Hirokawara

This wide, shallow section of Kikuchi Gorge is one of the few places in Japan where kawanori, an edible river algae prized since antiquity, still grows in meaningful quantities. During the Edo period, the daimyo lord of the Kumamoto domain presented local kawanori as a gift to the shogun. The river pools here are also habitat for yamame, a landlocked salmon species, as well as frogs, small salamanders, and water insects. Visible in the upstream direction from the bridge are the green tufts of the algae clinging to the riverbed. Cedar trees planted by a daimyo lord in 1823 still line the trail above, their bark scored by the claws of Japanese giant flying squirrels.