Japan Captain76 · CC BY-SA 3.0
The cut
352 metres, to scale.
A slice through Shōsenkyō where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
352m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
8.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
18°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
447m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
3 °C warmer at the bottom.
In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C on the floor, against 27 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in October. The rim freezes at night from December to March. The wettest months are from June to July and from September to October.
- 6°3°Jan
- 7°5°Feb
- 11°9°Mar
- 17°14°Apr
- 22°19°May
- 25°22°Jun
- 29°26°Jul
- 30°27°Aug
- 26°23°Sep
- 20°17°Oct
- 14°12°Nov
- 8°6°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Shōsenkyō is a canyon in Japan, cut by the Arakawa River. The relief model measures 352 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 8.6 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Chichibu Tama Kai National Park.
Getting there.
- Kainearest town · 8.4 km in a straight line
- Parking 2,300 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.0 km from the floor
- Shinshu-Matsumoto Airport (MMJ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 75 km in a straight lineCar hire at HND airport (Tokyo)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Arakawa River runs highest from June to July and from September to October.
The Arakawa River carries about 2.7 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from June to July and from September to October.
- 0.8 m³/sJan
- 1.2 m³/sFeb
- 2.4 m³/sMar
- 3.2 m³/sApr
- 3.2 m³/sMay
- 3.4 m³/sJun
- 4.0 m³/sJul
- 3.3 m³/sAug
- 4.0 m³/sSep
- 4.7 m³/sOct
- 2.9 m³/sNov
- 1.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.79 m³/s in the lowest month to 4.7 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 103 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 19 × 19 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 3footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- 1named waterfalls within 4 km仙娥滝
- 10car parks within 3 km
- 2bus stops within 2 km
- 2campsites within 8 kmほったらかしキャンプ場, RIKUSAKU(陸作)キャンプ&BBQ場
- 12hotels and guesthouses within 8 km（Kofu Highland youth hostel), 神の湯温泉, ファンタジー and 9 more
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Kai8.4 km in a straight line
- Kofu8.7 km in a straight line
- Nirasaki12 km in a straight line
- Ryūō12 km in a straight line
- Isawa12 km in a straight line
- Shōwa13 km in a straight line
- Fuefuki14 km in a straight line
- Yamanashi14 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Shōsenkyō.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas5 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 6 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 26 | 20 | 14 | 8 |
| Afternoon · rim | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 6 |
| Night · rim | -6 | -5 | -2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 2 | -4 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 71 | 115 | 127 | 140 | 174 | 209 | 159 | 201 | 193 | 85 | 64 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 7 |
| Sun hours/day | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 14 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6 | 3 | -6 | 61 | 6.1 |
| Feb | 7 | 5 | -5 | 71 | 6.1 |
| Mar | 11 | 9 | -2 | 115 | 6.1 |
| Apr | 17 | 14 | 3 | 127 | 6.2 |
| May | 22 | 19 | 8 | 140 | 6.1 |
| Jun | 25 | 22 | 13 | 174 | 4.2 |
| Jul | 29 | 26 | 18 | 209 | 4.5 |
| Aug | 30 | 27 | 18 | 159 | 5.6 |
| Sep | 26 | 23 | 14 | 201 | 4.6 |
| Oct | 20 | 17 | 8 | 193 | 4.6 |
| Nov | 14 | 12 | 2 | 85 | 5.4 |
| Dec | 8 | 6 | -4 | 64 | 5.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (447 m) and the rim (848 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 152% | 74% | 121% | 127% | 71% | 142% | 257% | 35% | 83% | 126% | 26% | 26% |
| 2021 | 135% | 87% | 139% | 92% | 121% | 82% | 162% | 204% | 92% | 55% | 84% | 138% |
| 2022 | 31% | 72% | 85% | 171% | 111% | 81% | 143% | 144% | 151% | 50% | 115% | 58% |
| 2023 | 31% | 70% | 115% | 105% | 168% | 244% | 43% | 122% | 85% | 64% | 87% | 54% |
| 2024 | 71% | 185% | 176% | 112% | 182% | 194% | 67% | 290% | 69% | 124% | 163% | 5% |
| 2025 | 44% | 21% | 132% | 99% | 163% | 93% | 78% | 54% | 125% | 84% | 26% | 76% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Shōsenkyō
Japan
- 352 mDepth
- 8.6 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 18°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q9336171) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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canyons
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