Nunobiki Falls

Nunobiki Falls (布引の滝) is a set of waterfalls near the downtown Kobe, Japan, with an important significance in Japanese literature and Japanese art. In Japan, Nunobiki is considered one of the greatest "divine falls" together with Kegon Falls and Nachi Falls.

Nunobiki waterfalls comprises four separate falls: Ondaki, Mendaki, Tsusumigadaki, and Meotodaki.

A well-known section of the Tales of Ise describes a trip taken by a minor official and his guests to Nunobiki Falls. They begin a poetry-writing contest, to which one of the guests, a commander of the guards, contributes:


 * Which, I wonder, is higher-
 * This waterfall or the fall of my tears
 * As I wait in vain,
 * Hoping today or tomorrow
 * To rise in the world.

The minor official offers his own composition:


 * It looks as though someone
 * Must be unstringing
 * Those clear cascading gems.
 * Alas! My sleeves are too narrow
 * To hold them all.