Japan Heritage story
From forest railway to Japan's top yuzu road
森林鉄道から日本一のゆずロードへ
In eastern Kochi, a forest railway once carried cedar out of the mountains. When the forests ran out, people planted yuzu along its tracks, and the Chugei area now grows more yuzu than anywhere in Japan.
Key facts
- Theme
- Forests and timber, Food and sake
- Era
- Meiji
- Region
- Shikoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 森林鉄道から日本一のゆずロードへ
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ゆずが香り彩る南国土佐・中芸地域の景観と食文化
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 高知県（奈半利町, 田野町, 安田町, 北川村, 馬路村）
The story
The Chugei area, about 50 km east of Kochi city, grew rich on its cedar. Yanase cedar was even used by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for a great Buddha hall in Kyoto. From the late Meiji era, the Yanase forest railway linked the valleys with tunnels and bridges, carrying timber out and children to school, and was once the largest forest railway in western Japan.
Yuzu had grown here for a long time: in the Edo period Nakaoka Shintaro, then training as a village head in Kitagawa, encouraged farmers to grow it for preserving and flavouring food. In the 1960s, as the natural forests ran out, people turned fields along the railway into yuzu orchards and built stone terraces on the slopes. They even developed Japan's first mechanical yuzu juicer. Today the area has over 200 ha of yuzu, Japan's largest crop, exported as far as Europe.
What to see
- Forest railway remains: 18 old tunnels and bridges of the Yanase line, scattered along the rivers.
- Yuzu orchards: white flowers in early summer, green fruit in summer and golden yuzu in autumn.
- Senbonyama: a forest of old cedar, close to how the mountains once looked.Google Maps 千本山 馬路村 (opens in a new tab)
- Old merchant houses: Tosa plaster walls, little tiled rain ledges and stone walls near the river mouths.
Plan your trip with the Kochi prefecture guide and see more nature.
Good to know
- Come in autumn, when the whole valley smells of ripe yuzu and the harvest begins with a yuzu festival.
- Try yuzu sushi, a local dish flavoured with yuzu juice.
- The Yasuda and Nahari rivers are famous for wild ayu sweetfish.
Questions travellers ask
Where is the Chugei area?
In eastern Kochi, about 50 km east of Kochi city, covering Nahari, Tano, Yasuda, Kitagawa and Umaji.
When is yuzu season?
Flowers open in early summer, and the fruit ripens to yellow and is harvested in autumn.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.