Sayo’s Landscapes

Sunflowers and Clear Streams Abound.
Thrill at the Natural Scenery in Each Season.

Sunflower Fields (Best 100 Rural Scenes)

Sunflower Fields (Best 100 Rural Scenes)
Sunflower Fields (Best 100 Rural Scenes)

There are some 1.2 million sunflowers in the Nanko area overall, with about half a million blooming around the Sunflower Festival site. The Sunflower Festival (Himawari Matsuri) is held each year from mid to late July.

●Nanko area

Morning Mist from Mt. Onade

Morning Mist from Mt. Onade
Morning Mist from Mt. Onade

The ethereal beauty of the “Morning Mist of Sayo,” which can be seen covering the entire town in the early mornings from late autumn to winter, is famed nationwide. The sea of mist seen from the summit of Mt. Onade is especially mystical, attracting people from all over Hyogo Prefecture and beyond.

●6 km from Sayo Station on the JR Kishin Line/Chizu Line
●4.5 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway to the viewing terrace
●Near the summit of Mt. Onade

Japan’s 100 Best Rice Terraces
Otsu-Okidani Rice Terraces

 Japan’s 100 Best Rice Terraces, Otsu-Okidani Rice Terraces
Japan’s 100 Best Rice Terraces
Otsu-Okidani Rice Terraces

The rice terraces cascading down the hillside turn a wonderful golden shade when they are ready for harvesting in autumn. The Otsu-Okidani Rice Terraces have been selected by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) as one of Japan’s Best 100 Rice Terraces, and are a perfect example of how nature can be formed into art.

●6 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway to the viewing terrace
●Within Otsu-Okidani

Tawa Rice Terraces

Tawa Rice Terraces
Tawa Rice Terraces

The Tawa area, noted for its distinctive white-walled village houses and the rice terraces built up using unhewn rocks, offers a nostalgic landscape where the rhythms of the moon and the light of the sun create a symphony together. Tawa has been honored in the Beautiful Village Creation Concourse run by MAFF.

●6 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●Fukunaka area

Hiryu Falls

Hiryu Falls
Hiryu Falls

The roaring water and spray make an impressive sight as they cascade down the 16 m drop. A rock projects out in the middle of the falls, changing how it flows, and giving the falls the name “hiryu” or “flying dragon.”

●4 km from Kuzaki Station on the Chizu Line
●16 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●Kushida area

Great Gingko Tree

Great Gingko Tree
Great Gingko Tree

When the ruling Akamatsu clan was at the peak of their powers, the gingko tree that grew in the grounds of the Mangan-ji Temple that used to stand here has been witness to a thousand years of Sayo history. Branches have broken in typhoons, and the trunk itself has been split by a lightning strike, but this great tree, registered as a Natural Monument by the prefecture, still stands majestic and dignified.

●0.6 km from Sayo Station on the JR Kishin Line/Chizu Line
●2 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●Sayo area