Fukuoka

I had been to Fukuoka from 13-15th in May on business.
My customer has a data center in Fukuoka, I maintained the customer's computer.

Fukuoka is the largest city in Kyushu, it takes 1 hour and a half hours from Tokyo by airplane.
Fukuoka airport is near the downtown. It takes a few minutes from airport to downtown by subway. It is rare case in Japan.
And Fukuoka is nearer South Korea than Tokyo.
Google Maps for Fukuoka

I forgot to bring my digital camera, so I took pictures by the camera on my cell phone.
Therefore they are not too beautiful...

Here is Tenjin. Tenjin is the downtown of Fukuoka.
There are a lot of shopping center in this area, and many people visit to here.


Fukuoka is famous about the Hakata ramen.
Ramen is originally Chinese noodle, but the taste has been developed as Japanese food.
So you cannot eat ramen in China.
This is Ichiran, a famous ramen restaurant in Fukuoka.



The Japanese loves ramen.
There are a lot of ramen restaurant in Japan, and the taste is different in each region.
The people who are waiting to eat are making a long row in front of the famous ramen restaurant.
If you come to Japan, please try to eat it!

Yokohama

When I was a student, I lived in Yokohama for 6 years.
Yokohama is a big city near Tokyo, and it takes 30 minutes from Tokyo to Yokohama by train.
Therefore I sometimes go to Yokohama on private and business.
The final of the soccer World Cup, "Korea-Japan", was held in Yokohama in 2002.
Google Maps for Yokohama

This is a night view of the water front in Yokohama.
The highest biuldings in this picture is "Landmark Tower".
"Landmark Tower" is the highest buildings in Japan. This tower has about 70 floors.
High-rise buildings in Japan are fewer than the other countries, because there are a lot of earthquake in Japan. There is "Yokohama Loyal Park Hotel" in the upper floor of this tower.


This is the view of that hotel. It's very beautiful!
I recommend stay this hotel when you come to Japan.

Shirakawa-go, Takayama

I went to "Shirakawa-go" village and Takayama city in Sep. 2009.
Shirakawa-go and Takayama is in Gifu prefecture.
Gifu is near Nagoya.
Google Maps for Gifu

Shirakawa-go is the old village. It is a world heritage.
There are many old houses in this village.
These old houses have big, sharp thatched roofs.
In this area, It's snowy in winter, so these roofs guard houses against snow.


About 100-200 years ago, we could see such a old house at the country in Japan,
but we cannot see it recently. The yellow fields are rice fields. It's very beautiful.



This is "Jinya" in Takayama. "Jinya" was a public office in the Edo period.


There is a old town in Takayama.
There are a lot of souvenir shops and tea shops in this street, so many people come here.

What is this?

This is a sign of a liquor shop. It's strange shape...

Himeji castle

I went to Himeji castle in March 2010.
Himeji castle is a big samurai castle in Himeji city.
Google Maps for Himeji city

There are many old buildings which were built in the 16-17th century in this castle.
The Japanese old castles were built with wood, so many castles were burnt down due to a fire in World War II. Hemeji castle is the largest castle in the existence old castles in Japan and it is the world heritage.


The central buildings is called "Tenshukaku". We can enter the "Tenshukaku".


This is the Himeji downtown view from "Tenshukaku".

Toyama, Kanazawa, Fukui

There is the "Golden Week" consecutive holidays in Japan in May.
I had been to Toyama, Kanazawa, Fukui during these holidays.
These cities are in the Hokuriku region in Japan and It's very snowy in winter.
Google Maps for the Hokuriku region


This is "Yuki no Otani" in Toyama.
"Yuki no Otani" is in the altitude about 2500 meter of Mt. Tateyama.

"Yuki" means snow in Japanese and "Otani" means a big valley.
There are very big snow walls in this area and the max height of the snow is about 15 meter!
Have you seen such huge snow walls?


This is "Kenroku-en" garden in Kanazawa.

"Kenroku-en" is one of the most famous traditional gardens in Japan.
Kanazawa is a historical city and there are many traditional buildings and temples in this city.

This is the beautiful coutyard of "Nomura-ke" which is the samurai residence.



In Fukui, There is a big temple, "Eiheiji".
Eiheiji temple is famous about a monk practicing asceticism.


-- Itinerary --
4/28
Saitama(my hometown) -> Tonami tulipe flower park in Toyama by car
I stayed at Tateyama International Hotel.

4/29
Tateyama Sta. -> Murodo Sta.(Yuki no Otani) -> Tateyama Sta. by cable car and bus
Tateyama Sta. -> Amaharashi Coast(View spot for Mt. Tateyama) -> Unaduki Onsen by car
I stayed at Unaduki Grand Hotel.

5/1
Unaduki Onsen -> Keyakidaira -> Unaduki Onsen by truck
Unaduki Onsen -> Kanazawa(Kenroku-en, Kanazawa castle) by car
I stayed at Kanazawa NewGrand Hotel Annex.

5/2
Kanazawa -> Eiheiji -> Tojinbo(a beautiful cape) -> Saitama