Here’s a bit of a secret. If you visit Tsujyunkyo in Yabe, cross it and take a long stone stairway down to where the river is delivered via waterfall called 五老ヶ滝 (Gorougataki - “waterfall of the five elderly”). No one swims there but me - and maybe you, if you can withstand anvil-type water shards battering your head (hint: swim backwards). If you reach the falls, you can climb up behind it, where there’s no water at all, but the deepest of moss you’ll ever feel. This is a wonderful summer adventure. - William