Here's a great space to soothe your mind and soul
Beautiful forest in Matsunoyama, Tokamachi city, Niigata, "Bijinbayashi" or forest of beauties
- so called because of thousands of slender beeches that remind you of a troupe of attractive maidens.
A broad area of 3 hectares with over 3000 of century-old beech trees.
A gorgeous forest of beeches rising straight up into the sky - all uniformly tall and slender, reminding of beauties lining up,
hence Bijinbayashi or "forest of beauties".
We bet you'll be struck by the sight, the moment you stand facing the forest
- the dignified look of graceful beeches standing up right in front of you.
Take a walk along the trail in the beech forest,
and you never fail to feel the seasonal charms of a variety of trees and birds nesting upon the branches.
It's a Godly space to soothe your mind.
Can you believe that this magnificent forest is a product of coincidence?
Space so rich with fresh air to breathe to your lungs' content.
Let's take a closer look at Bijinbayashi.
History of Bijinbayashi
This place now called Bijinbayashi was a beech forest alright but hasn't always been so impressive as it is today.
Back in the late Taisho period, all the beeches in this place were once cut down by the landowner to make them into charcoal.
The landowner then moved, leaving the land in the hands of local people.
Then a miracle happened - out of the barren soil began budding new baby beeches all at once!
Luckily, the season was just right - the year, a year before the hewing, had happened to be "a fat year" for trees of the beech type.
So, a beech forest was reborn.
By that stroke of luck, all the beeches were born of the same age and grew into a grand forest of beeches of identical look - tall and slender.
And, the people started calling it Bijinbayashi and created a fantastic, mind-soothing space.
Then came the period of high economic growth; tree plantation turned natural forests into those of cedars across the country.
But then, the landowners of Bijinbayashi knew better.
They refused to seek immediate profits and stuck to preserving the forest of beauties at all costs.
Thanks to their grand concept, Bijinbayashi has been kept its beauty through the years to this day.
Believe you me, today, as many as 100 thousand tourists come and enjoy Bijinbayashi every year.
Its charms have come to attract floods of photographers from all over Japan.
Let's take a talk in Biinbayashi
It's located in Matsuguchi village about 15-minutes drive from Matsunoyama Onsen, a cozy spa, by the way, to dip in for comfort.
Drive through a narrow pathway flanked by 10 or so private houses along the way,
and out you come, farther in the back of the village, to the entrance of Bijinbayashi.
Near the parking lot is an unmanned shop selling locally harvested vegetables and fresh edible wild plants picked in the nearby hills.
This spot is popular is because the forest is a minute away from the parking lot with a nearby shopping place and toilets right beside it.
Here you are at the parking lot.
You'll head for Bijinbayashi by the narrow pathway thereby.
It's comforting to see little birds greeting you at the gate of the buffer stop.
You proceed several meters and see the whole sight in front of you switches to a gorgeous forest of beech trees.
The thickish but slender trunks of beeches line along the pathway; the ground is so smooth to walk on.
And the views of the beeches reflecting on the pond add the fun of strolling in Bijinbayashi.
Enjoy every second of being amid Bijinbayashi.
Beeches lining up as they do is really an unforgettable scene.
And, furthermore, Bijinbayashi is the home of a variety of wild birds.
Listen to their tweets as you stroll amid the forest.
As you stroll, you'll meet plenty of tourists elegantly enjoying the forest of beauties,
professional photographers, naturalists wearing trekking shoes,
and those equipped with binoculars attentively listening to the songs of wild birds
- each having his/her fill of the charms of Bijinbayashi.
When you visit Biinbayashi, be sure to wear comfortable shoes to match any mode of road conditions
- narrow, hilly passage, occasionally muddy road, etc.
Snowpacks may linger to the middle of May in some years.
Watch out for mosquitoes and gnats in spring toward summer.
You'd better bring along a jar of insect repellant.
Bijinbayashi shines in any and every season
Each of the four seasons demonstrates the charms of the season - that's why Bijinbayashi is loved by many a people.
In spring yet amid the remaining snow, fresh buds of early greens forecast the coming of spring - so symbolic of a snow country.
Budding season: Mid-April ～ every year
Best time to enjoy green shoots: Late April～early May
Presented by: (general incorporated association) Tokamachi Tourist Association
Come summer,
Bijinbayashi offers a parade of glittering sunshine penetrating through the fresh leaves of beech trees.
It feels cool even in the middle of summer - 2℃ off the sensible temperature amid the forest of beeches.
Presented by: (general incorporated association) Tokamachi Tourist Association
In autumn,
the beech leaves fall on the ground to lay a carpet of gorgeous orange;
a rustle of leaves as you walk over them resounds in the forest of beech trees.
Season of autumn leaves: Mid-November ～late November
Presented by: (general incorporated association) Tokamachi Tourist Association
Kids can forever have fun showering each other with fallen leaves.
Your stroll in Bijinbayashi in the wintertime with your snowshoes on.
You can rent them in the nearby forest school "Kyororo".
Presented by: (general incorporated association) Tokamachi Tourist Association
Bijinbayashi is an offspring of miracle and coincidence preserved over the years by the local people.
It's a space beyond time to enjoy the blessings of mother nature.
Bijinbayashi is a natural forest accessible 24 hours around the clock but is surrounded by private houses.
Beware, therefore, of unnecessary cries and noises at night and early morning.
After strolling in Bijinbayashi, what about a moment of shopping at the nearby unmanned shop?
*Open in May through November. (Closed on
Thursdays)
Presented by: (general incorporated association) Tokamachi Tourist Association
Locally harvested vegetables, wild plants, craft objects, etc.
Drop in to pick a few to remind you of your tour of Bijinbayashi.
*Shop closes down after articles are sold out.
In the neighborhood of Bijinbayashi is a forest school named "Kyororo", as earlier mentioned in snowshoe trekking,
formally Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science “Kyororo”.
Kyororo exhibits articles to tell the life and nature in and about Tokamachi;
it offers over the weekend natural-experience type of events and serves meals (on Saturdays and Sundays only).
Do find time to visit Kyororo.
Wrote by Yukiko
JAPAN Travel Concierge
Qlip 
