Kokura Castle Garden

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.

 

Japanese Garden

 

Japanese Cultural Experience 

Time to enjoy dressing in Kimono, tea ceremony experience, and Rickshaw riding experience 

Kokura Castle Garden and Kokura Castle. You can also take beautiful photographs in this location

to provide you with wonderful memories and recollection of your visit to Kokura.

 

First Head office of the Steel Works

 

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The the building for the Head office of the Imperial Steel Works was constructed in 1899,

two years before commencement of Japan’s Steel Industry.

The design of the building is a harmony of European and Japanese architectural styles.

The construction of the structure below the roof is a European style and uses red bricks

for the outside walls.

 

Aiming to symbolize a Good future for Japan, the roof was designed with a traditional

Japanese triangular shape and Japanese tiles were used to complete the roof. 

The building was initially used as a Head office until 1922, however with the expansion

of production facilities, the Head Office was moved to another place due to lack of space.

After that, the building was used for various purposes such as a Research and Developing

Center for Steel Products.

 

World leading rail produced in the Steel Works

First Head Office registered on the World Heritage

Observation deck of the World Heritage

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Higashida No.1 Blast Furnace

 

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Kawachi Wisteria Garden

 

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 which usually peaks

around late April to middle of May.

 

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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.

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Featured tours related to Kawachi Wisteria garden  

 

Kawachi Wisteria garden & Kitakyushu one-day tour         

The tour is the customized private tour traveled in Kitakyushu-city including Kawachi Wisteria

garden, operated during Kawachi Wisteria blossom period from mid-April to mid-May depending

on the Wisteria condition.

 

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Kurogane Railway

 

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Dedicated Railway for Yawata Steel Works. The railway connected between Yawata and

Tobata, construction work took three years, and completed in 1930. The most difficult

and hard work was making Miyatayama tunnel with a total length of 1180 m due to suffering

from floods. The gates of the Miyatayama tunnel are decorated with stately designs.

 

The rail way crossing the road

Miyatayama tunnel Yahata side

Miyatayama tunnel Tobata side

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Uomachi & Kyomachi Shopping street

 

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Uomachi and Kyomachi Ginteigai are the arcade downtown shopping streets connected from

JR Kokura Station. The literal meaning of Gintengai is the Silver roof arcade shopping street

and Uomachi Gintengai is the birth place of Japanese arcade shopping street constructed in

1991. Now, there are many kind of fantastic shops and restaurant along the street.

 

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Onga River Pump Station

 

 

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Built in 1910 on the east bank of the Onga River. It served, and still serves, to deliver 

industrial water to Yawata via an 11.4 km pipeline. This supply is integral to the steel 

production process and was necessary to cope with the 1st phase expansion of the 

Imperial Steel Works. The site has been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage,

Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution 

 

Onga River

Onga River Pump Station

Water piping to the Steel Works

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Minami Kawachi-bashi bridge

 

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Kawachi Reservoir

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The first-class civil construction heritage, the triggered the registration of World Cultural 

Heritage of Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution 

The Kawachi Reservoir was constructed for the industrial water supply to Yawata

Steel Works. The dam was constructed at the Okura River and upper stream of the

dam was expanded and making the 7milion cubic metre reservoir.

 

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Specification of the dam  

・completion year : 1927

・height : 43.1 metre 
・Width : 189 metre

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All stones are cut into sizes and shapes by the stone technicians  according to the place of use. 

The large size stone were used at the main construction of the dam and the small size stones 

were used for other places as per size and shape. Construction was started in 1919 and was 

completed in1927 by 900 thousand total number of workers.

 

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Minami Kawachi-bashi bridge

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Hiraodai Karst Plateau & Caves

Yougunbaru, which was so names because of the limestone which stands in row like a flock

of sheep in a vast meadow, dolines (conical hollows) and limestone caves create distinctive

scenery. The Plateau offers a different views in each of the four seasons, resembling a burnt

 field in the spring, appearing fresh and green in the early summer, and similar to a dry plain

in the fall. 

 

 

Hiraodai Countryside Park

There is 22ha of lawn square with observation platform, and a wild grass garden.

There is also a plateau fruit tree garden. Moreover, the visitor can enjoy the experience

of doing activities such as making buckwheat noodle (soba), ceramics, art flower, and

woodwork.​

 

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Limestone Caves

 

There are three limestone Caves in Hiraodai Karst and each cave has different unique features. 

 

Senbutsu limestone Cave

The largest limestone caves in Hiraodai Karst Plateau

extending about 900 m while meandering toward the northeast. The shape of the cave is narrow,

narrow ceiling ravine with a maximum width of 10 m and a maximum ceiling height of 15 m.

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Mejiro limestone Cave

It is the longest cave in Hiraodai Karst, over 2 km in length. The highlight of this cave is the

monolithic ceiling which is a very unique structure as a limestone caves.

 

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Ojika Limestone Cave

The cave is called footfall of dinosaurs.  It is the very rare cave in Japan; the entrance is vertical

pit with 25 meter, when getting down to the bottom, you follow the underground horizontal cave

and you can see the hidden aspects of Hiraodai Karst.

 

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Hirotani Wetland

It is the only wetland in Fukuoka Prefecture, located 600 meters west from Seiryu Cave and

2,500 m east from Hiraodai Nature Observation Center. The wetland is an important part of 

Hiraodai Karst landform, offering a variety of wetland plant life such as the Sagiso (rein orchis),

Tokiso (pogonia), and Nohanasyobu (iris).

 

 

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