Deep in the interior of Shodoshima Island is an area of terraced rice paddies.
There are said to be about 800 terraces.
They were constructed by clearing the forest and using stone retaining walls.
It was done during the 14th century,
It is in the top 100 rice terraces in Japan.
The paddies are fed by spring water originating in the grounds of the next temple I will visit on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, temple 44, Yufuneyama Renge Temple.
The spring is listed in the Top 100 waters of Japan,
The Japanese do seem to have a fascination with rice paddy terraces and do offer tours to them, but for the rest of us they can be seen while walking the pilgimage. If you visit in May and June when they are recently flooded and planted then they are a bit more impressive. I was here mid winter so not so attractive.
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I am always amazed by these kinds of terraces, especially thinking about the work that went into building, maintaining, and farming them without modern equipment.
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