Maruyama Senmaida is one of the top 100 terraced rice field spots in Japan, with 1,340 large and small paddies lying on top of each other on the mountainside. There were more than 2,000 paddies here in 1601, but that number had declined to 530 in 1992 due to depopulation. Consequently, local people started conservation activities and restored the rice paddies to the current number.
There is a unique ownership system that allows people who donate 30,000 yen a year to have their own rice paddy for that year, and it is also possible to participate in planting and harvesting.
In addition, there is an event known as mushiokuri that takes place in June each year to drive away crop-eating insects. Farmers walk through the rice terraces carrying torches, drums and bells to drive away insects and because those lights are so fantastical, it has become a seasonal summer tradition, with many people coming to visit.
