Just before you pass the halfway point to Minoh Falls, you will see a bronze statue of Hideyo Noguchi on the hill on your left. He is one of the most respected Japanese bacteriologists who first discovered Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphillis, in the brain of persons suffering from paralysis in 1911. You can see his face on the Japanese 1,000 yen bill today.
In 1915, Hideyo Noguchi came back to Japan from the U.S.A. where he was a member of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. His reason for returning was to see his aging mother and as it was, he treated her to a delicious meal here in the Minoh mountains and took her to see the Minoh Falls. Minoh citizens were so moved by his graciousness towards his mother that they built a bronze statue in his honour in 1955.
Each time when I visit Minoh Falls, I often see many people just pass through under the hill not to see his bronze statue. It takes little effort to climb the hill and will be worth the effort if you can feel another history of Minoh Falls.