Tokamachi Satoyama Walking: Gimei and Gamou Rice Terraces Course

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• This walking tour takes you through the Satoyama villages, from the Gimei Rice Terraces to the Gamo Rice Terraces. You can visit two of the most popular rice terraces scattered throughout Tokamachi City. Walk through the villages and Satoyama with a guide and get a glimpse of Satoyama life. The approximately 1.5 to 2 hour course is easy to follow as most of the roads are paved, making it suitable for people of all ages.
• A Satoyama landscape with rice terraces, a symbol of Japanese culture
• Beautiful rice terraces have been cultivated since ancient times and passed down through the generations. Satoyama lifestyle, centered around rice terraces, still thrives in Tokamachi. Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, is dotted with beautiful rice terraces, but the two most popular spots, the Gimei Rice Terraces and Gamo Rice Terraces in the Matsushiro area, are visited by many tourists and photographers. Gimei Rice Terraces offers a spectacular view of snow-capped rice terraces and mountain cherry blossoms all at once, while Gamo Rice Terraces is known for its mystical scenery of morning mist. This region is famous for its heavy snowfall, and its rice terraces can be said to be the culmination of the efforts of our ancestors, who continued to face the forces of nature with strength and resilience.
• The challenges behind the beauty of rice terraces
• While outsiders enjoy the beautiful scenery of the rice terraces for free, the people who live in the village have been working hard every day to preserve this landscape, cultivating the fields, weeding, and occasionally removing trash left behind by visitors, all while maintaining the environment. However, like other rural areas in Japan, this region is experiencing an aging population, and the challenge lies in continuing to produce the energy needed to cover the enormous amount of work required to maintain the rice terraces and satoyama. By learning about the passion of the villagers who protect the rice terraces and the environment surrounding them, we hope to provide an opportunity to think a little about the universal issues facing Japan today.