Saga Prefecture

Saga Prefecture lies between Fukuoka and Nagasaki and touches two very different seas: to the north the rocky coves of the Genkai Sea around Karatsu and the Higashimatsuura Peninsula, to the south the vast tidal flats of the Ariake Sea. Between them the Saga Plain, crossed by a dense network of irrigation creeks, is one of Kyushu's most productive farming areas.

The prefecture's cultural weight far exceeds its size. In the early 17th century potters brought from Korea found porcelain clay at Izumiyama in Arita, and the wares shipped from the port of Imari went on to be exported to Europe by the Dutch East India Company. The Nabeshima lords of the Saga domain, charged with guarding Nagasaki, became pioneers of Western technology in the 1850s, and Saga men such as Ōkuma Shigenobu and Etō Shinpei played leading roles in the Meiji state.

Today Saga is a quiet, largely rural prefecture with a strong identity: one of Japan's leading nori producers, a centre of ceramics, and host of the Saga International Balloon Fiesta each autumn. Its sights — Yoshinogari, Karatsu Castle and Karatsu Kunchi, Arita's kilns, the sea caves of Nanatsugama and the hot springs of Takeo and Ureshino — are all within easy reach of Fukuoka.

The name goes back to the ancient Saga district of Hizen Province. The Hizen no kuni fudoki relates it to a word for flourishing (sakae), and it was long written 佐嘉 before the characters 佐賀 became standard in the early Meiji era.

In the Edo period most of the area formed the Saga domain of the Nabeshima clan, with its branch domains of Hasuike, Ogi and Kashima, while the Karatsu domain ruled the north-west. After the abolition of the domains the area passed through several short-lived prefectures (Imari, then Saga) and in 1876 was absorbed into Nagasaki Prefecture, following the Saga Rebellion of 1874. A local movement for separation succeeded in 1883, when Saga Prefecture was re-established in essentially today's borders, covering the eastern part of former Hizen Province; the western part forms Nagasaki Prefecture.

The Saga Plain in the south-east is the western half of the Tsukushi Plain, a flat expanse of rice paddies and barley fields drained by creeks and reclaimed step by step from the Ariake Sea over centuries. The Chikugo River forms part of the border with Fukuoka. North of the plain rise the Sefuri Mountains, whose highest point, Sefuri-san (about 1,055 m), lies on the Fukuoka border; the Tara range with Tara-dake stands in the south-west towards Nagasaki.

The northern coast opens onto the Genkai Sea with Karatsu Bay, the pine belt of Niji-no-Matsubara, the fishing port of Yobuko and the basalt sea caves of Nanatsugama. The mountainous west around Arita, Imari and Takeo is the ceramics district, with the Imari River draining to Imari Bay. On the Ariake coast the tidal range reaches several metres, exposing wide mudflats at low tide.

The climate is warm and humid. The Saga Plain has hot summers, among the hottest in Kyushu, and relatively mild winters; the rainy season in June and July can bring heavy downpours and flooding in the low-lying plain. The Genkai coast is windier and cooler in winter, with the north-west monsoon.

The Yoshinogari site in the east of the prefecture is the largest known moated settlement of the Yayoi period, with watchtowers, a ceremonial centre and burial jars, and shows the rise of chiefdoms in northern Kyushu in the centuries around the start of the common era. Close to the continent, the Genkai coast later served Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the base for his invasions of Korea: Nagoya Castle at Chinzei was built in 1591 as his headquarters.

Potters brought from Korea during and after these wars founded the porcelain industry of Arita, and the Saga domain of the Nabeshima profited from it for two centuries. Entrusted with the defence of Nagasaki, the domain under Nabeshima Naomasa built reverberatory furnaces, cast iron cannon and established the Mietsu naval dock, making it one of the most technologically advanced domains before the Meiji Restoration.

The new state drew heavily on Saga men, but discontent among former samurai erupted in the Saga Rebellion of 1874 under Etō Shinpei. The prefecture was merged into Nagasaki and only restored in 1883. Through the 20th century it remained an agricultural and ceramics-producing prefecture; the opening of the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen in 2022 connected Takeo and Ureshino to the high-speed network.

Saga's culture is bound up with ceramics: the kiln towns of Arita, Imari's Ōkawachiyama and Karatsu each maintain distinct traditions, and their spring and autumn pottery fairs draw collectors from all over Japan. The samurai ethos of the Nabeshima domain is remembered through the Hagakure, and the region's festivals range from the lacquered floats of Karatsu Kunchi to masked drum dances in the villages.

The Ariake Sea gives Saga its nori, shellfish and unusual mudflat fish, the Genkai coast its squid, and the plain its rice, barley and onions. Saga beef, from carefully graded wagyu, is the prefecture's premium product, and the tea of Ureshino goes with the tofu simmered in its spring water.

Agriculture and fisheries play a larger role than in most prefectures: rice, wheat and barley, onions, strawberries, citrus, tea and one of the largest nori harvests in Japan. Ceramics remain a signature industry around Arita and Imari. Tosu, at the junction of Kyushu's main expressways and railways, has become a logistics and pharmaceuticals centre, and food processing and electronics component manufacturing are also important. The Genkai nuclear power station is located on the northern coast.