A Spring Hike in Mitsuse

Rice fields and forest on the mountainside

Tristan Scholze Mar 10, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>This nature walk begins at Café Notch</p>

<p>Walk up the hillside, past these beehives and vegetable fields</p>

<p>A patch of wildflowers leads into the woods</p>

<p>These flooded fields will soon be filled with rice seedlings</p>

<p>Wild wisteria hangs from treetops and blooms in spring</p>

<p>The path runs along a cedar forest</p>

<p>The beautiful purple wildflowers are renge in Japanese, or Chinese milkvetch (Astragalus sinicus)</p>

<p>A crafted stream runs parallel to the path here</p>

<p>Many flowers, some tiny and delicate, line the trail</p>

<p>Take some time to listen to the bubbling mountain streams</p>

<p>Bright green leaves are the new growth this spring</p>

<p>This member of the Araceae genus resembles the North American Jack-in-the-pulpit</p>

<p>This interesting fern is possibly a Polystichum polyblepharum</p>

The mountainside village of Mitsuse, a short drive from central Fukuoka City and within the city limits of Saga, provides a welcome, easily accessible, natural haven for travelers and city folk. Enjoy a meal at Café Notch, and take a walk through the village fields and wildflowers, up the sloping mountainside, and into the trees (video). You’ll find streams, ferns, mosses, flowers, songbirds and fresh air under the forest canopy. This relaxed hike is paved all the way until it reaches an access road. There, you can turn right and soon reach a path leading right again to Yamanaka Campground or cross the road and continue up the hiking trail to the peak of Mt. Kana.

Tristan Scholze @tristan.scholze

I'm also known as Faer Out. I love learning about people and nature. I've traveled around the world and throughout Japan, and I hope to continue seeing and experiencing the wonder of this planet as long as I live.Based in Japan for nearly two decades, I'm a Japan Travel expert for Fukuoka and Sag...