Beautiful and exciting Shine. Udo Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the cave of the cliff side facing the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 35 km south of Miyazaki city. In legend, a goddess of sea built a hut to give birth to a great god here. Then it is said that Empress Suiko (554-628) built the shrine there. The priest of Tendai Buddhism built a Buddhist temple in 782, on the order of Emperor Kanmu. In the middle ages, this area had been the training place for mountain priests because of the steep rocky cliffs.

Udo Shrine, in Miyazaki…の続きを読む

  Sengan-en is the most famous garden in Kagoshima-ken, made by Shimazu lord in the 19th century at the beautiful bay side Kinko bay. The garden contains many historic artifact that tell of its long history.

Sengan-en, in Kagoshima…の続きを読む

  Kokua Castle Garden made at the former site of Shitayashiki (lord’s guest house) located next to Kokura Castle. This garden consists of a Japanese garden and a daimyo yashiki  (a lord’s house), a building of the Shoin-zukuri type (a style of Japanese domestic architecture). In this garden, not only can you see Japanese traditional architecture, but also enjoy the Tea Ceremony at the Experience Zone.  

Kokua Castle Garden, in Kitakyushu-city…の続きを読む

  Imitated the beautiful scenery of Japan. It is a refined circular garden of Momoyama period style and represents the 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road including Mt. Fuji. The fresh springs in the garden release clean, cold water, which flows there from Mt. Aso via underground currents. In 1636, Tadatoshi, the third Lord of Hosokawa, began its construction as a tea retreat, and he also built the temple here for Priest Gentaku called Suizenji. This beautiful Momoyama style garden evolve during the reigns of the fourth and fifth Lords. In all it took about 80 years to complete.

Suizenji-koen park, in Kumamoto…の続きを読む

  Kitakyushu Manga Museum is located next to JR Kokura station. The museum is located on the 6th floor of Aru Aru City, a multi-floored shopping mall devoted to products and services for anime, manga, idol culture, and cosplay fans, a kind of Harajuku in miniature. The permanent exhibition area on the 6th floor concentrates on manga writers and artists who have a connection with Kitakyushu; and while more than thirty are listed, the best known is Reiji Matsumoto, who is also the honorary director of the museum. The rest of the Aru Aru City shopping mall is devoted to shops and services for Japan’s pop youth culture. There are lots of shops selling manga, anime DVDs, J-Pop CDs, computer games, trading cards, as well as related paraphernalia such posters and figurines. There are games arcades, an internet cafe, model car racetrack, a karaoke bar, and several cafes and bars serving alcohol, as well as a full maid cafe.

Kitakyushu Manga Museum, in Kitakyushu…の続きを読む

  Kawachi Wisteria Garden is a private garden at the Mountain foot of Sarakura in  Kitakyushu-city  and famous for its spectacularly presented, large numbers of  wisteria flowers. The garden is opened to the public seasonally during the wisteria season w hich usually peaks around late April to middle of May. The garden’s most prominent features are two, roughly 100 meter long tunnels made of wisteria trees of differing varieties and colors, ranging from white to dark purple.

Kawachi Wisteria Garden, in Kitakyushu-c…の続きを読む