In our never ending quest to see All The Castles we made two day trips while in Fukuoka.
First up was Karatsu. We took the train south from Fukuoka – actually into the next prefecture. It was a basic commuters train – we got on the subway and eventually the train came above ground and wandered down the coast to Karatsu.
Wilf had scoped out a restaurant in the old town near the train station, so that was the first order of business. It opened at 11:30 and we arrived at 11:45 – put our name on the list for the 12:30 sitting.
The restaurant is tiny, run by a husband and wife team. Your choice is a seafood rice bowl set menu – the only difference is in the fanciness of the seafood. We went for the super deluxe because – why not? It was amazing!!!!
The set meal pretty much always includes the main course, a bowl of miso soup, pickles, often a salad of some sort. And so this did. The bowl of seafood was amazing – so many good things. As I was eating my way along I was thinking about how things have changed. When we first came to Japan in 2009 my seafood tastes were pretty limited. Faced with a bowl like this I would have been hesitant. Now – dive right in. I didn’t know what everything was, but it was all delicious.
From the restaurant we took a cab to the castle in the harbour. It was very hot and we were happy to find there was an elevator to take us up to the entry to the castle. Often castles are on high points – which makes sense, but this one was originally on the water’s edge. It was destroyed at one point and has since been rebuilt. Over time the harbour has been extended, so the site is now a bit inland. But originally the castle foundation rose out of the sea, providing defence on that side. A series of moats and trenches protected the other sides.
The exhibits inside were interesting, showing the history of the area. Not surprisingly, they were whalers, and there were interesting drawings and paintings of how they went out in small boats to capture whales. I’m reading ‘Moby Dick’ at present, so have whales on the brain!
Castle number two was in the city of Kitakyushu, which is north of Fukuoka. One stop on the Shinkansen. Zoom zoom – about 15 minutes, mostly through tunnels. Kokura Castle is another castle that has been rebuilt. Kitakyushu is a large city at the tip of Kyushu Island. The modern city is an amalgamation of smaller cities, including Kokura. It was a prosperous place, ruled over by generations of the same family and a major stopping point on the way to the capital. Back in the day the Shogun required the samurai lords to spend alternate years in Edo (now Tokyo). Kokura was positioned at the top of the island and traffic would cross the Kanmon straits to Honshu on the way to Edo.
In the late 19th century the castle was pulled down, and the current replica was created in the 1960’s. We have visited several castles that are intact from the samurai times, and they are interesting. But there is something to be said for the reconstructions….. No ladders between floors, for one thing! The exhibits were really interesting and interactive.
Yabusame is horse mounted archery. I tried sitting on the horse but decided my dignity probably would not survive if I rode the pony and tried to fire ‘arrows’. Kind of like a slow motion bull riding with less twisting. This fellow did well – he ‘fired’ the arrows and hit the targets….
It’s a pretty castle and, again, must be lovely when the cherry trees are in bloom.
On the way to the castle we crossed a bridge over the river that was decorated with….
A long row of statues with penne heads? The mosaic underfoot is a sunflower motif, ,the official flower of the city.
And there was a tiny little fish market – the Tannga Market.
Two day trips, two interesting and historic towns.
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