[Back Post] Kyushu with Momiji, Day 12: A Short & Wet Day in Fukuoka

(This post is currently a work-in-progress.)

Momiji at the preserved section of a hakata-bei at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (on IG).

Back to Fukuoka, which signals the end of our Kyushu road trip. Started the day with a quick breakfast at the Starbucks in Amu Plaza, near Hakata Station. Bought the blue linen shirt dress that I saw at the start of this trip.

Amu Plaza: breakfast at Starbucks, and a new linen shirt dress!

Kushida Shrine

The honden of Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here). To the right of the honden, cranes guard a natural fountain, the waters are said to grant longevity and eternal youth.

Afterwards we went to Kushida Shrine櫛田神社, Fukuoka's guardian shrine. We only had a day in Fukuoka, and this is a must-see spot. It was founded in 757 AD, and is dedicated to Ohatanushi-no-mikoto, the sun kami Amaterasu and her brother Susanoo, the kami of sea and storms.

The Eto Eho Ban at the entrance gate of Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here). The Eto Eho Ban is a large wooden disc carved with the 12 zodiac animals and the 4 cardinal directions, the arrow points to the lucky direction of the year.

The Kushida Shrine is a small shrine, but is beautiful with a lot of details. The most well-known items at the shrine are the Kazari Yamakasa floats that are used during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival (see below), and they're a real sight. But the shrine itself has many other details to explore.

Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

Sake offerings at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here). This sacred bull's head is shiny from the many rubbings it has received from people praying for blessings....

The shrine's honden is flanked by a tachibana橘 orange tree and a yama-zakura山桜 tree (wild cherry). There is some traditional reason for this, but offhand I can't remember what.

The tachibana orange tree at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

The yamazakura tree at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

Next to the honden is a 22m tall ginkgo tree known as the Meoto ginan夫婦銀杏 (husband-and-wife ginkgo). Apparently, there is an annual ritual in autumn called Ginan Otoshi銀杏落とし, where the tree's ginkgo nuts are collected and presented as an offering to the shrine's deities.

The Meoto Ginan (couple ginkgo) tree at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

As mentioned, Kushida Shrine is best known for the Kazari Yamakasa, large floats that are used during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa博多祇園山笠. The Hakata Gion Yamakasa is a summer festival in Hakata that revolves around the Kushida Shrine. (If you're thinking about another summer festival involving large floats that takes place in Kyoto, that would be the Kyoto Gion Matsuri京都祇園祭, which also has its own set of traditions. We've attended that once (posted here), but it was a real downer due to a typhoon.)

The Kazari-yama floats at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

A closer look at the details of the Kazari-yama floats that are used for the Hakata Gion Yamakasa.

The details of the Kazari-yama floats at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

Wonderful details of the Kazari-yama floats of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa at Kushida Shrine. These 13m tall floats depict historical/mytical events of Japan.

Behind the Kazari-yama are a bunch of large stones lined up.

The chikara-ishi, large stones for tests of strength! Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

These chikara-ishi力石 were originally fortune-telling tools. People would lift them to predict the weather or the how the crops would grow. But over time, the meaning of this practice changed, and lifting chikara-ishi came to be seen as tests of strength.

Some American tourists having a go at the chikara-ishi. Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

The o-mikoshi of Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

There is also a small shrine to Inari Okami on the grounds.

The small Inari shrine at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

A short tunnel of vermilion torii at the small Inari shrine on the grounds of the Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (more on IG - here and here).

Further in, on the shrine's grounds, is also a preserved section of a Hakata-bei, a traditional mud wall built of a mixture of clay, and broken tiles and stones.

A preserved section of a hakata-bei at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka (on IG). The hakata-bei is a mud wall made of clay mixed with stones and tiles salvaged from the battlefields during the Sengoku era.

During Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rule of Kyushu, in the late Sengoku era, the Hakata region (Fukuoka today) was in a state of disrepair due to the battles between the clans in the Kyushu campaign. Repairs to the area were made using a mixture of clay, stones and tiles. The tiles were salvaged from the battlefields or destroyed buildings. On the front facing facade, these walls were coated, and thus looked smooth and bare; however, on the reverse, the patterns from the stones and tiles could be seen. Hakata-bei are now a rare sight, as not many remain.

Some early hydrangeas in bloom at Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka.

Hakata Traditional Craft and Design Museum

Quickly popped by the Hakata Traditional Craft and Design Museum. Of the traditional crafts of Hakata on display, most of them were the Hakata ningyo and Hakataori.

Fuku no Kami, made by Nakamura Shinkyo, at the Hakata Traditional Craft and Design Museum, Fukuoka.

There were several lovely Hakata ningyo on display, but no photos were allowed. Except for the large one called Fuku no Kami by Nakamura Shinkyo. According to the exhibit's exposition, Fuku no Kami (the God of Fortune) is a traditional motif of Hakata ningyo. The title Fuku no Kami comes from a Kyogen story from the Okura School, which tells of 2 peasants who pray to Fuku-no-kami at a shrine at the year's end. The god appears before them laughing. He starts to sing as they offer him sake, and after giving them advice on the secret of wealth, he disappears while laughing.

Hakata Traditional Craft and Design Museum, Fukuoka.

Canal City Hakata

Tried to do some shopping but the steady drizzle was really off-putting. At this point of the trip, Hubby was really sick of the constant rain, and getting grumpy. After popping into a couple of pottery stores, we went to Canal City to escape the rain.

Hamley's at Canal City, Fukuoka.

Am not a huge shopper of a fan of large shopping malls, but yes, Canal City is an attraction in its own right. It's certainly a place you can run to on a rainy day, and pretty much stick around for an entire day.

Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen, Shodai Hide-chan, Canal City, Fukuoka (on IG).

For lunch, we popped into Shodai Hide-chan初代 秀ちゃん at the Ramen Stadium. Rich, breamy pork bone base, smooth and thin noodles done al-dente, that oozy egg, and the tender chashu. Can't go wrong. That said, by far the best Hakata-style ramen we ate on this trip had to be Unari at the start.

And then it was time to catch our flight back to Tokyo. It was still raining, but Hub's dark mood lifted considerably because we were heading back to Tokyo, and he really had had enough of the rain.

And then back to Tokyo...

The summer display at Hoshinoya Tokyo.

The last 2 days of this Kyushu road trip was spent in Tokyo: see Day 13~24. Besides the usual visiting folks, shops and what-not, the main focus was really just sushi. (As usual!)

Kyushu with Momiji, May 2019 ✈️ Day 0 • Singapore - Tokyo - Fukuoka 🚗 Day 1. Saga Prefecture (Route) • Yutoku Inari Shrine (Kashima) • Takezaki Kaisan (Tara) • Shiibasansou (Ureshino) 🚗 Day 2. Yame (Route) • Kitaya Brewery • Shutei Gin no Ka • Iwatoyama Kofun • Yame Traditional Craftwork Centre • Yame tea plantations • Yabe no Mori 🚗 Day 3. Kumamoto Prefecture (Route) • Tsuetate Onsen • Nabegadaki Falls • Ikeyama Suigen • Sozankyo 🚗 Day 4. Aso (Route) • Kusasenri • Daikanbo • Akaushidon Iwasaki • KAI Aso 🚗 Day 5. Takachiho (Route) • Takachiho Gorge • Takachiho Shrine • Ama no Iwato Shrine • Ama no Yasugawara Shrine (skipped) • Kunimigaoka (skipped) • Solest Takachiho • Restaurant Nagomi 🚗 Day 6. Aso & Kirishima (Route) • Kusasenri • Ramen Keika, Kumamoto • Kirishima Shrine • Kirishima Hotel 🚗 Day 7. Sakurajima (Route) • 100-Year Cedar Garden • Maruo Falls • Arimura Lava Observatory • Yunohira Viewpoint • Tsukiyomi Shrine • Sakurajima Michi-no-Eki Rest Stop, Hinoshima Megumikan • Karasujima Viewpoint • Nagisa Lava Trail • Nagisa Park Foot Baths • Kurokami Shrine • Kurokami Viewpoint • Sakurajima Ferry • Kagoshima wagyu at Gyu-do! ✈️ Day 8. Yakushima (Route) • Yakusugi Museum • Ryujin no Taki • Senpiro no Taki • Tsukasaki Tidal Pool • Ohko no Taki • Seibu Rindo • Yakushima Seaside Hotel 🚗 Day 9. Yakushima (Route) • Shiratani Unsuikyo • Hachimanju Cha-en ✈️ Day 10. Yakushima & Kagoshima (Route) • Suginoya • Yakushima Airport • Kurobuta tonkatsu at Mansaku, Aira • Miyama District (Miyama Toyukan & Chin Jukan Touen) • Shiroyama Viewpoint • Richmond Hotel Kagoshima Tenmonkan • Ramen Kuroiwa 🚗 Day 11. Kagoshima to Fukuoka (Route) • Sengan-en • Teru-zushi, Kitakyushu 🚅 Day 12. Fukuoka (Route) • Kushida Shrine • Hakata Traditional Craft and Design Museum • Hakata Riverain • Tenpyodo • Iwataya Annex • Canal City Hakata (Shodai Hidechan at Ramen Stadium, Hamleys) ✈️ Day 13. Tokyo • Hoshinoya Tokyo • Shopping • Sushi Nanba Asagaya ✈️ Day 14. Tokyo - Singapore • Sushi Kimura * * *