Gokanosho

Gokanosho is not one village but five hamlets: Momigi, Nitao, Shiibaru, Hagi and Kureko, strung along the valleys in the far east of Yatsushiro, near the Miyazaki border, with peaks of 1,300 to 1,700 metres around them. Two sets of refugees are said to have founded it. One story has Taira no Kiyotsune, a grandson of Taira no Kiyomori, escaping after the Heike defeat at Dan-no-ura; his descendants took the name Ogata and ruled Kureko, Shiibaru and Hagi. The other has the sons of Sugawara no Michizane fleeing the Fujiwara, renaming themselves Zouza and settling Nitao and Momigi. People here made wooden bowls and grew soba and millet on burned-off slopes. Two old family houses are open to visitors: the Ogata house in Shiibaru, built about 300 years ago, and the Zouza house in Nitao. Gokanosho Heike no Sato in Momigi has a legend hall, a Noh stage and a thatched farmhouse over 150 years old where you can eat handmade soba. Then there is the water. Sendan-todoroki Falls in Nitao drops 70 metres and is on the list of Japan's 100 best waterfalls; a 10-minute path crosses a 38-metre suspension bridge and takes you close to the plunge pool. The Ume-no-ki Todoroki suspension bridge in Hagi, 116 metres long and 55 metres above the gorge, opened in 1989 so people could see a 38-metre fall that had been hard to reach. At Momigi two bridges hang one above the other. The leaves peak in early to mid November, which is also when the narrow roads clog. Plan on a full day by car and do not expect to hurry.