Japan Photo Guide

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Geibikei (猊鼻渓), along with Genbikei (厳美渓), are two famous gorges in Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku Region of Japan, with Geibikei being the more famous of the two.  Geibikei is about 30 minutes by bus from Ichinoseki Station and 30 minutes by train on the Ofunato Line also from Ichinoseki Station.  Geibikei’s main appeal is that you take a boat ride down a shallow river that runs between cliffs as tall as 100 meters (about 328 feet).

Round trip the boat ride takes about 90 minutes and at the half way point you can get off the boat and walk around some before coming back.  The boats run from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm in the spring and summer, until 4:00 pm in November and from December to March run from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.  Bringing food and drinks is allowed but be warned there are little to no trash cans, so you will be holding your trash.

The boat ride and scenery is very beautiful and relaxing, though as you might imagine, the 100 meter cliffs can make for some difficult lighting situations if you are trying to take photographs.  That being said, you should still l be able to get some good shots.  I went during the fall which was beautiful, but if you can bear the cold, I imagine after a fresh snow this place is really nice as well.

At the point where you can get off and walk around, there is a huge cliff with a small hole in it. You can purchase 5 small rocks for 100 yen and try and throw them into the hole (on the lower left side of the cliff in the photo below).  If you can make it in, it is suppose to be lucky.  If you don’t want to pay the 100 yen, a lot of people just pick up rocks from the ground and try and throw those in the hole, but I am not sure if you still get good luck if you make it in.

For more information see the official Tohoku Tourist Site or the Iwate Tourist Site.