If you are asked to name the representative sightseeing spots of Karatsu, they would probably be Karatsu Castle (唐津城) and Nijinomatsubara (虹ノ松原).
So both places were included in my itinerary as well.
Originally, today was supposed to be Karatsu Castle, and Nijinomatsubara tomorrow.
But when I woke up in the morning,
the weather was simply too good.
On a day like this,
it felt like the view of Nijinomatsubara together
with the sea from an observation deck would be amazing,
so I changed my plan.
Today, I am going to see Nijinomatsubara.
Among the observation points overlooking Nijinomatsubara,
the Kagamiyama (鏡山) observation deck is well known.
Looking at the map,
Nijinomatsubara Station seemed to be the closest.
I thought I could take a taxi from there
to visit the observation deck.
It might be possible to walk up, but I did not really want to do that.
After lunch, I arrived at Karatsu Station to take the JR train.
Nijinomatsubara Station is three stops away by JR.
Quite a short distance.
Since I still had some time before the train arrived,
I went to the tourist information center.
I wanted to check if there might be another way to reach the observation deck.
I also wanted to confirm whether it would be okay to ask a taxi to wait for a short while after going up there.
First of all,
they told me there is no bus going to the observation deck.
So many people apparently use taxis.
However, Nijinomatsubara Station is
such a small unmanned station that there probably would not be any taxis there.
Instead, they gave me a tip to get off at Higashi-Karatsu (東唐津) Station
and take a taxi from there.
It was a good thing I asked the tourist information center.
I should not go to Nijinomatsubara Station,
but to Higashi-Karatsu Station!
Two stops on the JR train.
I headed to Higashi-Karatsu Station.
After getting off the train
and exiting on the north side, toward the main road,
there was a taxi stand, and one taxi was waiting there.
If there were no taxis, I could have used the GO taxi app,
but there will probably be one waiting.
I told the driver
that I wanted to go to the Kagamiyama observation deck,
and we set off.
When I asked,
“Would it be possible for you to wait a little after we arrive?”,
he replied as if he was used to it and said that would be fine.
It seems many people visit the observation deck by taxi.
The road going up to the observation deck is quite winding.
The car cannot go fast,
and the driver constantly turns the steering wheel left and right.
Then I spotted someone walking up the road.
At that moment I thought again
that taking a taxi was a very good choice.
If I had walked up this road,
I would probably have used up all my energy for the day.
If that had happened,
I might have had to cancel the rest of the schedule
and lie down in the hotel.
The round-trip taxi fare was 5,450 yen,
roughly about $35.
It is certainly not a small amount,
but it was a cost I did not regret.
The scenery was too good to give up the observation deck,
and walking up would have been too physically demanding.
It takes about 15 minutes to reach the observation deck.
It only takes time because the road slowly winds up the mountain,
but the place itself is actually very close.
As I got off the taxi,
I said, “Please wait just a moment. It will take about 10 to 20 minutes.”
The driver told me to go ahead as if it did not matter.
For reference, the taxi meter continues to run during this time.
So it really did not matter to him.
Wow~!!
That was my first impression. Wow~~!!!!
Perhaps the good weather today helped as well,
but the blue sky and blue sea,
and the green pine forest stretching in front of them,
gave a feeling that was different from what I had seen in photos.
It was really beautiful.
But simply saying that it was beautiful
does not fully describe the feelings I had.
There was the sense of openness
from the wide sky and the sea stretching far into the distance.
There was also the shape of Karatsu Bay
embracing the sea in a round curve,
and the gentle feeling of Nijinomatsubara holding that sea in its arc.
All those feelings came together at once,
making it hard to express with simple words.
It was truly a wonderful place.
Nijinomatsubara is said to be one of Japan’s Three Great Pine Forests.
Among them, it is the largest in area.
The other two are
Miho no Matsubara (三保の松原) in Shizuoka Prefecture
and Kehi no Matsubara (気比の松原) in Fukui Prefecture.
By the way,
there are so many things in Japan that are called “the Three Great something.”
I have no idea who decided and designated all of them.
But anyway, it probably means they are famous places worth seeing.
I have visited several places such as
Hakodate, said to be one of the World’s Three Great Night Views,
Nagasaki, one of the New World’s Three Great Night Views,
Miyajima, one of Japan’s Three Great Scenic Spots,
Kumamoto Castle, one of Japan’s Three Great Castles,
and Nachi Falls, one of Japan’s Three Great Waterfalls.
In reality, they were all truly impressive places.
So rather than dismissing them as weakly justified titles,
I think if you travel nearby,
they are definitely worth taking some time to visit.
Anyway, back to Nijinomatsubara.
This pine forest is actually not a natural forest.
It was artificially created in the 17th century
to serve as a windbreak and sand barrier.
At first it was called something like Nirimatsubara (二里松原),
and it only began to be called by its current name during the Meiji period.
The word “niji (虹)” means “rainbow.”
Perhaps the name was given
because it sounds similar to “niri (二里)”
and also because the forest forms a curved arc like a rainbow.
The time I spent at the observation deck was exactly 15 minutes.
Since the driver was waiting,
I could not take my time.
For those 15 minutes,
I kept taking photos and videos without a break,
and then got back into the taxi.
This time I asked him to take me to Nijinomatsubara Station.
Now I was planning to walk into the “Rainbow Pine Forest.”
In fact, saving my energy was also for this walk.
The story of this walk will continue in the next post.
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