Niji-no-Matsubara (Rainbow Pine Grove)

Niji-no-Matsubara is located along the coast of Karatsu Bay in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. It is one of Japan’s Three Great Pine Groves and has been designated as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty by the national government. The pine forest stretches about 4.5 kilometers in length and 500 meters in width, covering a total area of approximately 216 hectares. Curving in an arc along the coastline, it contains as many as one million black pines. The striking contrast of white sand and green pines has earned it inclusion in the lists of the 100 Best White Sand and Green Pine Landscapes of Japan, the 100 Best Shores of Japan, the 100 Fragrant Landscapes of Japan, and the 100 Roads of Japan. It is also incorporated into Genkai Quasi-National Park. Adjacent to a swimming beach, it has become a popular destination for both leisure and tourism.

The origins of Niji-no-Matsubara date back to the early 17th century, when Hirotaka Terazawa, the feudal lord of Karatsu Domain, undertook land reclamation projects and planted trees on top of the existing natural forest to protect against wind and drifting sand. During the feudal era, strict protective measures were imposed on the pine grove: logging was punishable by death, and even collecting fallen pine needles for fuel was heavily restricted. Successive lords continued to enforce careful management of the forest.

It is said that Hirotaka Terazawa once remarked that there were seven pine trees in the grove that he particularly cherished, but he never specified which ones. Because of this ambiguity, local residents could not distinguish them and thus took great care to protect all the trees, ensuring that none of the “seven” would be harmed. This ingenious psychological measure became one of the key reasons the grove was preserved so well over time.

In the Edo period, the pine grove was sometimes called “Niri Matsubara” (“Two-ri Pine Grove”) because of its length of roughly two ri (about 8 kilometers). The name “Niji-no-Matsubara” (“Rainbow Pine Grove”) began to spread in the Meiji era, though its exact origin remains unclear. In 1771, when the pine grove was under direct shogunate control, it became the stage for a farmers’ revolt known as the “Niji-no-Matsubara Uprising.”

After the Meiji Restoration, Niji-no-Matsubara was incorporated into state-owned forests and is currently managed by the Saga Forest Management Office. Although a small portion of the land is privately owned, almost the entire grove has been designated as a conservation forest and remains subject to strict logging restrictions. Today, Niji-no-Matsubara is not only a symbol where natural scenery and historical culture coexist but also an important tourism resource that Karatsu City takes great pride in.