Tahara Falls were known since ancient times as a scenic spot along Fujimichi Road, and are said to be where haiku master Matsuo Basho composed a poem and where members of the Fujiko Society purified themselves.
The waterfall may have lost its erstwhile appearance due to repeated land collapse and erosion followed by revetment and erosion control works, but the abundant waters of Katsura River cascade boundlessly into a valley created by a lava flow from Mount Fuji.
There is a sluice gate called Yamura Ozeki upstream of the waterfall. The dam was excavated over a period of three years beginning in 1636 under the order of Akimoto Yasutomo, ruler of the Yamura Domain. The water thus collected from Katsura River fertilized the region from Yamura by way of the Kachugawa, Terakawa, Nakagawa and Onagawa Rivers, and was used as agricultural water, drinking water, water for washing textile dyes, and water to power looms.
The waterfall may have lost its erstwhile appearance due to repeated land collapse and erosion followed by revetment and erosion control works, but the abundant waters of Katsura River cascade boundlessly into a valley created by a lava flow from Mount Fuji.
There is a sluice gate called Yamura Ozeki upstream of the waterfall. The dam was excavated over a period of three years beginning in 1636 under the order of Akimoto Yasutomo, ruler of the Yamura Domain. The water thus collected from Katsura River fertilized the region from Yamura by way of the Kachugawa, Terakawa, Nakagawa and Onagawa Rivers, and was used as agricultural water, drinking water, water for washing textile dyes, and water to power looms.