Saga · Karatsu BayNo.525★★★Open in map →

Niji no Matsubara

— A million black pines along Karatsu Bay

natureThe classic — done right

A belt of black pine running along the eastern shore of Karatsu Bay, planted as a windbreak in the seventeenth century and now the only pine grove in Japan ranked a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. Roads, a railway halt and beaches all sit inside it.

FromKaratsu Station
~15 minJR Chikuhi Line, two stops
Get off atHigashi-Karatsu Station (JR Chikuhi Line)
On foot
Niji no Matsubara

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Prefectural Road 347 in the groveそらみみ (Soramimi) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Prefectural Road 347the old national route, running the length of the grove under the branches and listed among Japan's hundred best roads
The Karatsu Bay shoreswimming beaches on the seaward edge, where the pines stop and the sand starts
Nijinomatsubara Stationa small halt on the JR Chikuhi Line with pines standing right up to the platform
Mount Kagamiyama observatorythe hill at the eastern end, from which the whole curve and the bay islands read as one line

How to actually get there

Karatsu Station → Higashi-Karatsu Station (JR Chikuhi Line, two stops).
North side of Higashi-Karatsu Station → into the pines, about ten minutes on foot.
Walk east under Prefectural Road 347, crossing to the seaward side where the trees open onto sand.
Nijinomatsubara Station → back toward Karatsu, or onward toward Fukuoka on the same line.

JR Chikuhi Line from Karatsu Station: Karatsu Station →(JR Chikuhi Line, two stops)→ Higashi-Karatsu Station, an elevated stop whose north side faces the grove. The Chikuhi Line runs through onto the Fukuoka City Subway, so trains from Fukuoka Airport and Hakata reach here without a change; from Karatsu itself it is a short hop.
Return from Nijinomatsubara or Higashi-Karatsu: Either station takes you back toward Karatsu or onward toward Fukuoka on the same line. Services are thinner at this end of the route than on the city side, so check the platform timetable before committing to walking the length of the grove.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

The grove curves for about 4.5 kilometres along the bay and runs roughly half a kilometre deep, holding something on the order of a million black pines. Seen from the hills behind it, the curve reads as an arc, and that is where the name comes from. It is not a fenced park. Prefectural Road 347 runs the length of it under the branches, the JR Chikuhi Line crosses it, and the sand of Karatsu Bay begins where the trees stop. The ground is flat and barely above sea level, so you move through the grove rather than up into it.

How to enjoy it

There is no gate and no admission: this is public forest, and you walk in where you like. From Higashi-Karatsu, cut through the pines to the shore and follow the sand east, then board at Nijinomatsubara Station rather than retracing the same line on foot.

Background & history

The pines are a public works project. In the early seventeenth century Terazawa Hirotaka, the first lord of Karatsu, had black pine planted across the coastal dunes to shield newly opened rice fields from salt wind and blown sand. The planting held, the belt thickened, and what began as infrastructure became scenery. The grove is counted among Japan's three great pine groves and is the only one of them designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. It is still managed as forest rather than left to itself.

Before you go

Cash: The grove costs nothing to enter and has no ticket office. Higashi-Karatsu is an unstaffed station, so sort your rail ticket at the machine before boarding rather than expecting a counter.
Good to know: There is no lighting once the sun goes down, and the sea wind comes straight through the trunks. Prefectural Road 347 carries live traffic under the trees, so use the shoulder and the marked crossings instead of the carriageway.
Another way: From Fukuoka, stay on the through service from the airport or Hakata and get off at Nijinomatsubara, one stop before Higashi-Karatsu, which puts you inside the grove with no walk at all. By car, the coast road along the bay follows the same line.
After you get off: From the north side of Higashi-Karatsu Station, head north for about ten minutes. The housing gives way to pine and the grove starts without a gate.