面不動鍾乳洞

Menfudō shōnyūdō - Menfudo Limestone Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Dorogawa Village, Tenkawa. Located above the town at the hillside. 10 minutes walk or monorail (additional fee). (34.267607, 135.875969)
Open:	OCT to MAR daily 9-17. APR to 19-JUL daily 9-18. 20-JUL to AUG daily 8-19. SEP daily 9-18. [2020]
Fee:	Adults JPY 450, Children (5-15) JPY 200, Children (0-4) free. [2020]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	LED Lighting Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=280 m, T=8 °C.
Guided tours:	L=150 m, self guided, D=20 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Menfudou Limestone Cave, 673-89 Dorogawa, Tenkawa, Yoshino District, Nara 638-0431, Tel: +81-747-64-0352.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

hist

1948	discovered by Hirokichi Tachibanamoto.

Description

面不動鍾乳洞 (Menfudō shōnyūdō) was discovered in 1948 by Hirokichi Tachibanamoto. Subsequently it was explored by Akira Iguchi and Santaro Otani.

The cave is entered through a gated door and down a rather uneven staircase. Inside there is a round trip, and at the end you return to the entrance up the same staircase. The trails are sometimes quite rough, and the ceiling is now and then quite low, so this cave is not for people with mobility problems. The cave does not have many speleothems, and many of them are broken. Nevertheless, there are some exceptional spots, for example a now dry cave lake which is full of cave coral.

The cave got a new LED light a few years ago and in many parts it was done quite well. Unfortunately they are very fond of coloured light, so there are red, blue and green corners. And if thats not kitschy enough, there are spots which change the colour!

The cave is located high above the village on the hillside. For visitors who are not able or willing to walk up to the cave entrance, there is a monorail, which costs an additional fee. The train carts look like huge logs and are quite funny for children, but they are moving at normal speed and are not intended as roller coasters.