鷲沢風穴

Washizawa Fuketsu - Washizawa Wind Cave

Useful Information

Location:	428 Washizawa-cho, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-2104. (34.849238, 137.712889)
Open:	All year Mon–Tue, Thu, Sat–Sun 8:30–17. [2022]
Fee:	Adults JPY 400. [2022]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Washizawa Fuketsu, 428 Washizawa-cho, Kita-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-2104, Tel: +81-53-428-2965.
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

Description

鷲沢風穴 (Washizawa Fuketsu) was named after the village Washizawa, where it is located. This small cave with its nice speleothems is noted primarily for its unique horizontal ceiling. It is a bedding plane with a rather stable layer of limestone which forms the ceiling. There is one other cave in Japan with such a unique feature, Mejiro Cave at the Hirodai karst in Fukuoka prefecture.

Such structures are found in many caves of the world, and while not abundant, they are nevertheless common. But in Japan the situation is different. Normally limestones in Japan are reef limestones which have no layers, or if they have layers, they are deformed by tectonic forces like uplift and folding. And often the limestone is transformed into marble, the metamorphite of limestone, and during the process of metamorphism internal structures like layers are normally destroyed. As a result this huge and spectacular layer is quite exceptional.

It is sometimes rather rough, you might get a little dirty, and skirts and high heels are definitely a bad idea. You can borrow a helmet for free, but as far as we understand they are not necessary. The small cave is rather unknown, there is not much advertising, and it is omitted from many tourist lists. As a result it is not very crowded and open only on weekends. But it is a good place with children, and they sell local vegetables.