Niji No Matsubara Pine Grove

Niji no Matsubara is one of Japan’s Three Great Pine Groves, alongside Miho no Matsubara (Shizuoka) and Kehi no Matsubara (Fukui). It stretches about 4.5 km long and 500 m wide, with roughly one million Japanese black pines planted. It was created as a windbreak and sand-control forest in the early 17th century by Terasawa Shimanosuke Hirotaka, the first lord of Karatsu Castle, and is now designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty by the nation. Niji no Matsubara is also known for the “Eight Mysteries of Niji no Matsubara”: (1) when Toyotomi Hideyoshi said the cicadas were too noisy, their singing suddenly stopped; (2) “Nirami-matsu,” a pine said to have stopped growing taller after Hideyoshi glared and ordered it to be shorter; (3) “Yari-kake-matsu,” where Hideyoshi’s troops rested spears; (4) all trees planted are Japanese black pines; (5) there is a well whose water is not salty despite being near the sea; (6) an extended line between the east end of Takashima and the west end of Kamishima runs through the center of the grove; (7) due to a wish prayer at Suwa Shrine in Hamasaki, there are no snakes in the grove; (8) the “Neagari no Matsu” near the Matsuura River mouth. Enjoy your visit by focusing on these mysteries. By car, it is about 20 minutes from the Nishi-Kyushu Expressway Karatsu IC, or about 45 minutes from the Nagasaki Expressway Taku IC. By train, get off at JR Chikuhi Line “Nijinomatsubara Station,” which is right by the grove.