Spring has SPRUNG!
Apr. 17th, 2009 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rkoldFinally it truly feels like Spring is here. I can walk around without my jacket and scarf and my hands don't freeze when they're not stuffed in my pockets. Plus the sakura and ume are starting to show up here as well. It's nice, hopefully I can get some seeds planted now. I plan to soak some tomato seeds this evening for seedlings and then maybe get some other things in the ground tomorrow when the road is not being torn up in front of my house by the gas/electric company.
And in honor of the sakura finally appearing here...
Warning: An insane number of flower pictures below cut. I am picking and choosing but I took over 300 pictures in Fukuoka just to warn people now.
Fukuoka/Hakata is the city where the Tokaido/Sanyo shinkansen currently ends. It's on the island of Kyushu and the station is named Hakata but the city is named Fukuoka as it once use to be compromised of an area with both names. Eventually Japan plans to have the shinkansen continue to Kagoshima on the other end of Kyushu (part of the line has been built and has started running since my first trip to Japan in 1999) with a spur going to Nagasaki. For those who don't travel around Japan much, Japan is made up of 4 main islands, Okinawa and lots of smaller islands. Hokkaido is the large northern Island which currently has no shinkansens, Honshu is the main island with most of the cities people have heard of on it. Its sort of shaped like an L lying on it's side. Tokyo is about where the two lines in the L meet. From Tokyo there is the Tohoku shinkansen lines (Currently there is one going from Tokyo to Hachinohe pretty much straight north. It use to end at Morioka but now runs to Hachinohe. The plan is to get it to Aomori and then have it go under the Seikan Tunnel to Hokkaido and run to Hakkodate and Sapporo) At Morioka there is a spur through Kakunodate to Akita (This is new too since my 1999 trip.) At Fukushima there is a spur going up to Shinjo in Yamagata-ken and from Tokyo there is a branch called the Joetsu that goes to Nagano and to Niigata. (A lot of these lines will be getting a larger write up after next trip aka a week in Tohoku) Rumor has it that eventually Japan wants to extend the shinkansen from Niigata along the sea of Japan coast to Toyama, Kanazawa and then down to Osaka. I have to say it would be sort of nice to make it easier to get to Kanazawa but also means more tourists lol The Tokaido/Sanyo line is the line most tourists in Japan use. It's the one that goes from Tokyo all the way to Hakata/Fukuoka going through Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin Osaka, Shin Kobe, Okayama and Hiroshima on the way. Shikoku is the small island west of Osaka and south of Kobe and Hiroshima. There are currently no plans to put a shinkansen on it. lol
By Shinkansen Fukuoka is a long day trip from Kyoto. There are currently no direct Hikaris from Kyoto and one has to change in Shin Osaka. The trip takes around 3 1/2 hours. Fukuoka is not high on most tourists lists of places to go. Its main claim to fame is being more open to foreigners (particularly Koreans and Chinese, they seem quite proud of their connection to Korea and I believe you can take a ferry from Kokura to Pusan) and the largest city on Kyushu. I had read that their sakura had opened on the 13th and it seemed like it would be an ideal location to go to if I wanted to see hanami close to peak.
Upon exiting the station
I had decided to walk from the station a few short subway stops down so that I could visit a few temples and shrine in hopes of getting some stamps. Instead I got this. ♥ I need to find my map of Fukuoka to remember what the name of this temple was. It was pretty small.
Not quite peak since some of the top of the tree is still buds, but pretty darn close
This is my Pocket Fairy Aroa. She doesn't have an actual name yet. I originally bought her as a gift for my late grandmother in law, but when she passed away in March Aroa came back to live with me. Being so light and small she ended up traveling around Fukuoka with me.
I'm pretty sure this is Tsubaki
Quince
I'm pretty sure that this is Shofuku-ji, supposedly the oldest zen temple in Japan. The preceding 10 pictures were taken on it's grounds.
A pale pink variety of sakura
I believe this shrine is called Kushida jinja (Edit: Oops It's Kushida >>; )
It's famous for its floats for one of the matsuri in Fukuoka. This one was on display and quite impressive. Edit: These are not dolls, the floats are actually around 30 feet tall, maybe more and the figures are about human size. They're used for a matsuri in July and paraded through the streets of Fukuoka by 28 men. There is another picture of a different float display a few pictures down.
They're extremely pretty ceremonial hand cleansing fountain
Two turtles also celebrating hanami on the way to Ohtori Park and the ruins of Fukuoka Castle.
Some of the walls are all that is left of Fukuoka Castle. I think it makes the area actually sort of more scenic
Unlike in a city like Tokyo or Kyoto, people only reserve spots for specific times it appears in Fukuoka and don't have someone holding their space for them when not in use. Here is an example of someone reserving a spot.
Part of the park is under construction while they dig up some more architectural ruins
Some small hanami parties
Self-portrait lol
Taken by a nice Japanese guy lol
Fukuoka
From the top of the ruins
Taken by a Japanese guy who seemed to be trying to pick me up o_O;;;;
More self-portraits
If I'd not had all my stuff back in the hotel in Kyoto I would have wanted to stay in Fukuoka!
And in honor of the sakura finally appearing here...
Warning: An insane number of flower pictures below cut. I am picking and choosing but I took over 300 pictures in Fukuoka just to warn people now.
Fukuoka/Hakata is the city where the Tokaido/Sanyo shinkansen currently ends. It's on the island of Kyushu and the station is named Hakata but the city is named Fukuoka as it once use to be compromised of an area with both names. Eventually Japan plans to have the shinkansen continue to Kagoshima on the other end of Kyushu (part of the line has been built and has started running since my first trip to Japan in 1999) with a spur going to Nagasaki. For those who don't travel around Japan much, Japan is made up of 4 main islands, Okinawa and lots of smaller islands. Hokkaido is the large northern Island which currently has no shinkansens, Honshu is the main island with most of the cities people have heard of on it. Its sort of shaped like an L lying on it's side. Tokyo is about where the two lines in the L meet. From Tokyo there is the Tohoku shinkansen lines (Currently there is one going from Tokyo to Hachinohe pretty much straight north. It use to end at Morioka but now runs to Hachinohe. The plan is to get it to Aomori and then have it go under the Seikan Tunnel to Hokkaido and run to Hakkodate and Sapporo) At Morioka there is a spur through Kakunodate to Akita (This is new too since my 1999 trip.) At Fukushima there is a spur going up to Shinjo in Yamagata-ken and from Tokyo there is a branch called the Joetsu that goes to Nagano and to Niigata. (A lot of these lines will be getting a larger write up after next trip aka a week in Tohoku) Rumor has it that eventually Japan wants to extend the shinkansen from Niigata along the sea of Japan coast to Toyama, Kanazawa and then down to Osaka. I have to say it would be sort of nice to make it easier to get to Kanazawa but also means more tourists lol The Tokaido/Sanyo line is the line most tourists in Japan use. It's the one that goes from Tokyo all the way to Hakata/Fukuoka going through Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin Osaka, Shin Kobe, Okayama and Hiroshima on the way. Shikoku is the small island west of Osaka and south of Kobe and Hiroshima. There are currently no plans to put a shinkansen on it. lol
By Shinkansen Fukuoka is a long day trip from Kyoto. There are currently no direct Hikaris from Kyoto and one has to change in Shin Osaka. The trip takes around 3 1/2 hours. Fukuoka is not high on most tourists lists of places to go. Its main claim to fame is being more open to foreigners (particularly Koreans and Chinese, they seem quite proud of their connection to Korea and I believe you can take a ferry from Kokura to Pusan) and the largest city on Kyushu. I had read that their sakura had opened on the 13th and it seemed like it would be an ideal location to go to if I wanted to see hanami close to peak.
Upon exiting the station
I had decided to walk from the station a few short subway stops down so that I could visit a few temples and shrine in hopes of getting some stamps. Instead I got this. ♥ I need to find my map of Fukuoka to remember what the name of this temple was. It was pretty small.
Not quite peak since some of the top of the tree is still buds, but pretty darn close
This is my Pocket Fairy Aroa. She doesn't have an actual name yet. I originally bought her as a gift for my late grandmother in law, but when she passed away in March Aroa came back to live with me. Being so light and small she ended up traveling around Fukuoka with me.
I'm pretty sure this is Tsubaki
Quince
I'm pretty sure that this is Shofuku-ji, supposedly the oldest zen temple in Japan. The preceding 10 pictures were taken on it's grounds.
A pale pink variety of sakura
I believe this shrine is called Kushida jinja (Edit: Oops It's Kushida >>; )
It's famous for its floats for one of the matsuri in Fukuoka. This one was on display and quite impressive. Edit: These are not dolls, the floats are actually around 30 feet tall, maybe more and the figures are about human size. They're used for a matsuri in July and paraded through the streets of Fukuoka by 28 men. There is another picture of a different float display a few pictures down.
They're extremely pretty ceremonial hand cleansing fountain
Two turtles also celebrating hanami on the way to Ohtori Park and the ruins of Fukuoka Castle.
Some of the walls are all that is left of Fukuoka Castle. I think it makes the area actually sort of more scenic
Unlike in a city like Tokyo or Kyoto, people only reserve spots for specific times it appears in Fukuoka and don't have someone holding their space for them when not in use. Here is an example of someone reserving a spot.
Part of the park is under construction while they dig up some more architectural ruins
Some small hanami parties
Self-portrait lol
Taken by a nice Japanese guy lol
Fukuoka
From the top of the ruins
Taken by a Japanese guy who seemed to be trying to pick me up o_O;;;;
More self-portraits
If I'd not had all my stuff back in the hotel in Kyoto I would have wanted to stay in Fukuoka!
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Questions
Date: 2009-04-18 12:51 am (UTC)And you had unlabeled in your pictures. What was that thing with all the Japanese dolls in it? A doll shrine? And the wheel thingy? Is that representative of like the Chinese horoscope?
Re: Questions
Date: 2009-04-18 01:56 am (UTC)The two large wooden structures with the carvings are floats. They're carried around for matsuri (festival) and I wish I had gotten something to show perspective because they're actually enormous! The statues on the floats are actually about human size. The floats get paraded through the streets during matsuri. These are for Gion Yamagasa held in July. 28 men carry the floats!
And yeah, thanks to the influence of Buddhism in Japan, the Japanese also use the Chinese horoscope, though their New Year starts on 1/1 like ours. The 4 primary colors have the kanji for North, East, South and West written on them. (I can actually read North, East and West, though the colors assigned are usually different.)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 12:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 02:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 12:57 am (UTC)It's only one week until you leave, isn't it, and only ten days for us. Sooooo excited!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 02:11 am (UTC)Yeah... cause Tokyo's is pretty much over now according to Observers posting to the Japan Guide (http://japan-guide.com/) And Fukuoka is one of the earliest places for sakura on the 4 main islands.But fuji is lovely and you can possibly see tsutsuji! :D BTW if you have the time in Kyoto and want to see truly stunning fuji you should go to Nara. They're supposedly one of the top spots for fuji and GW/the week post GW is the time to see it there.
Really lovely.
Date: 2009-04-18 01:41 am (UTC)Re: Really lovely.
Date: 2009-04-18 02:13 am (UTC)They're actually about actual human size, I don't have anything for perspective but the floats are like 20-30 feet tall! O_O
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-18 05:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 02:22 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you liked them! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 01:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-19 02:23 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you think so. Now to just delete most of the originals off my camera so I am set for next trip. >>;