Far but Beautiful

“It is beautiful but it is far.”

“Is it worth the trip?” I asked.

“I think so but you will have to decide.” He said.

That was the gist of the conversation that influenced my adventure to Ryūsendō Cave last weekend.

I first heard about the cave in the latter part of October 2018. I decided that it was already too cold for me to set out on a 4 hour (more or less) journey to Iwaizumi machi, where the cave is located.

Almost, a year later the time was right to see if far away beauty was worth the trip or not. Plans were put in place with my wife who I had told about the beautiful cave that is far away. We left early Sunday morning (by early, I mean 8:30) on our adventure.

The journey took us on the Tohoku expressway, through the city of Morioka, and up the mountains of Sotoyama. In the mountains we got a little nervous regarding lunch, so we stopped at a soba restaurant in Sotoyama Forest Park.

Sansai Soba in Satoyama Forrest Park

The place was packed (Apparently we weren’t the only concerned ones). I had sansai soba and she had tsukimi soba (raw eggs anyone?).

Twenty minutes later we realized that our worry was a bit premature and uncalled for as there was a Michinoeki (道の駅) stop that had a variety of tasty options, ranging from curry rice to ramen(Noted for future trips to Iwate).

Ryūsendō Cave Entrance

An hour later we were there. “You will need your sweater,” My wife said. She did not have to tell me twice. We paid a thousand yen each for entrance tickets.

Maybe I was expecting to be transported back a primeval era or something like that, but I was surprised to see a modern looking cave entrance, that wouldn’t have looked out of place at Disney or USJ.

I was also pleased to see that the information about the cave was multilingual, with English. 

Not so pleasant however was the warning that said, ’People who are not in good health should refrain from entering the cave.’ My health is good but even if it wasn’t, I would’ve still entered after that long drive. So entered I did.

The cave is big and cold (10°C (50°F). I am not sure if it is like that all year round or if it is affected by the seasons (feel free to comment about this) but I was very happy that I wore my sweater.

If you are over five feet you should be careful when walking through the cave. Ryūsendō is a limestone cave but from what I saw, and felt those limestones aren’t the crumbling type, they are totemo katai.

You can walk the 700 meters of the cave that is available to the public in 15 minutes. I enjoyed the whole experience but I was surprised to see a high volume of water in the cave ( I really did not expect it to be so much). It looks very cool and inviting though -it’s truly surreal. You can read more about the cave here but in the meantime, I can tell you that there are a whole other 4300 meters currently unavailable to the public.

The trip to Ryūsendō Cave from Sendai is long, but if you can get the right company to travel with it is certainly worth the ride. So, grab your sweater, get some good company and head to one of the most scenic, and fun attractions in Japan.

                     Kawazakana (川魚), Ryūsendō Cave

Oh, one more thing, do try the kawa zakana (river fish) from the lady outside the cave. Your taste buds will enjoy the experience, especially if you eat it after exploring the chilly cave.

Access from Sendai:

By Car-

Sendai Station to Ryūsendō Cave, Iwaizumi Iwate will take about 4 hours if you use the toll road.

By Public Transportation-

It is very difficult to reach the cave by public transportation, but if you are up for a great 

adventure click here for the directions.