{"id":105592,"date":"2017-12-14T15:20:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T06:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?p=105592&lang=en"},"modified":"2017-12-21T11:30:36","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T02:30:36","slug":"chikugo-now-tour-nov-2017-small-town-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/chikugo-now-tour-nov-2017-small-town-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Chikugo Now! Tour Nov. 2017 – Small Town Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is there to explore in the periphery of Fukuoka? With this question in mind, we kicked off our day trip to Chikugo, the southernmost region of the prefecture. Organized in cooperation with local governments and Fukuoka Now, one aim of the trip was to see what makes a successful tour away from central Fukuoka for foreign travellers. As one of the twenty-one international participants on this trip, here is my recollection of our full-packed day.<\/p>\n

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World Heritage Sites in Omuta City<\/strong><\/p>\n

After an early meet-up in Tenjin, we hopped to the bus heading to our first destination, Omuta City. It became known as the home of two World Heritage Sites, the Miike Port<\/a> and Miyanohara Pit<\/a> at the Miike coal mines. Each of them played a role in the Meiji period of industrialization spanning across Japan in 19th century, right after the Edo period. It was interesting hearing how some of the technologies were purposely sought from the West, resulting to port and mine structures that reminded me of the equivalent scenes in the UK. Imagining how the mines were set up and operated was easy, thanks to the multilingual tablets that were provided. The tablets also included VR (virtual reality) images of the area in addition to photo and audio explanations. The realism was uncanny!<\/p>\n

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At each location, we were given detailed presentations of the history in the area. For example, we learnt that a 1908 stone wall at the end of the hummingbird shaped port area was used to control water levels to allow larger ships to enter. On the way back, we were also introduced to some coal inspired snacks in Omuta area, including \u201cblack\u201d ice cream, bread and mint sweets.<\/p>\n

Cruising through Yanagawa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our next stop was at the city of Yanagawa<\/a>, sometimes referred to as the \u201cVenice of Kyushu\u201d due to the popularity of its canal cruises. In traditional Japanese style, we took off our shoes and wrapped into pre-provided blankets while sailing through the canal spreading across the city. It was already late autumn, but we could still spot some trees changing colors. We passed by a mix of locations on the way, including a miso factory, a floating kiosk, launching area for wedding boats, a large vintage clothing market and some famous residences, including one where Yoko Ono\u2019s (wife of John Lennon) grandfather once lived. Threading through various bridges, listening to the stories and songs of the oarsmen, spotting exotic birds and waving back to locals passing by made this cruise my personal highlight of this trip.<\/p>\n

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