The Yachiyo River
Bordered by cherry trees, this clear-running river flows along the borde of Inasehagi-jinja Shrine and into Sagiura Harbor. Its pure waters are the ideal habitat for one of nature’s top vocalists: the Kajika frog, also known as Buerger’s frog (Buergeria buergeri), a flat-bodied, gray-brown stream frog endemic to Japan. Between April and August, male frogs stake out rocks in the Yachiyo and call for mates with an ethereal trilling.
Sagiura residents hold an evening gathering toward the end of each May to celebrate the amphibian serenade. Bamboo candles are placed along a 30- to 40-meter-long section of the river’s banks, where families gather to watch the fireflies and listen to the kajika.