Should We Have Shared Okayama’s Hidden Secrets?

Should We Have Shared Okayama’s Hidden Secrets?

[Music] Okay guys, we’re deep in the mountains of Okyama Prefecture. We’re here for the next few days because this area is often overlooked by tourists. So today is all about the wild side of Okyama. We’ve got waterfalls, interesting wildlife, caves, hot springs, and hidden valleys. So, let’s find out why this area is actually worth visiting. [Music] So, we’re walking up to the main falls. along the creek here. There’s this sheet of moss and the water is just slowly dripping down into the creek. Never seen anything like it. All right, we’re at Campber Falls. We’ve just paid our 300 yen entrance fee for adults. Falls are up here and hopefully there’s monkeys as well. The 300 yen entry fee includes the the monkey park, the waterfalls, and over here is uh the demon’s cave. So, we’ll go up. Hopefully, we’ll see some monkeys and come back and have a look at the demon’s cave. Let’s go. It’s only about a 5-minute walk from the car park to the falls, but the soothing sound of the creek and smaller waterfalls on the way make you want to slow down. They’re calming, but they also build anticipation of the main falls. Camber Falls is the largest waterfall in Okyama Prefecture with water cascading from the 110 m cliff. It has also been selected as one of Japan’s top 100 waterfalls. They say the mist here is rich in negative ions, giving your body a calming, almost recharged feeling. [Music] [Music] All right, here we go. One of Man’s top tips. Please bring um insect spray. The mosquitoes are horrendous. Um we’re here in August, beginning of August. It’s pretty muggy, but it’s not too hot. It’s just the mozzies. They’re driving me nuts. Yep. I’m just admiring your choice of walking shoes again. These elusive monkeys. I don’t know where they are. Although around 200 Japanese macaks call this park home. We found out later they tend not to come down to the feeding station in summer as there are plenty of berries and acorns in the mountains. We’re heading into the demon’s hole. If you’re planning on walking up to the cave, we recommend wearing walking shoes as the trail is a little trickier than the pathway to the falls. Also, a few workouts on the stair master before your trip wouldn’t be a bad idea. Spooky, is it? Oh, feels nice and cool. Oh, come on. Oh, you can feel that cool air coming out. That’s why we love caves. in summer. Let’s enter the demon’s hole. Oh, got lights and everything. [Music] As long as they don’t got bears. Oh, there’s bats. Are there? Yeah. Look. Oh, yay. Here we go. There’s the wildlife that was promised. There’s some wildlife. What the Oh, there goes a B. Look. Oh, flew right past me. Yeah, it is misty in here. It’s not just coming off me. [Music] See that bit of moisture in here. [Music] That is really cool. Cavernous. You hear the bats? I know. I was just thinking, are we going to get covered in guan? No. Yeah. Look all up at the ceiling. They’re way up. Flying around. [Music] Oh, heaps of them up there. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Oh, you can hear. I can zoom in. We are definitely going to get pooped on. [Music] We’re at the end of the Demon’s Hole. It’s the end of the cave, but yeah, definitely worth a walk up. Bit of a steep track on the way up. Uh the summer sweating. At the end here, there block of wood. People put their money on there. All right, let’s exit the demon’s hole. My bats. Are the walls so cool? Yeah. Oh, it’s actually chilly. Oh. Oh yeah. Sweaty back. Put it on there. Oh, that’s nice. Oh, okay. And you know the best part about this cave? Yeah. There’s a distinct lack of mosquitoes. Just wait. Yeah, I know. Out of the demon’s hole. Here we go. Back to mosquito heaven. Huh? Oh my god. Yep, that’s warm. The walk through the limestone cave is quite short, only about 75 m or so, but it was worth the climb and the mosquitoes. On this day, it seemed we were the only ones crazy enough to battle the humidity in the stairs to see the cave. Liz keeps looking around just in case we see them. I mean, there’s evidence that they’re here. We can smell them. We’ve seen urine. We’ve seen poo. Come up to see the monkeys. And there’s none here. That was Camber Falls, the demon’s cave or demon’s hole. But unfortunately, we didn’t see any monkeys. Maybe you have to come up early in the morning or could be the time of year. They might be up. What time did we get here? Oh, it’s 9:30 or 9:30. Something opens at 8:30, I think. Yeah. So 9:30 and we didn’t see any. Yeah, it might be the time of year. They could have come down early in the morning and now they’re all up in the forest. It is a hot day, but we’ll just have to come back again. Well, we didn’t have any luck with monkeys today, but at our next stop, hopefully we’ll see a very unique animal. So, let’s go. If you’re enjoying this video, please hit that like and subscribe button so you can see more of this kind of content. [Music] Our next stop was about 30 minutes away, but then we saw this suspension bridge. And of course, we had to stop because we’ve never met a suspension bridge we haven’t stopped to cross. [Music] After arriving at our next location, we took a slow wander around the grounds before heading inside. There’s a small shrine, [Music] some interesting statues, and large breeding tanks. Can you guess what animal we’ve come to see? [Music] All right, we’re at our next stop, the Japanese giant salamander center. So, let’s go in, find out what it’s all about. Look at the size of the salamander. Oh my god, it’s a dinosaur. Can you stand next to it for scale? As you can see, we were really not prepared for just how big these creatures are. The adults can grow to nearly 1.5 m long, making them one of the largest amphibians in the world. Today, these salamanders are under threat, not from predators, but from interbreeding. The more aggressive Chinese giant salamander was introduced as a food source and the two species interbreed in Kyoto’s Kamo River. A 2011 to 2013 study found that 95% of giant salamanders were hybrids, meaning the pure Japanese species is fast disappearing. Salamanders go through a life cycle similar to frogs, but a little less dramatic as they keep their tails. Preserve salamander, anybody? The Japanese giant salamander center. Yeah, worth a stop. Free to get in. You see those giant salamanders. Let’s have a look over here. They even have salamander floats for festival. Let’s go have a look. The Hanzaki Festival happens every year on the 8th of August with these giant floats paraded through the town alongside music, dancing, street food, and fireworks. Just down the road from the Giant Salamander Center is this park with a free foot bath. And also there’s a RV park here. So if you’re traveling around Japan in your RV, you can park here, use the toilets. In winter time, use a foot bath. [Music] [Laughter] Oh, that’s hot. Just what you need on a 35° day. [Music] What’s outside like? H, it’s all right here. [Music] Oh my god, it’s cold. How cold is cold? I better not move in there. Oh, that is icy. Because it’s so hot. Oh my god. Oh my goodness. Oh, that is No. No. I can’t. That’s pure ice. That’s like It’s so cold. That’s like a slurry like when you put ice in water. That’s what that feels like. Oh my god. Why is it so cold? Oh, you’re a brave man. Oh, don’t you fall over now. Oh my god. So cold. I can’t believe how cold that water is. That must be coming straight off the mountain. Everything here in Ubara is salamander. That’s how big they get. And here we have the vomiting salamander. Oh, it’s hot. Is it hot? It’s not as hot as the other one. It’s still warm. Oh jeez. When I first touched it was that feeling of it’s actually cold. Oh no, that’s actually No, no, no. How a full close. So this is Yubata onen town. It has a laidback and old-fashioned feel with Rioan, small shops, and open air foot baths. Tucked away in the mountains. It’s a popular spot for hikers, cyclists, and anyone after an onsen town escape. As Les said, Japanese giant salamanders are a large part of this town’s identity, and you’ll find them everywhere. [Music] So, Yubara Onsen Town also has a outdoor onen which is just down there, but we won’t go down there and film because they’re in the nude. Yeah, it’s a hot day. You want to cool down. Yeah. Don’t come here. That’s hot. Maybe this was not the place to come before. Just rethinking some life choices here. I think we’ll have to come back here when it’s a bit cooler. Yeah, actually it it would be really really nice here in in autumn time. So, it’s a bit cooler and be able to put your feet in the hot hot spring and uh yeah, all the the leaves would be beautiful. By late afternoon, the weather had turned, but it seemed to have been just a passing shower. [Music] All right, we’re at our last stop for the day, Fuyao Falls. We went to go up to another waterfall, but it started to rain and we got out of the car and there was like a billion flies and those little green bitey ones. So, we jumped back in the car, drove down the road, and we saw this other fall. The rain stopped. So, we’ll go down and have a look. Look, I can get a walking stick. Look at that. Somebody made a nice walking stick. All righty. Let’s go. Um, you know what? I’m going to grab one in case I have to beat a bear off. That’s right. Just in case we’re going to beat off any bears or for an impromptu sword fight. On guard. Ha. Left hand. Okay. Sticks have walking sticks have been tested. They should stand up to a bear fight. [Music] This is the kind of place that we just love discovering. Again, we had the whole place to ourselves, which is perfect to be able to slow down and really absorb the peaceful and serene atmosphere. [Music] It’s easy to picture how this place would transform through the changing of the seasons. The forest turning from green to red and gold in autumn and snow dusting the rocks and trees in winter. Oh, I’m standing by the waterfall here. It was so stinking hot today, but after that rain, like there’s hardly any humidity in the air. And it’s it’s like five, six degrees cooler here than than just down the road. Yeah. Crazy. [Music] [Music] Little shrine up here, huh? [Music] And when I said it wasn’t raining, I lied. You do that quite often, actually. It’s pouring now. Yeah. Well, good thing they’ve got a uh a shelter here. [Music] What a nice cool down after a hot stinking day up in the forest by the waterfall sitting in the rain. Beautiful. [Music] Is that a frog or is it a toad? I’m from Queensland and that looks like a cane toad except it’s got a white bits on its side. That’s weird. It’s got to be a toad, right? It’s got to be. Put your foot next to it so I can get scale because that is that’s massive. [Music] All right, that was part one. Join us next episode for part two of our Okyama trip. We’ll be visiting some historic villages and an alternative to Mount Fuji. So join us then. Catch you next time. Bye for now. So just up the road from the giant jel jalamanda. Giant jalamanda. [Music]

Come with us as we explore a place so beautiful, we almost didn’t want to share it!

On this journey through Okayama, we discover hidden waterfalls, mysterious caves, and a quiet onsen village completely free of crowds. Finding these hidden gems reminds us that there’s still so much of Japan untouched by mass tourism.

Places featured in this video:

Kamba Falls (one of Japan’s top 100 waterfalls) https://maps.app.goo.gl/SpN17xkGvomxF8xt5

Demon’s Hole (mystical limestone cave) https://maps.app.goo.gl/yMPY8Fj2EfD85nVr5

Japanese Giant Salamander Center (research and conservation center) https://maps.app.goo.gl/9Qkg9aZt3sxU6aog7

Yubara Onsen Village (an onsen village lost in time) https://maps.app.goo.gl/36RumGe3gnXd3jyV6

Furuya Fudou Falls (secret shrine and waterfall) https://maps.app.goo.gl/YfMQpgkuTNTKeQhA8

00:00 Intro
00:34 Kamba Falls
03:47 Demon’s Hole Cave
08:36 Japanese Giant Salamander Center
12:33 Yubara Onsen Village
14:45 Furuya Fudou Falls

We’re Les & Marnie, an Aussie couple living in Japan for almost a decade. Our channel is all about uncovering the hidden, off-the-beaten-path gems that most visitors never see. Subscribe to see more hidden Japan!

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