Kokura

KOKURA

We went to Kokura in late October 2019.

We flew to Narita, where we spent the night.

Ah !  The bedhead at the hotel was quite posh. No electronic clock here, rather a beautiful round gold embossed clock of old. Tick tock tick tock tick tock all night. At 1am, weary went to the front desk and asked for a hammer. Hammer ? (Fluffy one, naturally ..... ?)  Concerned staff asked why, and were told a story of tick tock clock woe. Weary was advised, with a smile, not to hammer the stylish clock. Alas and alack, tick tock.

The next day we flew to Fukuoka Airport from whence we trained the short trip to Kokura.

Kokura is part of the city of Kitakyushu, which has a population of almost 950,000.

Japan again proved to be a joy. A place where one is invigorated and stimulated whilst safely settled with a peaceful relaxed calm. Any street, path, stair,  any time of day.

I loved my 4.30 am freshly crushed coffee bean coffee at the local convenience store.

KOKURA CITY

Kokura has as part of its public transport infrastructure, a monorail that runs for about 9 kilometres from the railway station.

How did this koala get here ?

So many sculptures in Japan.

A guard dog ?

There is a big five story castle, with an elevator !

This is the biggest single rock we've seen at a castle ! The gate is at least a metre and a half tall.

Sushi trains in Australia are .... what they are. So when told about sushi train restaurants in Japan, I have avoided them, preferring to go to small sushi restaurants, and sit and watch the chef practice the craft.

Until Kokura. The sushi restaurant that was nearest our hotel was full the first two nights, so we visited the next closest. A sushi train. Yet one where you ordered what you wanted on a tablet on your table. And the goods came on the 'train' shortly after.

Definitely not the same ambience. But the food at the Heishiro Restaurant, in the AMU Plaza on top of the railway station, on the sixth floor, I rate as the best ever.
The rice ? Each pellet soft, tender, tasty and yet still individual. Eating rice in Japan is a superior experience, and eating it at Heishiro was again the best of.
The tuna ?  Not one piece, and I had ten pieces a night, not one piece had the slightest hint of what I call stringiness, which one occasionally encounters. Every piece moist and tasty.
The soy sauce ?  Not too salty, ever so slightly sweet, and a wee bit thick and tasty.

So we went there every night.  The cost varied from Y 4,800 to Y 6,900 for two with either a beer each or a sake each.

Who wants ambience when you can have superb taste ? And anyway, the place was quiet, and unobtrusive.

Buzenkokubun Temple, in nearby Yukuhashi. A $20 return taxi trip from the train station. Well maintained temple in beautiful grounds.

MOUNT SARAKURA

The cable car at Sarakura Mountain, Sarakurayama, is about twenty kilometres from the centre of Kokura. After training to Yahata Station, there is a free shuttle bus. Now, a sunny day may have some merit ?

TOWARDS TOHO

A wonderful book was given to me about Toho, and it is a treasure. It has pictures of life in rural Japan. It is written in English, and also in Japanese.

Amazingly, it is for sale on the net from only $4 plus postage.

http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2011/05_toho_village/index5.html

The book motivated me to go to the small village Toho, and its surrounds.

(More on the charm, a small piece of carved cedar, looking like an owl, later)

This had its challenges.

How to get there ? especially after a recent typhoon had destroyed some train lines.  We just asked a train guard which train to get to the closest town, and from what platform.

Mount Hiko

Mount Hiko, Hikosan, seemed the best place to begin this adventure. To get there we had to change trains and then hop on a bus.
Other than the train station, there were about a half a dozen small dwellings and one wee shop.

We popped into the shop to be met by a giant of a Japanese gentleman.

Thank goodness 'taxi' in English sounds the same as in Japanese. I had learnt that 'charter' in English sounds the same in Japanese too.

So I asked the man if we could charter a taxi, and showed him the places I wanted to go to from the book.

Ah, so sweet life can be at times. He signalled to wait a tick, and went to get his phone. After a minute or two on the phone, he smiled, and indicated that we should wait on the bench outside his shop.

In fifteen minutes along came a taxi !!! The driver only spoke Japanese, looked at the book, recognised the places, and agreed to the charter. I offered Y 20,000 for the half day hire.




Mt Hiko had what my kind of tourist wants - a slope car / cable car .

Iwaya Shrine at Hoshuyama

In 547AD, a massive flare ended in an amazing large meteorite landing here.
To get to it was quite a climb. The higher up one got, the narrower the stairs got, and the more damp moss there was on the stairs.

See Rick ?

There are a hundred Gods on the way up, and a shrine at the top.

The meteorite.

The shrine tucked in at the bottom.

The stairs, so narrow, damp and mossy, sideways was the best way down.

If you walk through here and have not shown enough filial respect, the rock will collapse on you.

A railway bridge, like an aquaduct.

Getting ready for lunch on a damp mossy table.  The taxi driver got some carpet from the boot of the taxi for us.

At Koishiwara, in 1991, a typhoon destroyed 40% of the giant cedar around the town. Some bright sparks decided not to waste an opportunity, so they carved statues out of some of the trees.

The three of us, taxi driver n all, went in the shop behind the carvings.
The old ladies there were so excited to see the book about their town.  They made us a cup of tea and became very animated.
I felt that I should show my gratitude for the tea by buying something. The smallest thing there were the charms photoed on the book cover up earlier.  The cost ? Well, they were so piddly, I thought about Y 200 each. I didn't want to be mean, so I got five. Well, only Y 200 each.
Ha hahahahahahahaha I almost had a fit when she said Y 11,000.  That's Y 2020 each.  More than twenty dollars each !!!
I tried to look calm and sophisticated, and just paid.
I turned to the taxi driver and whispered in Japanese: "Ah well, I just robbed a bank. I'm  rich pig" and then crossed my eyes. He laughed.  Rick was away in a corner and was not told until later .......

BEPPU

Beppu is a good 70 minute train trip from Kokura. Great to rest those feet after climbing so many steps.

There is a cable car at Beppu, going up Tsurumi Dake, Mount Tsurumi.

Once out of the cable car there are more stairs to get to the peak.

On the way, we are greeted by a half a dozen jolly chaps.

A wee bit of autumn there too.

Beppu is also famous for its eight different coloured molten thermal mud pools.
After seeing the brown, the blue and the green, I snuck off, bought a green tea soft serve ice cream, and left.

The glory of Japan is not just the food, castles, ropeways, but also the wide variety of trains. Standing at the front of a train and being able to watch the tracks trundle along is pure mesmerising bliss.

Thanks.