Hoshitoge Rice Terraces

The slope here is a stabilised landslide, and the terraces - around two hundred small irregular paddies - were cut into it because that was the only way to farm ground that would not hold a straight field. The shape is the result: no two are the same size, and the outlines curve to follow the contour. The image that made them known is spring, between flooding and the rice growing tall, when each paddy holds still water and the whole slope becomes a set of separate mirrors reflecting the dawn sky - best in the half hour around sunrise on a windless morning. In autumn the Tokamachi basin fills with cloud below the terraces on cold clear mornings. A viewing deck and parking were built after visitor numbers grew; the terraces themselves are working farmland and are not to be walked into.

What you actually see

• Two hundred irregular paddies - cut to follow a landslide contour, no two alike.
• Mirror season - flooded terraces reflecting the dawn sky in late spring.
• The cloud sea - the basin below filling with cloud on cold autumn mornings.
• Working farmland - a viewing deck provided, the terraces themselves off limits.

When to go

Late April to early June at dawn for the mirrors; autumn dawns for the cloud sea. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The effect needs still water and clear dawn light - wind or cloud removes it. The mirror window is a few weeks and ends once the rice grows. Parking is small and fills before sunrise in season. Winter closes the road entirely.

Nearby

Tokamachi is south; Kiyotsu Gorge is south-east.