Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2008 4:58 PM
Well, a large part of the group went to Seoul yesterday, and I decided to give Hakata a good look. Having used Hakata mainly as a stop-over to visit Kagoshima, Nagasaki et al (I stayed in Hakata only once once for a few days back in 2006, but used that period mostly to visit other cities on Kyushu), it was time to see what the city had to offer.
Since most of the touristy spots can be reached on foot, I went walking with a map in hand.
I visited Canal City, explored Tenjin and the area's around and looked around in and around the train station.
Canal City likes to refer to itself as a city within a city (which is somewhat overstated if you ask me), and sports a variety of shops (including a Ghibli shop), restaurants and a 13 screen cinema. Its name comes from the small canal that runs through it, and every hour, a show of fountains does its thing, including gushers which reach 5 stories high.
Tenjin lies just around the corner and is largely an office and shopping district.
It's rather amazing to see the huge amount of shops that Japan has. Obviously, a population of 126 million has to get their food, clothes, appliances and things somewhere, but it still baffles me on how a huge underground shopping arcade can survive, next to the shops on street level and above.
Today, I went to the Yoshinogari Ruins.
A huge park has been built on the site where Japanese archaeologists found ruins dating from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D., giving them an insight on how people lived back then. Admission only 400 yen.
Many hands-on workshops are given (I made a small stone jewel) and people are working there, maintaining the park and the buildings. Sometimes in a traditional way, sometimes with modern equipment. I spent over four hours there, walking around and enjoying the view and the exhibitions.
Also managed to make some great pictures, more on that later.
Since our visit to Sakurajima a couple of days ago failed, I intend to return while my Rail Pass is still valid, so that would be either tomorrow or the day after.
Cheers, K.