Michi-no-Eki Ukiha

Ukiha sells itself as fruit country, and its roadside station is where that is easiest to see. The Saikendai market fills with whatever local orchards and farms are picking that week, alongside preserves and other Ukiha products. The building is a wooden structure in the kudo-zukuri style, a U-shaped farmhouse roof form found in this part of Kyushu.

The site sits on raised ground beside Route 210, and the observation deck on the north side looks out over the flat Chikugo Plain. It is a good place to stretch your legs on the drive between Kurume and Hita. Next door, the Ukihako visitor center has tourist information and rental bicycles if you want to see the town's old merchant streets or the orchards up close.

Don't plan a big lunch here without checking first. Directory listings disagree on whether the restaurant is currently running, though snack counters are listed. The station normally closes on the second Tuesday of the month and over the New Year holiday.