Minoh
October 30, 2005
Minoh Park proved to be a nice afternoon getaway from the city. Located about 30 minutes away from Umeda, the park has a nice waterfall and a few other points of interest. Admission is completely free.
The Park
Via the takimichi (waterfall road) trail, it’s a 2.8km stroll to get to the waterfall and it’s an easy, paved walk alongside Minoh river. You’re under cover of tree most of the time so it’s always nice and cool. Along the way you’ll pass through a few stone bridges and a couple red bridges. Most of them had rest areas near them. In the river there were lots of ugly black fish and I saw one huge white koi (Japanese carp). I didn’t know fish ate bread until I saw some people throwing in chunks of bread and the fish all battled for it.
The most famous animal in the park though, are the wild monkeys that once lived in a zoo here. The zoo was closed and all the monkeys were released. You’re not supposed to feed the monkeys and when facing one in the park, you’re supposed to avoid eye contact. A friend at work got his water bottle stolen while he was there. Unfortunately the only monkey I got to see was this little fellow:
Two other points of interest are the insect museum (260 yen) and Ryuan-ji temple (not to be confused with the Ryuan-ji temple in Kyoto – it’s different kanji). I skipped both as they looked pretty lame but I did notice some paths that branch off from the takamichi trail. Some of these looked more interesting. There was an “ocean lookout” point about 250m away, a place called “valley of hell”, and a “princess rock”. The lookout and valley of hell required ‘climbing’ – it’s not a difficult climb but I wasn’t up for it so I skipped it. Princess rock was a strange path behind a big rock.
The waterfall was the best part of the park. It’s only about 20 meters tall and it’s not the most impressive thing but sitting on the benches near it and enjoying some takoyaki (8 for 400 yen) was quite relaxing. This isn’t a secluded area so be ready for lots of old people trying to invade your bench and smokers who don’t seem to notice people gagging from asphyxiation (welcome to Japan). I couldn’t resist recording some video (1mb download) here:
The waterfall. [download]
This isn’t the most exciting place around but for a nice escape from concrete buildings, Minoh made a good half day retreat and offered fresh air. Outside of the park were a few shops offering monkey sembei – snacks and cookies in the shape of monkeys. With signs like this, who can resist?
It was a nice and relaxing place that I’m definitely returning to when I convince the woman to go to the insect museum and the valley of hell. See all the pictures.
Directions
From Umeda, take the Hankyu-Takarazuka line to Ishibashi (15 mins). You can take a local train but your best bet is the Rapid-Express as Ishibashi is 10 stops away. At Ishibashi station, take the Hankyu-Mino line to Mino-O (6 mins). Don’t worry, it’s the end of the line and only four stops away. Total cost from Umeda to Mino-O is 260 yen one way. From Hankyu-Mino-O station, just head straight from the exit towards the police koban. The park entrance is about 5 minutes from there. There’s an information center with big maps in front to help as well.
Suggestions
Don’t go on weekends. I went on a Friday morning and there were quite a few people and a couple of school groups. I can imagine it getting a lot more crowded on weekends. The park will probably look even more stunning when the cooler weather of autumn kicks in and the leaves start changing colour. I noticed signs up warning people of bees. I saw a few bees – these orange bees that were huge. They didn’t seem too ferocious – just orange and gigantic.
November 15th, 2005 at 00:08
I’m a japanese student. I study English at university.
I didn’t know Minoh park. The waterfall’s picture is very beautiful!! I want to go there. In summre vacation I went to Nachi waterfall It’s great.
November 27th, 2005 at 18:07
aren’t you glad I was working for you so you could go. Sorry I’m not tired and drunk so I will write some messages. Minoh looked nice.