銀竜洞

Ginryūdō - Ginryu-do - Ginryu Cave


Useful Information

Location: Isen, Oshima District, Kagoshima 891-8116.
500 m north of Kami-Kenfuku road. The turn off is not signed but after 500 m a huge sign with a Kenji gate marks the turn off of the short single lane gravel road.
(27.689079, 128.949882)
Open: no restrictions.
[2022]
Fee: free.
[2022]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Ginryūdō, Isen, Oshima District, Kagoshima 891-8116.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History


Description

銀竜洞 (Ginryūdō, Ginryu Cave) is a cave temple (Ana Hachiman) for the people of the nearby village Kenbuku. There is a torii gate at the entrance, through which the cave is entered. The cave is more or less a single passage between 2 m and 5 m wide and high, with a cave river. The floor is clay with black pebbles and cobbles, some gravel. The accessible part ends at a cave lake, probably a sump. The cave has electric light and is used as a show cave during the summer months. However, there is not much advertising, and it is not listed in brochures and guidebooks. Actually the heydays of the show cave operation were in the 1960s.

The cave is also known as 検福穴八幡 (Kenbuku anahachiman, Koufuana Hachiman), and as 銀龍洞 (Ginryu-dong, Silver Dragon Cave).

Tokunoshima island is subtropical, it receives sufficient rainfall that it has rainforests. This is also a good condition for karstification, as a result the reef limestones of the island are heavily karstified. There are numerous caves on the island, the longest is 2,052 m long. Ginryūdō is the only cave on the island which is at least almost a show cave, There are always rumours that there are plans to develop it and make it more popular, but so far it was never realized. We are not aware why the cave is not advertised as a tourist site, but in most cases it's simply the lack of a warden.