Ashiribetsu Falls
Twin cascades of a male and female waterfall dropping twenty-six meters over columnar volcanic cliffs.
Location
About this audio guide
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.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Takino Suzuran Hillside Park
Sprawling hillside park of flower fields, waterfalls and forest trails on former pioneer farmland.
Hōheikyō Dam
Concrete arch reservoir named for the ascetic monk who found the valley's hot spring in eighteen sixty six.
Futami Suspension Bridge
Red pedestrian suspension bridge over a river gorge, named for twin rocks a spa manager once branded after his hometown shore.
Cafe Gakenoue
Ten-table cliff-edge cafe with a glass floor seat suspended above a forty-meter drop to the river below.
Sapporo Ainu Culture Promotion Center
Reconstructed Ainu village with hand-touch artifacts, a carved canoe, and traditional cise dwellings by a forested river.