Ryūka Falls

Ryuka Falls drops 60 meters across three tiers in the Shiobara gorge, and the water's path down the rock face is said to resemble a carp climbing upward, which gives the falls their name: Becoming-Dragon Falls, a reference to the legend that a carp who climbed a waterfall passed through the dragon's gate and transformed. The surrounding rock formations are made of two types of volcanic material, green tuff and andesite, and the visible cracking and shearing in the andesite columns records how the outer rock cooled faster than the interior when the lava solidified. The falls are one of the most photographically rewarding stops in the Nasu highlands.