Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ers) from either side, there are two intersections with the northern and southern ends of the
hairpin, zigzag mountain road Ōkuni-rindo (
夭国林道
). You can take a hair-raising 9-mile
(14-kilometer) northern spur from here to Oku (
奥
) or the 20-mile (32-kilometer) stomach-
wrenching southern ride all the way to Ōgimi (
大宜味
), or get off near Hiji Falls and return
to Route 58 and then Okuma.
12
AHA FALLS
安波滝
If, instead of taking any part of the Ōkunirindo you cross the island over the mountains on
Route 2, you'll reach Route 70. Turn right there and go south about 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers)
until you see a sign for Tanaga-gumui (
タナガーグムイ
). Turn right again on to a small ac-
cess road. You can park beside the road and hike to what is commonly called Aha Falls (
安波
滝
; Ahataki). Unlike the mile-long hike at Hiji, this one's only a few thousand feet, but they're
straight downhill. Even in dry weather, it's a slippery, muddy trail down to the pool and the
falls. Some good news is that there's no charge.
Here's the story about the two names. Tanaga-gumui is a pond below a waterfall on the
Fuku River (
福川
; Fuku-gawa). From the falls and pond the river runs approximately three-
quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) south until it ends on a small bay of the Pacific Ocean at the
little village of Aha (
安波
; Aha). In the local dialect, Tanagagumui means “pool of freshwa-
ter prawns.” There were, at one time, large quantities of delicious freshwater shrimp in this
pool, but they were fished out years ago and are now extinct. Downstream, on the same bay
at Aha, another river flows and empties. This one comes from the Aha Reservoir Dam (
安波
井堰
; Aha-iseki), about 1.75 miles (3 kilometers) to the west.
Aha Reservoir Dam.
