Hida Great Limestone Cave

A mysterious cave created by nature over billions of years, with a ceiling so high and huge rocks scattered about, it's like a natural labyrinth. One of the features of the Hida Great Limestone Cave is its many ups and downs compared to other tourist caves, and you can experience an adventurous feeling like in a movie in the fantastic atmosphere lit up by lights. With a total length of about 800m, you can explore it slowly for 40 minutes to an hour, but if you get tired, don't worry as there are exits scattered throughout. Why not challenge yourself and explore this overwhelmingly powerful space?

Hida Great Limestone Cave is known as the cave where you can see the most "helictites," which are highly valuable academically. Helictites are thin, branch-like stones that grow from the ceiling, measuring about 2-5 millimeters in length. Unlike normal stalactites, helictites grow in various directions, making them unique. These strange and rare stones are definitely worth seeing.

At the beginning of the first cave, just after entering, is a mysterious area called the "Night View of Ryuuguu." The inside of the cave is illuminated with fantastic lights, and the whiteness of the stalactites and the deep blue color of the water are beautifully highlighted. As you progress through the cave, unique shaped stalactites appear one after another, which seem to have been naturally formed. You can also enjoy the naming sense of these unique shapes, such as "Roman Ruins," "National Diet Building," and "Ten Gallon Hat."

To get from the first cave to the second cave, you pass through a tunnel about 40 meters long called the "Love Deepening Tunnel". Since 2015, it has been illuminated with seven colors of LED lights, and its beauty and unique atmosphere have made it a popular photo spot. Passing through this tunnel is said to deepen love, making it a popular spot for couples as a romantic location.

Continuing from the first cave, there are also unique stalactites in the second cave. First to appear is the "Crown," named by Prince Takamatsu who visited the Hida Great Stalactite Cave in 1971. Further in, there is a stalactite that is said to be the largest in Asia, measuring 4.5 meters in length. Stalactites grow upwards from the ceiling by the dripping of water, taking about 130 years to grow just 1 centimeter. You can feel the endless length of history. Other attractions in the second cave include waterfalls such as "Happiness Falls" and "Niagara Falls" that fall inside the cave. Please enjoy the sight of water falling into the darkness and the sound of echoing water.

When you enter the third cave, you can see a space made of coral called the "Moon World." As you carefully proceed along the steep and undulating path, a narrow and steep staircase appears, which is the entrance to the Moon World. Going up the stairs, you can see that the ceiling is high and dome-shaped. This terrain is called a "cave shield," and on the surface of the walls, there are stalactites called "cave corals" with bumps and protrusions. This surreal space overlaps with a cosmic image while being in the environment of a cave, and is certainly a scene that reminds you of the moon.

As you approach the climax of the third cave in the limestone cave, a red shrine gate suddenly appears. In fact, the Hida Great Limestone Cave is also famous as a power spot that blesses children. The "Kodakara Shrine" and "Kodakara Jizo" were built as symbols of this. At the "Kodakara Shrine," there is a legend that if you stroke the stone of the deity, you will be blessed with children, and many couples and married couples seem to visit.

At the "Ohashi Collection Museum" located in the limestone cave, approximately 1000 works of art and decorative items from around the world collected by the late Ohashi Toyoshi, a local entrepreneur who discovered the Hida Great Limestone Cave and built up a vast fortune in one generation, are on display. Among them, the most talked-about exhibit is "The Returned Gold Bars". These gold bars were displayed from the first year of the Heisei era as a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the Hida Great Limestone Cave and the change of the era name, but were stolen in 2007. The stolen gold bars weighed approximately 100 kg and were said to be worth about 500 million yen at the current market price! The thief was caught afterwards, but some of the bars were melted with a gas burner and sold. Currently, at the collection museum, fragments of the gold bars, which were scattered by the thief and weigh approximately 70 kg, and two replicas before the theft are on display.