Kaminari Falls, Waterfall in Takayama, Nagano, Japan

Kaminari Falls is a 30-metre-high, 5-metre-wide waterfall on the Matsukawa River in Takayama, Nagano Prefecture. It drops over tuff breccia eroded by the river, and the rock wall beneath the lip is hollowed like a roof eave, so the back of the fall can be seen from behind.

Kaminari Falls is one of the three great waterfalls of Takayama Village in Nagano Prefecture, alongside Shichimi Falls and Yatsu Falls. On 1 March 2003 it was designated a scenic spot of Takayama Village. It lies on the Matsukawa river, reached by a steep 100-metre descent from Nagano Prefectural Route 66.

The name Kaminari Falls has several proposed origins: spray caught by the wind at the drop falling in lightning-like streaks, or the roar of the water resembling thunder. Because the rock wall below the lip is hollowed out like a roof eave, the falls are also called Urami-no-taki, a waterfall viewable from behind.

Kaminari Falls lies in Takayama, Nagano, not Gifu: from the Joshinetsu Expressway's Suzaka-Nagano-Higashi interchange it is 19 km, about 40 minutes by car. By public transport, take a taxi from Suzaka Station on the Nagano Electric Railway Nagano Line, roughly 35 minutes. From the Nagano prefectural road 66 along the Matsukawa river, a steep slope drops about 100 m to the falls.

The rock wall directly beneath the lip is hollowed out like a roof eave, so the water falls in front of a recess and visitors can walk behind the cascade; this is why it is also called Urami-no-taki, the "back-view waterfall".