Qualla: Geibikei https://qualla.com/geibikei en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:40 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/u/m/geibikei-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Geibikei https://qualla.com/geibikei Geibikei: Introduction https://qualla.com/geibikei/ Photo credit 663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0. The boatman plants his pole against the riverbed and pushes. The flat-bottomed boat slides forward without a sound, and the limestone walls of Geibikei close in overhead -- fifty meters, eighty meters, topping out at 124 meters of sheer cliff face on either side of the Satetsu River. For ninety minutes, the only sounds are water against wood and, on the return leg, the boatman's voice rising into the narrow canyon as he sings the Geibi Oiwake, a traditional song that has echoed off these walls for generations. This is Geibikei, a ravine in the city of Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture, designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument since 1923, and selected as one of Japan's 100 Landscapes in 1927.

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Image: 663highland | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/u/m/geibikei-wp/xnum-geibikei-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Geibikei: The Lion's Nose https://qualla.com/geibikei/ Photo credit Ty19080914, CC BY-SA 4.0. The name Geibi translates to "lion's nose," and it comes from a limestone formation near the far end of the gorge that juts out over the water like a lion's snout. Erosion has been the sole architect here, carving two kilometers of dramatic scenery from the limestone over millenn...

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Image: Ty19080914 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/u/m/geibikei-wp/xnum-geibikei-the-lions-nose.mp3 0:06 2 full Geibikei: Gliding Through Stone https://qualla.com/geibikei/ Photo credit Takahashi J, CC BY-SA 3.0. The boat ride is the heart of Geibikei. Visitors board at a dock near the gorge entrance and spend approximately ninety minutes being poled upriver and back by a single boatman. The boats are simple wooden craft, flat-bottomed and open, designed to draw almost no water. The boatm...

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Image: Takahashi J | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/u/m/geibikei-wp/xnum-geibikei-gliding-through-stone.mp3 0:06 3 full Geibikei: From Wilderness to Wonder https://qualla.com/geibikei/ Photo credit 663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0. Before the Meiji period began in 1868, Geibikei was unknown to the wider world. The surrounding area was considered near-wilderness, remote and difficult to reach in the mountainous interior of Iwate Prefecture. The gorge's transformation from forgotten backwater to celebrated la...

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Image: 663highland | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/u/m/geibikei-wp/xnum-geibikei-from-wilderness-to-wonder.mp3 0:06 4 full