In the western tip of Honshu, Japan’s largest island, under a hilly karst plateau, their lies a hole in the ground. Not an ordinary, dirty, smelly hole. Rather, a large, well-lit, somewhat misty, surprisingly-noisy-at-times hole. Inside are hidden extraordinary things: secret passages with dragons, jellyfish climbing a waterfall, a hundred saucers, a thousand rice fields, a king, the goddess of mercy, and a gold pillar. Some of these can be seen within the images ahead, and many more will wait for you to behold in person. Although eventually the hole comes to an end, it flows out into the forests, mountains, and rocky steppe with creatures great and small beyond its gate. During this brief otherworld encounter, time, space, and thoughts of all these things merge into one. And a river runs through it.
Name in Japanese
秋芳洞—Akiyoshidō—Akiyoshi Cave
Getting there
Akiyoshidai is in the city of Mine, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Best visited by car, but accessible by bus. The pedestrian thoroughfare that connects the entrance of Akiyoshi Cave to restaurants, shopping, parking and the bus center is a 40-minute bus ride (1,170 yen, 1 per hour) from the Shin-Yamaguchi Shinkansen station or a 60-minute bus ride (1,210 yen, 1 per 2 hours) from Yamaguchi Station, both in Yamaguchi City. From Mine Station, it’s a 25-minute bus ride (200 yen, 1 every 90 minutes). There's also a reasonably-priced "Karst Taxi" service for transport in and around the park.
More info
Find out more about Akiyoshido Cave.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/vod/jtripplan/2059062/