The best waterfalls in Kumamoto

Nabegataki Falls, Kumamoto: The Waterfall You Can Walk Behind

If you're heading to Kumamoto and want somewhere a little quieter than the usual stops, I'd put Nabegataki Falls on the list. It's known as the waterfall you can walk behind — you actually stand in a hollow space behind the water and look out through it like a curtain, instead of just viewing it from across the river.

The best part is how it looks from that angle. The water spreads wide and thin across a curved rock ledge rather than dropping straight down, so from behind it, it really does look like a sheer curtain with light filtering through. It's about 10 meters high and 20 meters wide, and it's said to have formed from the same eruption that created the Aso caldera around 90,000 years ago.