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The top, free platform provides a better view of the top of the falls, but the lower part is obscured by trees.
Overview & Quick Tips
One of Japans highest. It should be visited in combination with the World Heritage Listed Temples at Nikko—don’t skip either if you make it to this region of Japan.Detailed information
There are two viewing platforms at the falls visitor centre, both are easy to access and wheelchair accessible.
The first ‘high’ viewing platform is just outside the visitor centre. It’s free, and open all the time. Being higher, it’s the better platform to zoom in on the last few meters of the river before it drops into the into gorge below. A 70mm lens works well for this.
Overall however, the lower platform provides a better view. It’s accessed via an elevator that goes down 100 meters, you’ll to need buy a ticket from the booth outside for about 500 yen, or $5 (the operating hours were from 9am to 4:30 pm when I visited in December).
You can see the full length of the falls from both platforms, but the view from the lower platform is not obstructed by trees. From here you can also frame the impressive rock walls of the gorge that wrap around the falls. Be sure to do that! Most shots I’ve seen of these Kegon show the vertical plummet of water, but leave out the dramatic, sweeping cliff.
There’s little scope for repositioning yourself on the platforms to achieve different compositions. The only way to vary the perspective is by changing focal lengths. From the lower platform, a 55mm lens will give you the full drop of the falls, and little sky. A 24mm lens is perfect for framing the full sweep of the cliff. An 18 mm lens in will show more of the river in front of the falls, but then the falls begin to look rather distant.
Any time of year and time of day is good to visit. I imagine it would be nice to visit here in autumn, when the leaves are golden. When I visited in December it was winter. The footpath from the bus-stop to the falls was glazed with ice and extremely slippery!
At this time of year, I found the light to be similar in the morning and afternoon. At sunset, the sun was obscured behind the hills, so the light just faded away. Likewise, in the morning there was no real sunrise, it just gradually got brighter as the sun came-up from behind distant mountains. This soft, dull, light was great for taking long exposures. I liked 0.8 seconds for blurring the water. I used a 0.6ND filter around 4pm, but by 4:30pm the light had faded considerably and I took off the filter.
The platforms have a safety fence around them, but you can shoot the falls over the fence without a problem. However the fence is unavoidable in photos if you step back to photography your friends with the falls behind. The platforms are not a good place for portraits if you want a wholly natural setting.
If you walk back to the bus-station from the visitors, you can follow the fence line on top of the cliff for a short distance rather than go directly to the road. The view is of the falls will obstructed by trees, but you can try being ‘arty’ and look for branches to frame the falls.
Contact Details
- Address: Kegon falls
Opening Times
- 9:00 - 16:30 December to February
8:00 - 17:00 Mach to April & November
7:30 - 18:00 May to September
7:30 - 17:00 October
(the upper platform is open all the time)
Best Times of day to visit
- Best time of day: Any
- Alternative time: Any
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Most visitors arrive at Nikko on a train from Tokyo. Kegon Falls is a further 45 minute bus ride from Nikko, the busses run thought the day, approximately every half hour. You can purchase your own rail and bus pass and make your own schedule, or join a daily organised tour from Tokyo. A day trip from Tokyo to this region is rushed, so I suggest stay around Nikko for at least one night.
The road between Nikko and Kegon falls climbs though enchanting mountains and twists though dozens of tight switchbacks, you’re sure to have your camera in hand all the way, but with trees along the roadside, taking clear shots of the view is near impossible.
Get off at the Chuzenji-ko bus station (stop 24). Here you’ll find a mountain-resort, lakeside town. It’s a nice place to walk around for an hour or two, dine at a cafe, or even stay the night.
The falls are less than10 minutes walk from the bus stop. There’s a large car-park, if you dive yourself.
Allow around 1 hour return from the Chuzenji-ko station, or 3 hours return from Nikko. If you have an extra hour you could walk 10 minutes down Lake Chuzenji lake and take some photos there.
–From Tokyo to Nikko, get the Tobu-Nikko Line (Tobu Skytree Line) from Asakusa station–be sure to visit the temple at Asaksua. Depending on the schedule you may have to change trains at Imaichi, be sure to ask when you purchase a ticket or you may end up will that long wait on the platform.
–JR Rail Pass holders can take another route. From Tokyo board the shinkansen (bullet train) to Utsunomiya (50 mins) and then a local JR train to Nikko (45 mins).
–Nikko-Kinugawa Pass.
At the Asakasa station in Tokyo, you can purchase a 2-day pass that includes return train travel to Nikko and the bus ticket to Kegon, as well as Kinugawa onsen, Yumoto onsen, boats and cable cars in these areas.