S P O T ／ SPOT-082

Hida Great Limestone Cave

飛騨大鍾乳洞ひだだいしょうにゅうどう

At roughly 900 meters elevation in the foothills of the Northern Alps, Japan's highest-altitude show cave snakes nearly 800 meters into a mountainside, divided into three sections (each with its own exit) so visitors can choose a 10-, 20- or 30-minute experience. The cave's signature features are the eerie blue-lit subterranean streams, a chamber called Moon World, an unusually dense population of helictites (twisted stalactites that defy gravity by growing sideways), 'Japan's largest column,' and a final cascade called the Falls of Happiness. The cave's discoverer and developer, the late Ōhashi Sotokichi, was also a compulsive private collector of minerals, gems, and decorative art from around the world, and beside the cave entrance he built a private museum to house his finds. The Ōhashi Collection Hall sits awkwardly and wonderfully against the cave proper — geological showpiece next to private cabinet of curiosities — making this one of the more characteristic outsider-natural-history complexes in central Japan. Year-round 10°C, so a jacket is essential even in midsummer.