Kanabiki Falls, Waterfall in Miyazu, Japan

Kanabiki Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls on the upper reaches of the Takiba River, a tributary of the Otake River, about 1.5 km southwest of central Miyazu. Climbing the path, visitors pass Garyu Falls, then Hakuryu Falls, then the main Kanabiki Falls, which slides down a broad granite-diorite slab about 40 m high and 20 m wide. The narrower left part is Medaki, the wider right part Odaki.

The waterfall was chosen as one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls in 1990, the only one in Kyoto Prefecture. From 1984 to 2012 a fire festival was held on the last Sunday of July, based on a legend that farmers suffering under the Miyazu domain's misrule used the power of Kanabiki Fudoson to turn the falls' water into fire. In 2019 it ranked 28th in a survey of Japanese destinations on Chinese social media, and from October 2020 the Amanohashidate Tourist Association began offering takigyo experiences.

Near the falls stand the Kitamuki Jizō statue, the Kanabiki Fudōson hall and Takiba Shrine, with a small shelter for visitors. Since October 2020 the Amanohashidate Tourist Association has run takigyō, water-austerity practice, at the falls. From 1984 to 2012 a fire festival was held on the last Sunday of July, based on a legend that farmers of the late Edo period turned the waterfall into fire through Fudōson's power.

The falls lie 1.5 km southwest of central Miyazu, about 2.5 km from the Miyazu-Amanohashidate interchange and roughly 15 minutes by car from Miyazu Station. A path on the Kinki Nature Trail climbs past Garyu Falls and Hakuryu Falls to the main drop at about 150 m elevation. The plunge pool is shallow, so you can walk close to the water; morning sun from the east sometimes makes a rainbow.

The three falls are named in order along the trail: Garyū, Hakuryū, then the main Kanabiki Falls, whose two halves are Medaki (left, narrow) and Odaki (right, wide). The main drop slides down granite-diorite bedrock about 40 m high and 20 m wide, and its shallow plunge pool lets visitors walk right up to the water.