Bise Fukugi Tree Road

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Recherche et rédaction Hinato

Bisefukugiwindbreak treesMotobuvillage lanes

Photo: 690 Noda / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Fukugi is a dense evergreen with thick leathery leaves, and Okinawan villages planted it in rows around every house as a typhoon break — the trees take the wind so the buildings do not. At Bise, on the point north of the aquarium, about twenty thousand of them survive around a working village, some of them three hundred years old, forming a grid of green tunnels between the houses.

This is what the whole coast looked like before concrete. The lanes are sand, the light comes through in patches, and it is several degrees cooler inside the tunnels than out on the road. People live here — these are not preserved shells but ordinary houses behind the trees — which is worth remembering when walking through. At the far end the lane opens onto the sea with Ie island across the water.

Informations essentielles

Horaires d'ouverture

Open access | Daylight recommended

Fermé: Open year-round

Tarif d'entrée

Free | Free car park with around 50 spaces; nearby paid parking around ¥500 a day | Water buffalo cart ¥2,000 for up to four people, weekends only

Meilleure saison

Year-round | Summer for the shade inside the tunnels

Durée de visite

60–90 minutes

Comment s'y rendre

Informations d'accès

Bise, Motobu, Kunigami District, just north of the Churaumi Aquarium. About 1 hour by car from Naha Airport on ordinary roads, or from Kyoda IC; a short walk from the Bise-iriguchi bus stop. Free to walk. A free car park with around 50 spaces fills at weekend middays; paid car parks nearby charge around ¥500 a day, including one at Bisezaki. A water buffalo cart runs at weekends only, about 20 minutes for up to four people at ¥2,000; it cannot be booked and waits can exceed an hour.

Guide d'initié

**Early morning or late afternoon.** Light through the canopy is the reason to be here and midday flattens it. Early also means the free car park has space. **It is a village, not an attraction.** People live in these houses and the lanes are their driveways. Keep out of gardens and keep the noise down; this is the most common complaint locally. **Bicycles are the efficient way round.** Rentals are available at the entrance and the grid is bigger than it looks — the tunnels run several hundred metres in more than one direction. **The buffalo cart is weekends only and cannot be reserved.** Twenty minutes, ¥2,000 for up to four, and on a busy day the queue is over an hour. Sometimes a horse substitutes if the buffalo is unwell. **Walk out to Bisezaki.** The lane ends at the shore looking across to Ie island, which is where most people turn round without realising it is there.

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