Nov 26, 2015 - 1 min read

Autumn in Geibikei Gorge

River cruising in the middle of pale orange cliffs

Community writer

Starting point of Geibikei Gorge.

The first scene of the gorge!

"Kotokei" (Ancient Peach Gorge), my favorite part of the whole cruise. I still can't believe that I saw this scenery of ravine cuts in real life, not from a painting!

River ducks are loyal companions along the cruise. You can feed them to get them near the boat.

The boat is parked, and visitors are invited to take a walk deeper to the anticipated "Lion's Snout" rock.

Orange leaves will be the main tone of the path.

Visitors will have to cross a bridge to reach the "Lion's Snout".

"Shishigahana", or the "Lion's Snout", the great rock wall that extends downwards, resembling the nose of a lion. Geibikei (which literally means "Majestic Snout") earned its name from this rock.

The limestone cliff.

There is a small opening across the river believed that if you can throw a stone inside the hole, you'll get a good luck. You can purchase the lucky stones from the boatmen, 100 yen for 5 stones.

Boat parked in the middle of towering limestone walls.

Geibikei Gorge offers a series of scenes that you usually see in Chinese painting scrolls.

On the way back to the starting point, the skipper will serenade you with a folk Japanese song about Geibi.

There will be a time or two when your boat crosses path with other boats, creating another spectacular scenery you can't miss.

When winter is near, the boatmen will create roofs and provide the boats with kotatsu (low table with blanket) to avoid visitors from being cold.

In a small town forty minutes away from Ichinoseki, flowing quietly, the Satetsu River has been carving the limestone rock for centuries, creating towering walls on either side. This place is known as Geibikei Gorge.

The 2-kilometer gorge is said to offer endless spectacular scenery throughout the year, with or without the sun. Luckily, I was there during one of Geibikei’s most colorful season, fall. And yes, from the moment we left the jetty, the skillful skipper paddled gracefully for a 90-minute of slow and gentle cruise along soaring rocky cliffs to take us safely to the landing, it turned out to be one of the best time in Japan for me.

More info

Find out more about Geibikei Gorge.

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Vicky Amin

By Vicky Amin

Community writer

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