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Rainbow Line Summit Park

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Mikata GokoRainbow Linefive lakesWakasaviewpoint

Photo: Facial expression / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

What sets Rainbow Line Summit Park apart from other natural sites in Fukui is how much depends on conditions outside anyone's control.

Mikata Goko is five lakes lying side by side behind the Wakasa coast, and the reason they are famous is that they are five different colours. Salinity varies between them — one is fresh, one is fully salt, the others are brackish to different degrees, connected by narrow channels — and the water reads differently in each, which becomes obvious only from height.

The height is the Rainbow Line, an eleven-kilometre toll road up Mt. Baijo, and a chairlift or cable car from the car park to a summit park at the top. From there you get all five lakes and Wakasa Bay in a 360-degree view. There are five terraces with different seating — including foot baths and hammock decks — laid out to be sat in rather than photographed and left. It costs ¥800 to park and ¥1,000 to go up.

Before you go

Access hours

Road 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM | Summit park 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (March–November), 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM (December–February)

Closed: Confirm seasonal closures before travelling

Entry fee

Parking ¥800 car, ¥500 motorcycle | Summit park including lift ¥1,000 junior high school age and above, ¥500 elementary school children

Best time to visit

Late October–December for the clearest air | Spring for cherry blossom at the summit

Time to allow

1.5–2 hours

Finding your way there

Getting there in detail

Kiyama, Wakasa, Mikatakaminaka District, reached via the Mikata Goko Rainbow Line. Parking ¥800 for a car, ¥500 for a motorcycle, ¥1,500 for a microbus and ¥2,000 for a coach. Summit park admission, including the lift and cable car, is ¥1,000 for junior high school age and above and ¥500 for elementary school children.

Beyond the guidebook

**Two charges, and both are compulsory.** ¥800 to drive the road and park, then ¥1,000 per person to reach the summit. Budget around ¥2,800 for two people before anything else. **Clear days only.** The entire proposition is a 360-degree view of five differently coloured lakes. In haze or low cloud there is nothing to see and the money is spent anyway. **Sit down.** There are five terraces with sofas, foot baths and hammocks. This is designed as a place to spend an hour rather than photograph and leave, and the price makes more sense that way. **No bicycles or walking on the road.** The Rainbow Line is closed to both. You need a vehicle. **Autumn and early winter for the clearest air.** Late October through December gives the sharpest separation between the lake colours and the best chance of seeing the far side of Wakasa Bay.

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