姨捨(おばすて)　～棚田と夜景と観月と～

Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture. Mount Kamuriki towers overlooking the Chikuma River. To its right, the Obasute Rice Terraces spread out in tiers on the mountainside below Mount Mitsumine. These beautiful rice terraces were recognized as one of Japan's Top 100 Rice Terraces in 1999, a national important cultural landscape in 2010, and a Japan Heritage site in 2020.Even today, many people visit to see this pristine landscape. The natural scenery seen from Obasute Station is considered one of the three best train windows in Japan. From the platform of this station, located 547 meters above sea level, you can see the Chikuma River, rice terraces, and Zenkoji Plain, and on clear days you can even see the Hokushin Five Mountains in the distance. The area around Obasute is also famous for its night views, and Obasute Station is one of those spots. Obasute is famous as a great place to view the moon. There are about 40 or so waka poems about the moon in ancient Japanese documents. The Edo period ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige painted a mysterious scene in which the moon is reflected in all the rice paddies in his work "Shinano Sarashina Tagoto no Tsuki Kyodaisan," which spread the image of the "Tagoto no Tsuki" widely. In reality, the moon is not visible in all the rice terraces at a glance, but if you move your eyes while walking along the footpath, you can see the moon's reflection in the rice paddies one after another. This is an expression of moon viewing that is unique to this region. Please enjoy the magnificent view of Obasute overlooking the Zenkoji Plain.