Media Tour (Fukuoka) Tourism Branding & Cruise Promotion Section, Economy, Tourism & Culture Bureau, Fukuoka City [email protected]

Media Tour (Fukuoka) Tourism Branding & Cruise Promotion Section, Economy, Tourism & Culture Bureau, Fukuoka City Kanko-Cruise.EPB@City.Fukuoka.Lg.Jp

【Reservation】 Media tour (Fukuoka) Tourism Branding & Cruise Promotion Section, Economy, Tourism & Culture Bureau, Fukuoka City [email protected]

Outline

Tour Name Experience Authentic History: Hakata Shrines and Temples

Area Central Fukuoka (Hakata Old Town Area)

Day before and day of matches (when held in Fukuoka) September 25, 2019 (Wednesday) , September 26, 2019 (Thursday) , Tour date and time October 1, 2019 (Tuesday) , October 2, 2019 (Wednesday) , October 11, 2019 (Friday) , October 12, 2019 (Saturday)

Hakata Old Town is a district within walking distance of Hakata Station that retains a picturesque streetscape. The area to the east of Taihaku Dori is dotted with historic shrines and temples that speak to Hakata’s medieval commerce with continental Brief introduction of Tour Asia. It has plenty of sights including one of Japan’s biggest Buddha statues. This course is recommended for those who wish to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy walking in places with traditional architecture and character. This course will take approx. 2-3 hours by walking. Please reserve in advance

Day before and day of matches (when held in Fukuoka) September 25, 2019 (Wednesday) , September 26, 2019 (Thursday) , Apply by October 1, 2019 (Tuesday) , October 2, 2019 (Wednesday) , October 11, 2019 (Friday) , October 12, 2019 (Saturday)

Conditions to participate Show your official media accreditation pass to go on the trip

Maximum/minimum No. of participants Minimum number of participants / One person

Tour course introduction

Start time Place

The Hakata Sennen-no Mon, or Hakata Thousand Year Gate, was built to welcome visitors to the Temple Town area. The 2-3 Hours gate was named to acknowledge Hakata’s long history, and to Course pray for continued prosperity over the next 1,000 years. In Hakata Sennen-no Mon addition to its grand appearance, the gate is filled with details https://yokanavi.com/spot/64988/ (Hakata Thousand Year Gate) Any time symbolic of Hakata, such as the use of wood from a thousand- (negotiable) year-old camphor tree donated by Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine and carved openwork featuring a pattern called kenjo-gara found in local Hakata textiles. Photo: Fukuoka city Jotenji Temple was built in 1242. The 13th-century monk Enni, who founded Jotenji Temple, is said to have brought back the skills to make udon and soba noodles and manju cakes when he returned from Song dynasty China, and thus the area is known as the birthplace of those Jotenji Temple foods in Japan. https://yokanavi.com/spot/26915/ The temple is also the originator of the Hakata Gion Yamagasa festival, held in July every year, during which a sacred path is established in front of the temple. Crowds gather there to watch the Yamagasa floats being carried around the area as part of a Photo: Fukuoka city dedication ritual. At 10.8 meters in height, the Fukuoka Great Buddha enshrined at Tochoji Temple is Japan’s largest wooden statue of a seated Buddha. The statue’s nimbus features two rows of 7 and 13 Buddha images, with a further 5,000 small Buddha images on the wall to the back, creating a very impressive presence. Tochoji Temple https://yokanavi.com/spot/26928/ There is also an opening in the base of the statue to a passageway representing the path from hell to heaven. The pathway inside, decorated in “hell picture scrolls,” leads into darkness. If you use the handrails to proceed further, you will Photo: Fukuoka city find an image of heaven at the end bathed in a subtle light. This Zen temple, of the Rinzai school’s Daitokuji sect, was built by a monk called Getsudo Soki in 1316. The temple was lost in a fire during the Tensho Period (1573- 1591). It was rebuilt in its present location after Kuroda Nagamasa, the first lord of the old Fukuoka Domain, took Myorakuji Temple https://yokanavi.com/spot/26934/ control of the area. The temple graveyard contains the tombs of senior vassals who served the Kuroda family as well as the tomb of Kamiya Sotan, the wealthy merchant who helped to revive the town of Hakata after it had been laid to waste during Japan’s Waring States period. This museum displays the old daily life and culture of Hakata in the Meiji and Taisho periods (1868 to 1926), focusing especially on urban houses (machiya) of that era. The exhibition hall features a video showing the intensity of the Hakata Machiya Folk Museum Hakata Gion Yamagasa festival, which is a big part of the local https://yokanavi.com/spot/26812/ culture. You can also enjoy a lesson about the Hakata dialect or take a look at a miniature town representing Hakata’s good- old days. Demonstrations of Hakata’s traditional handicrafts are also given. Photo: Fukuoka city This shrine is dedicated to three gods: Ohatanushi-no-mikoto, Amaterasu-omikami, and Susanowo-no-mikoto. According to tradition, the shrine was established in 757, when Emperor Koken was on the throne, as a branch of Kushida Shrine of Ise province (in present-day Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture). The Kushida Shrine https://yokanavi.com/spot/26906/ current main building of the shrine was built in 1587 with a donation from Toyotomi Hideyoshi to help rebuild Hakata following the devastation of the Warring States period. The Hakata Gion Yamagasa festival, widely known as a summer Photo: Fukuoka city feature of Hakata, makes a dedication to this shrine. 【Reservation】 Media tour (Fukuoka) Tourism Branding & Cruise Promotion Section, Economy, Tourism & Culture Bureau, Fukuoka City [email protected]

Outline

Tour Name Nature in Fukuoka

Area Nokonoshima Area

To get to Nokonoshima Island, first take the Nishitetsu Bus from Tenjin or Hakata to the Passenger Terminal, and then take the 10-minute Brief introduction of Tour ride on the Municipal Ferry. Nokonoshima is a popular spot enjoyed by tourists for its beautiful nature and many breathtaking views. Why not escape from the urban bustle and refresh your mood with a trip to an outlying island?

Conditions to participate Show your official media accreditation pass to go on the trip

Maximum/minimum No. of participants Minimum number of participants / One person

Tour course introduction

Start time Place

This facility located adjacent to the Nokonoshima Island ferry landing combines a tourist information center with a cafe 3-5 Hours serving light meals. Course It has a shop selling fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the Nokonoichi https://yokanavi.com/spot/77113/ island, along with gifts and processed goods, and also offers Any time bicycles for rent. (negotiable) The cafe space offers light meals and snacks such as the locally famous “Noko Burger” and soft ice cream. Photo: Fukuoka city

This nature park of about 150 thousand square meters is filled with blossoming flowers such as cherry, canola flowers, and cosmos all year round. The riot of flower colors contrasting with the blue of Hakata Nokonoshima Island Park Bay is just magnificent. There are restaurants, a barbeque https://yokanavi.com/spot/26801/ house, and the Fureai Petting Zoo where visitors can get close to animals. At Omoide-dori, a small replicated traditional town, you can buy inexpensive sweets and toys that were common in old Japan. Photo: Fukuoka city 【Reservation】 Media tour (Fukuoka) Tourism Branding & Cruise Promotion Section, Economy, Tourism & Culture Bureau, Fukuoka City [email protected]

Outline

Tour Name Enjoy Nature in Fukuoka Course

Area Shikanoshima Area

Surrounded by beautiful seas and sandy beaches, Shikanoshima is one of Japan’s few islands connected to the mainland by land bridge. It is also an island with a very long history, reflected by the fact that it was the place of discovery of a golden seal that denoted exchange Brief introduction of Tour with ancient China. Why not come enjoy some delicious local seafood and take a walk along a resort-like beach while pondering the fascination of the ancient past? Day before and day of matches (when held in Fukuoka) September 25, 2019 (Wednesday) , September 26, 2019 (Thursday) , Apply by October 1, 2019 (Tuesday) , October 2, 2019 (Wednesday) , October 11, 2019 (Friday) , October 12, 2019 (Saturday)

Conditions to participate Show your official media accreditation pass to go on the trip

Maximum/minimum No. of participants Minimum number of participants / One person

Tour course introduction

Start time Place

This shrine is dedicated to three gods of the sea (sokotsu- watatsumi , nakatsu-watatsumi, and uwatsu-watatsumi). The surrounding area was the home of the Azumi, a powerful clan in ancient times who governed fishermen. As attested by a 3-5 Hours monument on the shrine grounds inscribed with a poem from Course Japan’s oldest extant collection of poetry, the shrine’s gods Shikaumi Shrine have long been worshipped as guardians of the sea. The shrine https://yokanavi.com/spot/26911/ Any time houses an ancient Korean bell (a nationally designated (negotiable) important cultural property) and a casting mold for bronze blades (a prefectural cultural property) while on the grounds there is a Buddhist stone pagoda. Three festivals that are held at this shrine are designated as prefectural intangible folk cultural properties (hoshasai, yamahomesai, and miyukishinji ). Photo: Fukuoka city

This is said to be the place where, in 1784, a peasant named Jinbei discovered under a big stone a gold seal (kin-in) that is now believed to have been bestowed by a Chinese emperor upon a Japanese envoy visiting in the year 57 AD. The park overlooks Cape Yara across the shore on Nokonoshima Island. At the park’s entrance is a monument to Kin-in Park the discovery of the gold seal. Inside the park is a stone tablet https://yokanavi.com/spot/26826/ representing an ancient map of East Asia as well as a monument engraved with a poem by Guo Moruo, a Chinese historian and poet who had deep ties with Fukuoka. The romantic scenery viewed from this park is reminiscent of the ancient time of Himiko, a shamaness-queen of Japan’s antiquity.

This restaurant with an attached inn was established over sixty years ago. It became famous for healthy dishes using local ingredients and self-harvested rice. It is not necessary to spend the night Hamakoya https://yokanavi.com/spot/27124/ to use the restaurant, which offers such popular dishes as the kaisen chirashi (seafood chirashi sushi plate) and the kama- meshi bowl with sazae (turban shell [a large sea snail]), which the island is famed for.

This beach overlooks Genkai Island from the north west of Shikanoshima Island. A carpet of grass and beautiful green 3-5 Hours Katsuma Beach pine grove on the beach contrast with the blue ocean. The https://yokanavi.com/spot/27000/ Course beach is easily accessed from a parking lot that has space for 300 cars. Photo: Fukuoka city