Japan 
In numbers.
Apr
Jul
Sep–Oct
Best months
1,084m
Elevation
The water at Kitashōji Falls, month by month
It roars from April to October.
The fullest months: from April to October.
- 27%Jan
- 36%Feb
- 61%Mar
- 80%Apr
- 82%May
- 83%Jun
- 97%Jul
- 81%Aug
- 92%Sep
- 100%Oct
- 66%Nov
- 36%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: April, July and from September to October.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall located in Japan
Kitashōji Falls is a waterfall in Japan. It lies within Minami Alps National Park.
Getting there.
- Nirasakinearest town · 9.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 890 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Shinshu-Matsumoto Airport (MMJ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 62 km in a straight lineCar hire at HND airport (Tokyo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- April, July and from September to Octoberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 195 m in 1.6 km. Here the river runs about 103 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- 2car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 1toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 5other named waterfalls within 4 km白糸ノ滝, 五色ヶ滝, 南精進ヶ滝 and 2 more
- —caves
- 6campsites
- 9hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km南御室小屋, 薬師岳小屋, 若神桜 and 6 more
- —restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Nirasaki9.3 km in a straight line
- Hokuto12 km in a straight line
- Kai15 km in a straight line
- Ryūō16 km in a straight line
- Minami-Alps16 km in a straight line
- Minamiarupusu17 km in a straight line
- Shōwa20 km in a straight line
- Chūō20 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 10 | 4 |
| Night °C | -8 | -7 | -3 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 2 | -4 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 59 | 72 | 115 | 130 | 143 | 171 | 219 | 156 | 194 | 183 | 80 | 63 |
| Wet days | 6 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 7 |
| Sun h/day | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (1,084 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 131% | 82% | 124% | 117% | 75% | 151% | 263% | 36% | 83% | 131% | 35% | 28% |
| 2021 | 127% | 80% | 152% | 97% | 138% | 81% | 152% | 232% | 97% | 45% | 77% | 128% |
| 2022 | 31% | 63% | 87% | 157% | 104% | 74% | 156% | 148% | 166% | 43% | 122% | 51% |
| 2023 | 32% | 74% | 113% | 110% | 177% | 262% | 45% | 129% | 71% | 67% | 101% | 62% |
| 2024 | 73% | 196% | 182% | 113% | 195% | 192% | 66% | 315% | 71% | 126% | 162% | 6% |
| 2025 | 44% | 21% | 116% | 90% | 155% | 110% | 86% | 62% | 129% | 85% | 29% | 77% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Kitashōji Falls
Japan
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Apr, Jul, Sep–OctBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q6417893) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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