Tsuzura Tanada: The Must-See Rice Terrace in Fukuoka, Japan

Tsuzura Tanada, located in Ukiha City, Fukuoka Prefecture and selected as one of the most beautiful rice terraces in Japan in 1999. In an area of 7 hectares, there are 300 layers of rice terraces in Tsuzura Tanada’s. During the autumn season, the contrast of rice terraces’ green and red amaryllis creates a stunning view. Tsuzura Tanada hold a weeklong festival, Higanabana Meguri, which is visited by 3.5 thousand people every year.

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Tsuzura Tanada in Ukiha City, Fukuoka

Are you looking for something different to experience in Japan rather than the standard touristy outings? Are you tired from overwhelmed city lifestyle without nature around you? Maybe you are trying to escape from the reality to an exotic place; or take photos of niche and beautiful places that travelers and even locals don’t know about. Whatever your reason is, Tsuzura Tanada will be one of the best options to add to your bucket lists.Tsuzura Rice Terrace can be found in Ukiha city which is the northern part of Fukuoka prefecture; on the Northern shore of Kyushu island. Kyushu island is Japan's third largest island and located southwest of the main island Honshu. Tsuzura Tanada is selected as one of the most beautiful Tanadas’ in Japan by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1999.

Terraced rice fields are called “Tanada” in Japanese. “Tana” means shelf, and “da” means fields, and Tanada is also referred to as the pyramid of farmers. In an area of 7 hectares, there are 300 layers of Tanada in TsuzuraTanada’s case. These Tanadas’ are made from stones and were developed on the slope of the mountain. 67% of the land was covered in forest and with limited sunlight, Japanese farmers had to be efficient with growing produce on their lands. Tanada also has played an important role as an impounding dam and as a rainwater filter sending it to the river. The approximate total area of Tanada in Japan is 220,000 hectares, and the water storage capacity is nearly 660 million tons. If the Tanadas’ weren’t taken care of, there will be no dam capacity and clean water for locals. Tanada is also a small wonderland for all insects and animals, thus creating interrelated food chains.

Tsuzura Tanada has been taken care for about 400 years by local farmers and still has been used today. It must have been unbelievably hard to work on the slopes without any agricultural or recent technologies. As young people have moved from local areas to big cities, the numbers of farmers have decreased year by year. Now only five farmers take care of this gigantic Tuzura Tanada. The torrential rain set off landslides in July 2014, there was a lot of effort put into to repairing the Tanada. Be the witness of this miracle of nature and predecessors who turned the tough crisis into their opportunity.

Amazing contrast of green rice fields carpet and red amaryllis

During the autumn season, you can enjoy the spectacular scenery of green rice carpets with the red accent of amaryllis. The festival, Higanbana Meguri, has been held in the mid-September every year since 1996. The concept of this festival is pretty simple, you will be exploring Tsuzura Tanada, however, during this festival over 3.5 thousands people visit. The view looking over the Tsuzura Tanada from the top, of the fields, is stunning, and you will lose your mind over the beauty. Being surrounded by the beauty of the fields gives a peaceful energy, and one of the best places to feel calm and at peace and forget about the rest of the world. In the rice-planting seasons, you can enjoy another breathtaking view if you are lucky. The reflection of the sun and the sky on the water makes you believe you are in the land of the thousand mirrors. They capture the reflection of the sky and its different shades of orange, purple, yellow and blue of the setting sun in the flooded rice fields.

Be respectful of the environment and make sure not to leave any trash behind. Please make sure not to step in the fields, remember the crops are products of the farmers. Also be careful with electric fences around the rice fields. They are for wild boars, not for you!

Nature therapy: Drive through the deep forest

tsuzura tanada rice terrace fukuoka Tsuzura Tanada closest station is Ukiha, which is still quite far away, I would recommend you to rent a car and drive up there if your budget allows. If you use a taxi, it will be around 7,000 yen/ $70 for round trip fare. Renting a car in Japan isn’t that expensive, and the cost for 1-day car renting is less than 10,000 yen/ $100. However, be careful with extremely narrow mountain paths because the locals drive in reverse around Tsuzura Tanada. During the Higanbana Meguri festival, the locals make a path by putting simple signs in front of their cars. If you are comfortable with driving on the right, you should try to drive one of the world’s forested country and meet unseen nature. The minimum age for driving in Japan is 18 years, and don’t forget to bring a Japanese driver's license or an International Driving Permit (IDP) with you.

How to visit

Fly from Narita Airport to Fukuoka Airport for about 2 hours. Fukuoka airport is only 5 minutes and 2 stations away from Hakata station. It’s about one and a half hours by train to get the closest station to Tsuzyra Tanada. Get JR line Kagoshima Line Rapid For Kurume from Hakata station to Kurume station, and transfer to JR Kyudai Line For Ukiha from Kurume station to JR Ukiha station. Take a taxi to get Tsuzura Tanada for about 30 minutes from JR Ukiha station or about 40 mins from Haki IC by car.

Address: 〒839-1413 Fukuoka-ken, Ukiha-shi, Ukihamachi Niikawa, 3227
Tel: +81 0943-76-9095

Open daily
No admission fee
Parking area for free
Bathroom near the parking area