Shiraito Falls

Shiraito Falls lies on the south-western foot of Mount Fuji in the city of Fujinomiya. Unlike most waterfalls, it is fed less by a river than by groundwater: rain and snowmelt that soaked into Fuji's slopes emerge from the cliff face along a broad arc, falling in countless fine strands – the 'white threads' of its name – beside the main stream of the Shiba River.

The falls have long been linked with Fuji worship. Hasegawa Kakugyō, the founder of the Fuji-kō pilgrim confraternities, is said to have practised austerities here in the 16th century, and later pilgrims purified themselves at the falls before climbing the mountain. In 2013 the falls were inscribed as one of the components of the Fujisan World Heritage property.

Nearby, the Otodome Falls drop 25 metres in a single, powerful stream, in contrast to Shiraito's delicate curtain.

Mount Fuji is built of layers of different ages. The younger Shin-Fuji lava is highly permeable, while beneath it lie older, less permeable deposits of the Ko-Fuji volcano. Water seeping down through the young lava is stopped by the older layer and flows along it until the boundary is exposed in the cliff at Shiraito, where it pours out as springs. The water is cold and nearly constant in temperature throughout the year.

The cool, constantly moist cliff supports mosses and ferns, and the spray keeps the basin green even in winter. The spring water is clear and low in nutrients.

According to legend, the Otodome Falls earned their name ('sound-stopping falls') when the roar ceased so that the Soga brothers could hear their enemy's plans before their famous revenge during Minamoto no Yoritomo's hunt on the Fuji plain in 1193. Shiraito's delicate falls were celebrated in poetry and prints as one of Fuji's classic scenes.