Hamanoura Rice Terraces I want to watch the light on the paddies until the sun goes down

I got out of the car to see the Hamanoura Rice Terraces. The paddies step down towards the sea, and the sunset is reflected in the water. “Wow,” slipped out before I could help it. After that, I couldn’t find the words straight away.

From the lookout, I could make out the shape of each paddy. They don’t line up neatly; each one bends with the slope. Every time my eyes followed one of those banks, the water caught the light a little differently. I stood there with one hand resting on the rail, completely absorbed.

I took out my phone, thinking I’d capture the moment. The terraces and the sea fit on the screen, but I kept looking up from it to the real view right in front of me. There I was, having come to take a picture and standing there without taking one. The thought made me smile.

I put my phone away and just stood there, taking it all in. The glow from the sea was mirrored in the paddies too, and as the sun sank, even the way it shimmered kept changing. I kept wanting to look back at places I’d already seen, so the moment to leave just never seemed to come.

I thought I’d get more excited over a beautiful view. Here, though, I spent far more time quietly taking it all in than saying a word. My heart was racing, but I stood perfectly still. I guess this is what I’m like in front of rice terraces at sunset.

Even when I finally left the lookout, I turned around for one last look. The sunset was reflected in the paddies as well as the sea. I was so glad I’d seen it with my own eyes that I was still grinning to myself long after I got back in the car.