Kegon Falls
Encyclopedia
are located at Lake Chūzenji
(source of the Oshiri River) in Nikkō National Park
near the city of Nikkō
, Tochigi Prefecture
, Japan
. The falls were formed when the Daiya River was rerouted by lava flows. About twelve smaller waterfalls are situated behind and to the sides of Kegon Falls, leaking through the many cracks between the mountain and the lava flows.
At 97 m high, it is one of Japan's three highest waterfalls. In the autumn, the traffic on the road from Nikko to Chūzenji can sometimes slow to a crawl as visitors come to see the fall colors.
The Kegon Falls are infamous for suicides, especially among Japanese youth.
Misao Fujimura
(1886 – May 22, 1903) a Japanese philosophy student and poet, is largely remembered due to his farewell poem directly on the trunk of a tree before committing suicide by jumping from the Kegon Falls.
The story was soon sensationalized in contemporary newspapers, and was commented upon by the famed writer Natsume Soseki
. This led the famed scenic falls to become a notorious spot for lovetorn or otherwise desperate youngsters to take their lives (Werther Effect
).
Lake Chuzenji
is a scenic lake in Nikkō National Park in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It was created 20,000 years ago when Mount Nantai erupted and blocked the river...
(source of the Oshiri River) in Nikkō National Park
Nikko National Park
is a national park in the Kantō region, on the main island of Honshū in Japan. The park spreads over four prefectures: Tochigi, Gunma, Fukushima, and Niigata.Notable attractions include:* Nikkō Tōshō-gū* Lake Chūzenji* Kegon Falls* Ryūzu Falls* Mount Nantai...
near the city of Nikkō
Nikko, Tochigi
is a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Approximately 140 km north of Tokyo and 35 km west of Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi Prefecture, it is a popular destination for Japanese and international tourists...
, Tochigi Prefecture
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The falls were formed when the Daiya River was rerouted by lava flows. About twelve smaller waterfalls are situated behind and to the sides of Kegon Falls, leaking through the many cracks between the mountain and the lava flows.
At 97 m high, it is one of Japan's three highest waterfalls. In the autumn, the traffic on the road from Nikko to Chūzenji can sometimes slow to a crawl as visitors come to see the fall colors.
The Kegon Falls are infamous for suicides, especially among Japanese youth.
Suicides
Misao Fujimura
was a Japanese philosophy student and poet, largely remembered due to his farewell poem.Fujimura was born in Hokkaidō. His grandfather was a former samurai of the Morioka Domain, and his father relocated to Hokkaidō after the Meiji Restoration as a director of the forerunner of Hokkaido Bank...
(1886 – May 22, 1903) a Japanese philosophy student and poet, is largely remembered due to his farewell poem directly on the trunk of a tree before committing suicide by jumping from the Kegon Falls.
The story was soon sensationalized in contemporary newspapers, and was commented upon by the famed writer Natsume Soseki
Natsume Soseki
, born ', is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period . He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales...
. This led the famed scenic falls to become a notorious spot for lovetorn or otherwise desperate youngsters to take their lives (Werther Effect
Copycat suicide
A copycat suicide is defined as an emulation of another suicide that the person attempting suicide knows about either from local knowledge or due to accounts or depictions of the original suicide on television and in other media....
).