This is the second largest city in Japan … but to me it seems like a continuation of Tokyo since it is less than 30 minutes on the train. We spent time exploring the most recently developed areas, Minato Mirai, along the seafront and only afterwards I realised that I hadn’t seen a single temple or shrine! Landmark Tower Not only coastal views but a tower to view them from …. this one a mere 273 metres though. Flower Festival…
Children’s Day (Kodoma no Hi) is a public holiday on 5th May and it celebrates happy and healthy children and expresses gratitude to their mothers. Up until 1948, Girls’ Day was two months earlier (but not a public holiday) than Boys’ Day, when Boys’ Day was changed to become Children’s Day. However, all the decorations – carp streamers with Samurai motifs relate to boys not girls! The display at Tokyo Tower is particularly impressive … 333 carp kites, to denote…
I was fascinated when I saw the above product in a convenience store … a quick check appeared to mention sheep! Back home I used google translate and came up with some very funny translations – ‘This is sheep playing Protect’, ‘Main sheep building preservation’, and ‘This hated sheep yellow existence’. The ingredients were much less interesting; red bean starch syrup & agar. So no sheep connection; not even mint sauce! I thought you needed a KitKat update. Digestive biscuit…
Dazaifu This small city, established in the 7th century, is best known for the Tenmangu Shine. But of course there are many more temples and shrines! And in 2005, the very impressive building housing the Kyushu National Museum was opened. All photos above are taken in and around Tenmangu Shrine The five photos above are of Tenkai Inari Shrine, and below is the Kyushu National Museum Nokonoshima Just 10 mins via ferry … and wonderfully peaceful if you avoid the…
Fukuoka Tower, 234 m high, with an observation deck 123 m above ground was always a definite sight seeing spot for us …. Geoff always has to visit the highest point wherever we go! Fascinatingly it has been built to withstand winds as strong as 63m/second and an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 7. We went up Tokyo Skytree on a previous visit to Tokyo, so a trip up Tokyo Tower is long overdue. I’m not too convinced we…
Shofukuji Zen Temple This was the first Zen temple built in Japan, in 1195. The Zen master, Yosai, who was responsible for the building of this temple, is also famous for introducing tea cultivation to Japan. Tochoji Temple According to legend, this temple was founded in 806 by Kukai upon his return from modern day China. In 1992 the ‘Great Buddha of Fukuoka’ the largest wooden statue of a seated Buddha in Japan, was installed in an extension to the…
My first trip out of Tokyo … some 670 miles to the west (for comparison London to Edinburgh is 402 miles). Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than it is to Tokyo! The city, a mere 1.5 million in population, sits on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island, one of four main islands. However Japan has 6,852 islands in total, of which just over 400 are inhabited. I thought I had finished writing about KitKat but I think it will…
Only an hour from Tokyo, but a different world. Kita-Kamakura is a tiny station with only one line …. and you cross this line on foot after the train has left. All good walks start with coffee & cake …. home made scones (how English!) served with cream and jam and accompanied by a drip coffee. Old coffee hessian sacks make great planters. And then straight onto a large temple complex; the Engaku-ji which is one on the leading Zen…
I already knew that KitKats were a huge thing in Japan, and thought that I would do a taste test on all KitKats that I could find. Yes, such suffering on behalf of all those who read this blog … But then I discovered that there have been over 300 different flavours produced, and there are over 40 at anytime. Some flavours are produced and sold in specific areas to mimic regional dishes. So this will definitely not be a…
Sssshhh … we decided to escape the city on Saturday, but decided that since Mount Takao is located within metropolitan Tokyo it would be OK. Only 50 minutes by train & then the slog to the 599 metre summit. Freedom! Mount Takao is a sacred mountain with many temples and shrines to visit as you progress the steep slopes. Many people visit this mountain to pray to Shinto-Buddhist mountain gods for good fortune. We walked up on tarmacked paths but…