Niji-no-Matsubara — Japan's Three Great Pine Groves

Niji-no-Matsubara is a 5km arc of coastline planted with approximately 1 million black pine trees — one of Japan's 'three great pine groves' (Miho no Matsubara in Shizuoka and Kehi no Matsubara in Fukui are the other two). The trees were planted in the early Edo period as windbreaks for the coastal rice paddies and have grown to heights of 15–20m, creating a coastal forest with a canopy that filters the sea light and a needle-carpet floor that deadens all urban sound. The beach behind the pines faces Karatsu Bay.