Ashiribetsu Falls

This guide to Ashiribetsu Falls in Sapporo explains why what looks like one waterfall is actually two, poured from separate rivers that meet only at the bottom of the gorge. It follows the Ainu naming tradition behind the male and female cascades, and traces the falls' Ainu name, asir-pet, back before the city that now surrounds it. You'll hear how a volcanic eruption tens of thousands of years ago left the layered cliff the water drops over, and how a Meiji-era mill once used the current to float timber downstream. Stand at the rail and pick out where the harder rock ends and the looser ash begins.