Fireflies are written about in the oldest existing Japanese official histories “Nihonshoki (日本書紀 / Chronicles of Japan)”

However, they appear in books and tanka (短歌 / thirty-one syllabled verse) more often after the Heian era.
Literature teachers make students remember the sentences below which are written in “Makura-no Soshi (枕草子 / The Pillow Book)”

- Night time is best in summer. The beauty of the moonlit night is beyond words. It is also superb to see fireflies dance in the dark, or only one or two flying with faint lights. The atmosphere when it’s raining is also beautiful.

Fireflies also appear in the poem Tamakazura composed in reply in “Genji Monogatari (源氏物語 / The Tale of Genji).

- The firefly but burns and makes no comment.
Silence sometimes tells of deeper thoughts.

        (Translated by Edward George Seidensticker)

Now is the season of the fireflies!
There several good spots to see them. Enjoy watching fireflies from a boat, or while walking along a path between rice fields, and see the reflection of their lights on the water surface.

【Firefly Watching Spots】

Oku-satsuma Firefly Boat Cruise
(Oku-satsuma-no Hotaru-bune / 奥薩摩のホタル舟)

This is a fantastic boat cruise! Many fireflies dance on the surface of the Sendai ricer.
Enjoy watching hundreds of faint lights, listening to the sound of water while the boatman rows the boat.
Satsuma town runs the firefly boat only for this period.
The cruise takes about 30 ~ 40 minutes.
* Booking required!! (Appointment Center 090-9602-4640　10:00 ~ 16:00）

Date: May 11^th (Thu) ~ May 27^th (Sat), 2017

* There is no operation on May 15^th (Mon) and May 22nd (Mon).

Time: Check In 19:00 ~ 20:00  /  Departure 20:00 (after that they sail every 3 minutes.)
Place: Koshi area
*Check in at Abiru-kan (228-7 Koshi, Satsuma town, Satsuma county, Kagoshima prefecture)
Fee: Adults 2,000 yen  J.H.S.Students and below 1,000 yen
*Booking required.
Capacity: 190 people / day
URL： https://select-type.com/s/okusatsuma-hotaru

 

Futawatari Firefly Boat Cruise
(Ftawatari-no Hotaru-bune / 二渡のホタル舟)

Firefly boat cruise around Futawatari area. It is about a 40 minutes cruise. Enjoy fantastic firefly viewing from a boat!

* Booking required!! (Futawatari Garappa Hotaru-no Kai 080-6447-0570）)

Date: May 13^th (Sat) ~ June 4^th (Sun), 2017

*Depending on the fireflies’ appearance and condition, the boat cruising period may be shortened. Please confirm the cruise situation at the number above about the boat cruise after the 1^st of June.

Time: The first cruise 19:30 ~  /  The second cruise 20:30 ~

Place: Futawatari Mizube Park
Fee: Adults 1,000 yen  E.S.Students 500 yen  Infants  200 yen
URL： http://2watarigarappabotaru.blog.fc2.com/

Other firefly viewing spots → Click Here

 

Category : Sighthtseeing Info

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