Iwayado Park (岩屋堂公園内) is located in Seto City, Aichi. A charming natural park with green valley, mountain, river, trails, observatory, sanctuary and waterfalls.
Iwayado Park is a place where visitors enjoy rich nature all year round. It is a park where you can experience nature that changes with the seasons, in summer children can have fun in the river or enjoy the firefly festival, in spring we have cherry blossoms (sakura), in autumn we can enjoy and take beautiful pictures of the wonderful autumn leaves and the night leaves become amazing with the night lighting. In addition to all this, there is an Observatory at the top of Mount Iwasu where we can enjoy the beautiful view of the valley and the cities around it and it also has two beautiful waterfalls, one of 10 meters and the other of 17 meters.
In summer the Torihara River (鳥原川) is very popular, the river becomes a natural pool for children, family and friends. Children have fun, but the river is not very deep, ideal for children. In the river, popular events take place during this period also for children, such as children’s competitions and tournaments.
Competition: treasure hunt for children, children will search the river for a card that can be exchanged for juice and sweets at the park’s stores. In addition to children’s tournaments. And parents can barbecue the day to have a good barbecue.
The park is also very popular with people who enjoy hiking in nature, with several trails, one better than the other, leading to incredible places.
One of the trails is the Mount Iwasu trail. The Mount Iwasu Trail leads to the Mount Iwasu Observation Deck (岩巣山展望台), which offers spectacular views of the valley and surrounding towns.
Many adventurous people and family members come walking on this trail with a 600-meter route in nature to reach the Observatory. Inside the park there are two trails that lead to the Mount Iwasu Observatory.
The first trail is the easiest (recommended), the trail starts right at the entrance of the park near the Gyoumyougataki Waterfall and next to the Sanctuary, you go through the Torii (traditional Japanese gate) and the bamboo forest, from there the trail becomes gradually steeper (the trail is well signposted).
The second trail is located at the back of Parque Iwayado, close to the second waterfall in the park (Cachoeira Seto Otaki), this trail is recommended for people with better physical conditions and for those who like adventure, as the entire ascent is quite steep, with huge rocks and stone steps, this trail is also well signposted, but it is the most tiring.
The other trail leads to a beautiful waterfall called Seto Otaki, with a drop of about 17 meters. A waterfall that attracts many people in the summer, to get to the waterfall you will walk 590 meters on the beautiful nature trail.
In Iwayado Park there is another waterfall called Gyoumyougataki Waterfall. Gyoumyougataki Waterfall (暁明ヶ滝) is a 10m high waterfall, this waterfall is located right at the entrance of the park next to Iwanohokora Shrine, a waterfall to enjoy and take beautiful photos, you can also make a beautiful photo using river water as a mirror.
There is also a stone shrine (Iwayado Shrine) which houses three Buddha statues carved by the famous monk Gyoki during the Nara period. In 725 (about 1,300 years ago), a famous Gyoki monk, found in a huge stone cave, during his training he carved three Buddha statues to pray for the eradication of Emperor Shomu’s disease. The shrine has become famous attracting many people as it is said to help prevent eye and hearing diseases. In the natural giant rock shrine there are 15 Buddha statues. You can also enter the sanctuary and observe the interior, pray or take pictures. In this sanctuary you can feel the sacred atmosphere in the mountains of the park.
In autumn, the festival of autumn leaves takes place, the autumn leaves have made Iwayado Park very famous, attracting many people to see the colors of the autumn leaves and mainly because of the night lighting.
It is an unmissable festival, you will not only enjoy the beautiful autumn leaves but you will also see the leaves of the trees reflecting on the surface of the river, making it an incredible and fantastic scenario.
And at night with the night lighting of the leaves the park becomes stunning, in addition the place is richer with the attraction of the event of the bamboo lamps, the bamboo lamps have drawings of flowers and animals to entertain the guests. Lighting starts at 5:30 pm and goes until 9:00 pm.
Every year in spring we have the cherry blossom (sakura) festival, a festival that attracts many people.
River: mid-July to late August.
Barbecue: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (July 13 to September 1).
Firefly Festival: mid to late June.
Autumn Leaves Festival: from the 1st to the 30th of November.
Autumn leaves lighting hours: from 17:30 to 21:00.
Parking: Free (capacity 180 cars). There are also paid private parking lots around the park ranging from 500 yen to 1.000.
Parking during lighting events: 800 yen flat fee.
Aichi-ken Seto-shi Iwaya-cho