Matt's Blog

During winter there is almost always no surf here in Tokushima. Any swell that even dares approach the coast is soon dispensed with; blown off towards Hawaii by the prevailing westerly winds. In previous years I have let the absence of surfing get the better of me over winter and gained weight as a result. This year I vowed not to let that happen. To compensate for the lack of time in the water I decided to spend some time in the mountains, hiking and seeking out waterfalls.

Rather than just drive off into the mountains and randomly find a good location (which can be fun too I should add), with the assistance of the Tokushima Waterfalls homepage (see links) I try to research a desirable destination. The page is in Japanese however so I can’t always follow exactly what is written. As a consequence I have been a little off target more than once.

A few weeks back for example, I drove up and down a nearby mountain searching for a couple of falls. Just as I was about to give up and go home, I found them. I never needed to go up the mountain to begin with- they were at the foot of it.

Yesterday I set off early once again to get some exercise and fresh air and take a few photos of (hopefully) impressive scenery. My destination this time was a little further afield, Kamiyama (God’s mountain). About an hour’s drive from our home, Kamiyama is a mountain village with lots of cool nature, including numerous falls.

My mission got off to a good start. I found the access route to the fall I was looking for without too much searching. I also found a spring by the side of the road to get some tasty drinking water. After parking the car, I set off up the mountain trail with high hopes.

According to the directions I’d printed out, after 15 minutes of walking I’d need to descend into the valley to find the fall. When the trail came to an abrupt end after about that length of time walking, I thought I’d found the place to go down.

The slope was steep but well lined with trees to hold onto so there was little chance of falling. As the sound of falling water became louder I came to an abrupt halt. There was a steep drop to the stream. While holding on to a tree I looked down to assess whether it would be possible to climb down. As I moved my foot a large rock dropped down the cliff. It took a considerable amount of time to hit the ground. No go there.

Eventually I managed to scramble my way down to the valley floor. The waterfall I’d been expecting was not there. I clambered over slippery rocks to ascertain if it might be further upstream. No, not there.

Getting back down to where I’d left my bag proved tricky. I needed to use my bum and fallen branches to slide back down without going into the water. I determined I must have gone too far and so set off back down the valley.

Climbing over the rocks and swinging between trees when there was no way to rock-hop downstream was fun. Ironically, I was reassured by the sight of garbage along the way. People had obviously been here before me so I couldn’t be too far off-track.

Finally I came to the top of the fall I’d been looking for. It was a considerable drop - 15 metres according to the guide. To view the fall from below I had to climb back up the slope and then descend once more. Getting back down was far simpler than it had been the first time.

Approaching the fall I was a little disappointed to see a significant increase in the amount of garbage. A large pile of plastic bottles detracted from the view of the fall. As I neared it, an unpleasant odour reached me. “Gee, this garbage doesn’t just look bad, it stinks too!” I thought to myself.

As I climbed over a mossy boulder the reason for the stench became apparent. At my feet lay the rotting carcass of a wild boar. It certainly took me by surprise. I’d once seen a boar in captivity but this was the first time to see one in nature. It was quite large- about the same size as a sheep. It’s head and hindquarters were still intact but it’s upper torso had been stripped bare to the bone.

Why had the wild boar died? I hypothesized with some friends. Could it have been shot? Boars can be a pest for farmers. They also are hunted for their meat - botan nabe is a boar stew eaten here. Another possibilty was that it had been caught in a trap. If this was the case, I’m surprised there were no signs placed warning of traps as this is the usual custom. The probability that it had been caught in a trap was strengthened though by the fact that one of its legs was detached from the body. Apparently boars will actually bite their own legs off if they become trapped. Now that is wild.