First days in Fukuoka

Fukuoka is the location of the Japanese language school where I will study for most of May. The school is called JaLS (Japanese Language School), the same one I went to in Sapporo in 2016.

On Friday May 2, the Shinkansen arrived about 1pm. The school is in a co-working area in the basement, but the train station is such a maze that it took almost an hour to find it. I got there in time to meet some of the other students. I talked with them while waiting to check into the apartment that the school had arranged. There was a festival going on in Fukuoka, and I found out the students were planning to go the next day.

The manager of the school hailed a taxi for me to take me to the apartment, and eventually I found the right building and got the key. It is very basic and small, but it has the essentials. And it is in walking distance of the station.

After settling in I walked to the station to try familiarize myself with it. I bought some groceries at the department store attached to the station, and I found a craft beer place called Fukuoka Craft Brewing, and had a beer before heading back.

The next day I met the students and a facilitator from the school and we headed outside. It was nice and sunny. The festival is called Dontaku. It is very old and originated as a spring festival. There were parades and food stalls, etc., and it seems a lot of people from various communities in Fukuoka get involved.

First there was a smaller parade in front of the station, then we walked to a park that was full of food stalls.

Then we found a place sit on the side of the road and waited for the main parade. It was quite long and there various communities, dance groups, school music groups, etc.

Fukuoka has several canals running through it and the parade wound its way around to cross a couple of them. After a couple of hours I left the group and walked in the direction opposite the parade to see more of it. 

I ended up at the train station, and outside there was a stage with performaces all day. I got there in time to see an idol group.

The next day Sunday, May 4, was a free day. I basically walked around the centre of Fukuoka. There is a neighbourhood called Old Town that starts a few blocks from the station. It actually does not look like an old town, but there are several temples there. Most were closed, but I could walk around the grounds. The first one was Jotenji.

Next I went to Tochoji which has an 11m Buddha statue inside. Then the large grounds centered on Shofukuji, which has several other temples on it as well.

From there I walked to the the long, covered Kawabata Shopping Lane. On the way I passed a park where school music groups were getting arranged. The parade was going on that day as well.

At the end of the Kawabata Shopping Lane there is the interesting Kushida Shrine. Because of the festival, it was quite busy and people were lined up to pray.

Just past Kushida Shrine I went into a place for a coffee, and it also sold this desert called Fuwa Rich, which is kind of fluffy iced mild with flavored topping. Very good.

From there I kept walking to Rakusuien Park, with its beautiful Japanese garden.

Then over to the large Sumiyoshi Shrine complex.

Back at the station I found a craft beer place called 'Continue?'.  It was another place with self serve beer taps.

The next day, Monday May 5, was the first day of classes at the language school. Orientation then 3 hours of class, lunch, then 2 hours for my private lesson. I spend a couple of more hours reviewing vocabulary and doing some of the homework. Very tiring.

Tuesday was another morning of classes, but no lesson in the afternoon so I just did homework and got up on the blog.

Hiroshima and Miyajima

Wednesday, April 30, I checked out of the hotel in Osaka and caught the Shinkansen to Hiroshima, arriving about 10:30am. I spent a few hours in Hiroshima before catching a local train and ferry to the island of Miyajima.

In Hiroshima, I took a streetcar to the sit of the "A-bomb Dome", the famous remains of a building after the atomic bomb was dropped in August, 1945. Apparently the bomb detonated about 160m to one side, and 600m above ground, and the outward-directed blast combined with heavy surrounding walls prevented the building from  being completely destroyed.

Across a branch of the river there is the Memorial Peace Park. It has a Children's Peace Monument, 

A Cenotaph for A-bomb victims, 

and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There is a rest house with a cafe and some old pictures. Before the war, Hiroshima was a major commercial center, being on a delta with about 4 rivers running through it. The A-bomb building was built in 1915 and was a major performance centre.

Afterward I walked along the river and then turned toward the train station, passing the rebuilt Hiroshima Castle.

I caught the local train to Miyajimaguchi station  and from there the ferry to Miyajima Island. Being Golden Week, I thought it would be impossibly crowded, but it wasn't that bad.

The town on the island is centered on the Itsukushima shrine, with the ferry terminal to one side, and my hotel was on the edge of town on the other side. Since it was about a 25 minute walk with luggage, I had called the hotel to arrange for the shuttle bus.

After checking in I had a bit time before dinner at the hotel, so I walked to the shrine with the famous tori gate. The tide was out so you could walk right up to it, and I could that the pillars are actually massive tree trunks.

I went into the shrine itself, built in the 1100's. It covers a large area over the tidal flat, and it is on stilts since at high tide the water comes underneath it.

Beside the shrine is a pretty little temple called Daiganji, built in the 1200s.

The next morning I took the cablecar up Mt Misen, which is the highest peak on the island. From the top cable car station, there are great views of surrounding islands and the mainland with Hiroshima in the distance.

From the cable car it is another kilometer walk to the summit, and just below the summit there is a temple with an 'eternal flame' that was lit by a famous monk who meditated here in the 800s. In the pot above the flame there is tea you can drink.

At the actual summit there is a viewing platform. The last bit of the hike involved navigating through huge boulders.

From the summit I took one of the trails back down to the town. The trail I took passed the large Daishoin temple complex, which was established in the 800s by the founder of Shingon Buddhism.

There are a couple of large halls with several small temples around, and interesting  gardens.

It is the only temple in Japan I've seen that has rows of Tibet-style prayer wheels.

At the time I was there, the temple was hosting an art exhibition.

I noticed a particular statue, fierce-looking holding an upright sword, at Daiganji, Mt Misen, and at Daishouin. I finally found it to be of Acala, called Fudou-Myou in Japan. A minor diety in the Buddhist pantheon who became popular in certain sects, who uses the sword to fight off evil.

I continued walking to the shrine, to get pictures when the tide was high.

Then I went into the adjacent Hokoku Shrine, built by Hideyoshi to honor war dead.  I found the large space to be very relaxing.

From there I walked along the main market street. There were several stalls selling deep fried oysters, which seems like a local specialty. Another local food is a little waffle in the shape of a maple leaf, with a sweet filling.

 I had a beer at a craft beer place called Miyajima Brewing. Then back to the hotel.

The next day, Friday May 2, must be another holiday. When I left in the morning, the ferry and the train towards Miyajima were all packed with school groups and Japanese and foreign tourists. Thankful I was going in the other direction. Made my way back to Hiroshima station to catch the Shinkansen to Fukuoka

Osaka

 On Saturday, by about 4pm I was in Osaka and it was a short subway ride from the station to the hotel. After relaxing a bit I walked around the area of the hotel. It is in the northern part of central Osaka and it is the financial district. I found a craft brewery called Yellow Ape  and had a couple of beers to celebrate my trip so far. 

The next day, Sunday, was my first full day in Osaka and it was sunny and kind of hot. I walked along a river near the hotel, starting at the Osaka City Hall, and the river has a nice park running along it.

I headed toward Osaka castle, with a huge moat around it. I went inside the main castle grounds which has a garden with great views of the castle itself.

I stood in line for a ticket to go inside, which has 8 floors including an observation deck at the top. The rest is a museum with displays about things like the huge stones that were transported from all over Japan to build the walls, the battle called the Summer of Osaka in 1615 between the new Tokugawa shogunate and rival families, and the life of Hideyoshi who was the previous Shogun who first united Japan.

I then sat outside for a while and did a drawing of the castle.

Afterwards I walked towards the Dotonburi area near Namba station, in the southern part of central Osaka. It took about an hour. Osaka feels more industrial than Tokyo, and it has rivers and canals running through it, often with boats doing some kind of business.

Dontonburi is a large area of narrow streets, branching some covered mall streets, all filled with shops, restaurants and bars. 

In the area is a small temple called Hozenji, with a moss-covered Buddha statue.

I walked around, had something to eat  and found a craft beer place called schua2. I met some people there and ended up staying for a couple of hours. By then it was dark, and walking back to the hotel through Dotonburi, I realized that it is at night that the place really comes alive.

The next day, Monday April 28, I did laundry in the morning, then took the subway to Namba station to go to the Kuromon Market, a food market covering several blocks.

There are stores selling fresh produce and lots of stores selling seafood.

There were lots of food stalls selling everything from strawberries to sushi to beef skewers. I had a skewer of domestic beef that was really good. It was not the crazy expensive Wagyu beef, though.

By then it was pouring rain and no good for walking outside, so I wandered around the huge underground mall of Namba station for a while. In the big Japanese cities, it seems a large part of the city is underground.

I then took the subway to the station near the hotel, and stopped at Yellow Ape brewing to read a bit. They have an interesting system for self-serve beer. You get a card, then go to a wall of beer taps. You put the card against the reader for the tap that you want, and it records how beer you poured. You can do that again for any other tap.

Afterward I went back to the hotel for an early night.

The next day, Tuesday, was my last in Osaka. It was sunny but kind of cool. I got up really early and took the subway to Tennoji station, further south than Namba. There is Tennoji Park, and as I walk through in the early morning I could see they were setting up for something. Then I realized that it was April 29, Showa Day (a former emperor's birthday) a public holiday and the beginning of Golden Week. 

I walked through the park to Isshinji Temple, founded in 1185 by the founder of Joudo Shuu Buddhism. As part of the holiday, I assume, many people were there dressed in black, lighting candles and incense to pay respect to ancestors.

I then walked over to the large Shitennoji Temple complex. There are several buildings, and on the temple grounds there was a large used book market.

The main part is a central walled off area containing the main hall and pagoda.

I also visited the little garden there.

I walked back to Tennoji Park and the festivities were in full swing. People were picnicing on the field, and there was a German style beer garden. I had some sausage and beer.

Next to Tennoji Park is the Shinsekai area, containing several narrow streets south of the Tsutenkaku Tower.

Rather than shops, this area has more of a festival feel to it, with food stalls and games such as shooting, arcade-type games and archery.

I kept walking northward and passed through Nippombashi Den-Den Town. This has electronics shops and manga and maid cafes, like Akihabara in Tokyo.

A little more walking and I was back in Dontonburi. All of the interesting areas like this seem to be clustered together in Osaka, so you can walk along all of them. I stopped for a beer again at schua2. Then I walked a bit in the Namba area, outdoors this time. It was busy with the holiday, and in a square there was a stage set up with live music. Then back to the hotel for another early night.

Kumano Kodo last day

Saturday, April 26 I got up early and walked a little bit more of the Kumano Kodo - about 15 minutes that goes beyond Nachisan, to get one more stamp. It is down a long flight of stone steps lined with large, beautiful cedar trees.

I had breakfast and then caught the bus to Kii-Katsuura. Reflecting on the Kumano Kodo, bumping into the same people along the way while we struggled up and down the slopes and in the day of rain, at the shrines, and sometimes meeting them at the beautiful Japanese accommodations... it felt like a cohort who were going through this. Looking back, the experience was so rich I thought: "all that in just 5 days?"

Here are all the pilgrimage stamps I collected.

Kii-Katsuura is a beautiful fishing town with a seaside pier and markets. I walked around and stopped for coffee before catching the train to Osaka. Train ride went around the coast of the Kii peninsula, with a view great views. 

A lot of the time it went through tunnels, and I nodded off.