Genkai Town

Built from both shores, it met at sea.

Hokawazu Bridge

Photo by ハポニアラ (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Hamanoura Terraced Rice Fields

Like a staircase climbing up from the shore,283 paddies, large and small, lie in tiers.

Hamanoura is a district on a small inlet. Terraced rice fields, covering 11.5 ha, have been built in the eroded valley formed by the Hamanoura River, about 2 km long. Its 283 paddies, large and small, blanket the slope; each year flooding begins in mid-April and planting ends by early May.

283 paddies, large and small, on 11.5 ha (town website)
Chosen as one of Japan's 100 Best Terraced Rice Fields in 1999 (town website)
Flooding from mid-April, planting done by early May (town website)

02 ／ Zuika Sōchō Hachiryō Mirror

The line dividing the mirror's inner and outer partsis a square, rare even in Japan.

The bronze mirror unearthed at the Nagakura site (長倉遺跡) is 9.15 cm across and weighs 147 g. It bears auspicious flowers and a pair of phoenixes, and the line separating its inside from its outside (kaiken) is a square. It is estimated to date from the mid-11th century at the latest. On April 28, 2026, it was designated a Saga Prefecture Important Cultural Property.

9.15 cm across, 147 g (town website)
Estimated mid-11th century at the latest (town website)
Designated a prefectural Important Cultural Property (archaeological material) on April 28, 2026 (town website)

03 ／ Mishima Shrine Autumn Festival

Mishima Shrine's autumn festival:portable shrines circle Kariya Bay by boat.

Mishimajinjya.torii.jpg — Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The town says the autumn festival of Mishima Shrine (三島神社) has more than 560 years of history. Two portable shrines ride a ceremonial boat (goza-bune), escorted by boats flying big-catch flags, around Kariya Bay three times. A handmade sea-bream float (tai no hikiyama) returned in 1987 after 57 years, and schoolchildren dressed as shrine maidens dedicate the "Urayasu no Mai" dance.

More than 560 years of history (town website)
Sea-bream float revived in 1987 after 57 years (town website)
"Urayasu no Mai" became a town Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2016 (town website)

Living here

The sea to the west, Karatsu on three sides.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

Genkai lies at the center of the Higashimatsuura Peninsula, facing the Genkai Sea to the west and bordering Karatsu to the north, east and south. Its total area is 35.92 km². The ria coast is part of Genkai Quasi-National Park, and the Uwaba Plateau, with low hills 100 to 200 m high, spreads inland.

People living here: 5,609people
Area: 35.92km²
Households: 2,231households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —2 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Genkai Town in Japan33.472°N 129.875°E

to KaratsuLocal bus29min

Travel times follow 昭和自動車（昭和バス）公式の時刻表PDF『[41]有浦線（大手口⇒有浦上⇒入野／入野⇒有浦上⇒大手口）』2026年6月21日改正（平日）・2026年4月1日現在（土日祝）。大手口（唐津バスセンター）発→玄海町役場前着は 7:30→7:59、7:45→8:14、9:20→9:49、10:20→10:49、11:20→11:49、12:20→12:49、13:20→13:49、14:35→15:04、15:35→16:04、16:30→16:59、17:40→18:09、18:50→19:19、19:55→20:24 がいずれも29分（土日祝も 7:45→8:14 ほか全便29分）。玄海町役場前発→大手口着は 6:43→7:12、7:48→8:17、8:23→8:52、9:33→10:02 ほか29分の便が並ぶ（7:13→7:45 の46番だけ船宮・唐津東中高前へ回り32分） (checked 2026-09-30). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 1 municipalities.

Territory of Genkai Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

9.9km

唐津市

Genkai Town isthis kind of town.

01Hokawazu Bridge (外津橋) links Hokawazu in Genkai to Kushi in Chinzei, Karatsu, and was completed in 1974. The town says its method of extending from both banks and joining in the middle was the first in the world for an arch.
02The town has 4 of the camp sites (jinato) around Nagoya Castle, and two of them, the Hasegawa Hidekazu and Kinoshita Toshifusa sites, are national Special Historic Sites. The Takae Castle site, said to have been held by the Ariura clan of the Matsuura band, and Ariura Shinden, completed in 1622, also remain.
03In Chikagawachi, the Tokunaga family, who joined the building of Nagoya Castle as master stonemasons, settled and formed a stonemason group, the town says. The first torii of Hakusan Shrine, inscribed Kan'ei 5 (1628), is a town-designated cultural property.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Genkai Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗