Kegon Falls & Irohazaka (the 48-bend road to Lake Chuzenji)

Kegon Falls is the most famous of Japan's three great waterfalls, with a 97-metre free fall from the lip of Lake Chuzenji down to the gorge of the Daiya river. The water of the volcanic lake escapes through its only natural outlet — the crater rim — and drops vertically over a wall of basalt rock surrounded by ten smaller cascades springing from the cracks. The upper viewpoint (free) is ten metres from the edge; the lower viewpoint, reached by a lift carved into the rock, sits at the foot of the falls and on humid days soaks visitors in icy mist (570 ¥). In winter the waterfall partly freezes, forming layers of blue ice that are one of Japan's most singular natural spectacles. To reach the falls you climb the Irohazaka, a mountain road with 48 hairpin bends going up and another 20 coming down (separate one-way roads), rising 400 metres in barely 8 kilometres through maple forests. The name Irohazaka comes from the 48 sounds of the Japanese iroha alphabet.