The Saga City area and Tosu area offers tourist attractions such as Ureshino Onsen, Tenzan, and Hakusan Shrine; sightseeing events such as Hassaku, Okunchi, and Saga Castle Hinamatsuri; and local delicacies such as Black Mont Blanc, fish cakes, and Sicilian rice.
The Yoshinogeri Ruins have been designated as a special national historic site. It is the site of Japan's largest settlement during the Yayoi period, approximately 2,000 years ago. The vast site, covering a total area of 117 hectares, is lined with reconstructed pit dwellings that allow visitors to imagine how life was like in those days.
Visitors can also try their hand at making a clay tablet, making a clay flute, or making a fire, or even try their hand at performing a Yayoi festival dance while wearing Yayoi make-up and costumes. There is also a roller slide and athletic playground equipment, so after studying history, you can exercise to your heart's content.
After savoring the romance of ancient times, we recommend a visit to the Saga area, which prospered as the castle town of the Nabeshima clan. The Saga Castle Honmaru History Museum, which faithfully recreates part of the Honmaru Goten, has a 45-meter-long tatami-mat corridor and a 320-mat hall, allowing visitors to experience the front stage of samurai society at the time.
Although Western-style buildings were constructed one after another from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period, visitors can enjoy a retro atmosphere at the Saga City Museum of History and Folklore, where red-brick buildings such as the former Koga Bank and the former Ushijima Family still stand as they were in those days.
The city is said to have the largest number of statues of Ebisu in Japan, with approximately 700 statues in the city, and it is fun to walk the streets looking for Ebisu-sama hidden in various places.
The vast Ariake mudflats are home to many rare creatures such as the mutsugoro, but they are also a treasure house of delicacies such as warasubo, tairagi, and agemaki. Although unique in appearance, many people become addicted to these delicacies once they try them. You can order it at ryokans, hotels, and restaurants in Saga City, so why not give it a try?
In addition, local cuisine that makes the most of fresh and flavorful ingredients such as seafood from the Ariake Sea, Saga chicken, and Saga beef is also popular.
The world-famous Saga International Balloon Fiesta is held in early November, and the area is full of attractions no matter what time of year you visit. The sight of more than 100 colorful balloons floating over the Saga Plain is like a dream come true. The sight of the balloons moored at night floating in the darkness, illuminated by the flames of the burners, is also fantastic.
Visitors can fully enjoy the history of the Saga Clan, which led the modernization of Japan from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration. The Saga Castle Honmaru History Museum was established to convey that era in an easy-to-understand manner. It is known for being the first museum in Japan to restore the Honmaru Goten while preserving its original remains, and covers an area of appr...»
The Yoshinogari Ruins, a national special historic site, is located in the Yoshinogari Hills, which straddle Yoshinogari-cho and Kanzaki-shi, Kanzaki-gun, Saga Prefecture. The site is one of the largest moat encircling settlements of the Yayoi period, surrounded by a double moat, and more than 2,000 kame coffin tombs, rogan, and stilted warehouses have been excavated. In addition, the ruankan, pi...»
The villa and garden of Yataro Itami, a Saga businessman of the Meiji era, was designated as a national place of scenic beauty in 1995. The garden was commissioned to Kurume Hori, a master gardener who is said to be unrivaled in the field of teahouses and gardens in Kyushu, and was constructed over a period of nine years from 1900.The villa is a modern Japanese-style sukiya (tea ceremony house) wi...»
Located in the upper reaches of the Shimizu River, a tributary of the Gion River that flows into the Kase River, is a beautiful waterfall 75 meters high and 13 meters wide. This waterfall is also known as "Tamasudare Falls," and the clear water falls boldly down to form a vertical cliff. It is a place of power and beauty at the same time. Near the waterfall is a monument in honor of Kiyoo Kuranag...»
Furuyu Hot Spring Village is located approximately 20 km north of Saga Station in the mountains at an elevation of 200 m above sea level. In July 1966, it was designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as "Koyu/Kumanokawa Hot Spring Village" as a national recreational hot spring resort. The hot spring has a long history and is known as a place of creation, having been visited by famous teach...»
This theme park allows visitors to experience the atmosphere of the countryside in the south of France, and to become familiar with nature and animals. The expansive grounds include a pasture where horses, dairy cows, chickens, and rabbits are raised, a plaza, livestock pens, a wine exhibition hall, a bakery, a souvenir shop, and a restaurant, where visitors can also get in touch with nature. Vi...»
The mudskipper can only be found at two localityes in Japan, the sea of Ariake and the sea of Yatsushiro. Despite its comical appearance, the flavor is refined and delicious. It’s in season from May to September and most often eaten grilled. The living mudskippers are skewered and grilled over charcoal while a soy based sweet sauce is basted on. Grilled to almost black, the mudskipper flesh is ten...»
This recipe originates from the mid-70’s from a small café in the middle of Saga city. Add steamed rice to a plate, add grilled meat of some kind, add salad and finish with a squeeze of mayonnaise. Simple! The name comes from that fact that neighboring Nagasaki created the ‘Turkish rice’ so Saga would name this ‘Sicilian rice’…however it is believed that this was originally intended to be called ‘...»
Various species of gobi, other fish and shellfish found aplenty in the Sea of Ariake. The sea has vast differences of sea level height at low and high tides that at low tide, vast expanses of seabed become exposed as mud flats. Many of the fish living in this area have strange appearances but certainly taste delicious. The locals refer to the Sea Of Ariake as the ‘Front Sea’ and refer to these cre...»
This was eaten regularly along the Sea of Ariake coastal area. Rice is cooked into a soupy porridge with powdered green tea. This was a dish developed in times of poverty to make rice go a longer way....»