Sogi Falls

Sogi FallsIsapower station ruinSendai riversubmerged ruin

Kagoshima · Isa

32.0129°N, 130.5773°E

The Sendai river spreads to about two hundred metres wide at Sogi and comes over a twelve-metre step in a continuous curtain. It is not tall but it is very wide, which is why the local comparison is Niagara rather than anything Japanese, and in high water the noise carries across the park.

A kilometre and a half downstream is the thing that makes the trip unusual. In 1909 Noguchi Shitagau built a hydroelectric station here to power a carbide works — the beginning of what became the Chisso corporation — and when a dam was completed in 1965 the power station was submerged. It is still there. Every summer, when the reservoir drops, the brick shell of the plant rises out of the water; in winter only the upper half shows. You watch it from a viewing platform because the ruin itself is off limits.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Falls park open at all times | Power station ruin viewing platform open during daylight hours

Closed: Open year-round

Entrance Fee

Free | Free parking at both sites

Best Season

Summer, when low water exposes the whole power station ruin | November for autumn colour at the falls

Visit Duration

1.5–2 hours for both sites

Getting There

Access Information

Ogushi Miyahito, Isa. Car recommended — from Kurino IC or from Hitoyoshi IC, from Kirishima Onsen, or by car from Izumi Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen. The falls park is free with around 200 free parking spaces and is open year-round. The Sogi power station ruin has its own free car park with about 20 spaces, roughly by car or a short walk from the falls; the ruin is viewed from a platform and cannot be approached.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Summer for the whole power station, winter for half of it.** The reservoir is drawn down in the dry season and the brick shell emerges completely; in winter the lower half stays submerged. Both are worth seeing and they are different sights. **Two separate car parks.** The falls and the ruin are 1.5 km apart with their own parking. Walking between them takes about twenty minutes along the river. **The ruin cannot be entered.** Viewing is from a platform above it. Do not go looking for a way down. **Autumn colour is the other season.** The park around the falls turns in November and there is an illumination event; the wide curtain of water under red maples is the local postcard. **No public transport worth the name.** This is deep inland Kagoshima on the Kumamoto border. Come by car.

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