Takachiho offers a range of themes to explore: landscapes, traditional stories and places where these traditions can be seen. In Mitai, options range from a panoramic ride and a freshwater aquarium to shrines, a museum and rice terraces. You can tailor your explorations to the things that interest you most.
The 30-minute panoramic ride on the Takachiho Amaterasu Railway uses its own Super Carts to travel along the former Takachiho Railway line, which was closed after a typhoon. As operating status may vary, check before making plans. The Takachiho Gorge Freshwater Aquarium offers a different focus: it uses spring water from Tamadare Falls and displays around 100 species. These include freshwater fish from the Gokase River system, as well as tropical freshwater fish from Brazil and Africa. The two experiences are therefore quite different: the railway focuses on a ride along the former rail line, while the aquarium highlights the variety of fish and their origins.
The rice terraces also offer different perspectives. From the Odo-no-Kuchi viewpoint, you can see the Odo-no-Kuchi Rice Terraces, which are among Japan’s 100 selected rice terraces. The Tochimata terraces are also part of this selection; their appearance changes with the seasons. This brings together a formal distinction and a landscape that changes throughout the year.
Traditions, Shrines and History
The Takachiho Museum of History and Folklore collects, preserves and displays around 10,000 cultural artifacts from Takachiho. These include traditional accounts and historic sites, old documents, and folkloric artifacts. Those interested in the stories behind the places can find different kinds of evidence brought together here—from written documents to objects of folklore.
Kusifuru Shrine was one of Takachiho’s 88 shrines; its shrine building dates from the Edo period. The Takamagahara Place of Worship lies to the south, on a low hill. According to tradition, this is the place from which the gods watched in reverence as the heavenly grandchild arrived at Takamagahara. Together, the two sites connect a historic shrine building with a religious tradition, though they do not tell the same story.
Another story is preserved at Kihachizuka: according to the Kihachi legend, the burial mounds there are known as the graves of Kihachi’s head, torso, hands and feet. The Takachiho Monument focuses on the tradition that Takachiho was the place where the heavenly grandchild arrived. The monument was built on a hill associated with Mount Kusifuru to pass on this tradition; ancient poems from the Fudoki and the Man'yōshū are engraved in the stone.
The Ishigami and Futagami shrines are also connected with traditional accounts. According to an old record from 1674, the origins of Ishigami Shrine date back to the worship of an ox regarded as the messenger of the Jūsha-Daimyōjin of that time—now Takachiho Shrine. Futagami Shrine lies on the middle slope of Mount Futagami, which the Hyūga Fudoki describes as the mountain where the heavenly grandchild arrived. At Amanomanai, water still emerges at the foot of an old zelkova tree. According to tradition, Ame-no-Murakumo brought a spring of water to this place during the arrival of the heavenly grandchild.
Alongside its landscapes and traditions, agriculture is part of the area’s local character: Kihachi no Kura, the sales outlet at the Gamadase Market, offers plenty of freshly harvested vegetables and processed agricultural products, mainly from Takachiho. These regional products add another aspect of the area to visits to shrines, historic sites and landscapes.
Discover more destinations: Miyazaki, Miyakonojo, Gokase, Hyūga, Saito, Sankasho, Kobayashi, Ebino.
For the full travel overview: Miyazaki Prefecture.
