walls means the middle of the morning to early afternoon. **The approach road is narrow.** Single-track in places with limited passing. Take it slowly and do not attempt it in anything large. **There is a fee now.** ¥300 since July 2024, which funds the path and the car park. It did not use to be charged and older accounts say otherwise. **Combine with Cape Sata.** The southernmost point of mainland Japan is about an hour further down the same peninsula, and the two together are what a day on Osumi is for.

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