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Kanmon Strait Museum
You can learn about the history, culture, and nature of the Kanmon Straits, but it’s also a museum like a game center that both adults and children can enjoy. The Kanmon Strait Museum is a hands-on tourist facility located in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, an 8 minute-walk from JR Mojiko Station, where visitors can enjoy the entire Kanmon Straits. The museum introduces the history, culture, and nature of the Kanmon Straits through visual and interactive experiences. The five-story Kanmon Strait Museum is divided into a paid zone and a free zone; the observation deck on the 5th floor is free of charge, and the Promenade Deck (free of charge) […]
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Moji Red Brick Place
Mojiko Retro District is not the only place with red brick buildings. The nearest station to Mojiko Red Brick Place is Moji Station, not Mojiko Station. Moji Red Brick Place is a complex located in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, a 3-minute walk from JR Moji Station, using the former Kyushu factory of Sapporo Beer, and includes a museum, gallery, restaurant, etc. Speaking of red-brick buildings in Kitakyushu City, the Mojiko Retro District, an area centering on JR Mojiko Station, is famous, and Mojiko Red Brick Place is another tourist spot where brick buildings remain as well. The former Kyushu factory of Sapporo Beer operated as a beer brewery until […]
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Kanmon Tunnels
It makes me nervous to think that I am walking in the undersea tunnel of Kanmon Straits. The Kanmon Tunnels are undersea tunnels that connect the Honshu side (Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) and the Kyushu side (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture). Three Kanmon Tunnels penetrate under the seabed of the Kanmon Straits: the Kanmon Railway Tunnel for the Sanyo Main Line (conventional railway), the Kanmon Roadway Tunnel for the road (National Highway No. 2), and the Shin-Kanmon Tunnel for the Sanyo Shinkansen Bullet Train. The Kanmon Roadway Tunnel is also equipped with the tunnel for pedestrians. The first Kanmon Tunnel connecting Honshu and Kyushu was the Kanmon Railway Tunnel, opened in […]
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Mojiko Station
Mojiko Station, a station with a Starbucks with a Taisho era atmosphere JR Mojiko Station is the starting point of the Kyushu Railway (JR Kyushu) Kagoshima Main Line in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The Mojiko Station building was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1988, so Kitakyushu City has been developed a tourist area called Mojiko Retro, which also utilizes historical buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the area surrounding Mojiko Station. JR Mojiko Station opened in 1891 (Meiji 24) as Moji Station (hereinafter referred to as former Moji Station), the starting station of the former Kyushu Railway. (The former Kyushu Railway was nationalized […]
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Mekari Shrine
In Seicho Matsumoto’s novel “Manners and Customs at time,” the culprit uses the ritual at Mekari Shrine to set up an alibi. Mekari Shrine is located in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, at the northernmost tip of Kyushu (in Mekari Park). It is the setting for Seicho Matsumoto’s novel “Manners and Customs at time,” and is famous for the Mekari Shinto ritual held early in the morning on New Year’s Day of the lunar calendar. There is a literary monument of Seicho Matsumoto in the precincts of the shrine. According to shrine legend, the shrine was founded in the 9th year of the Emperor Chuai era (200 AD) by Empress […]
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Mekari Park
Recommended sightseeing spots in Mekari Park Mekari Park is located at the western edge of Setonaikai National Park, in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, the northernmost part of Kyushu, it is an urban park that developed in the area of Mt. Kojo (altitude about 175m), where the ruins of Moji Castle are located. It is also close to Mojiko Retro District. Its total area is 37.1 ha. The vast park also includes a waterfront area with up-close views of the Kanmon Straits, the Kanmon Bridge and passing ships. Mekari Park has the “Second Observation Deck” that offers a spectacular view of the Kanmon Straits and Kanmon Bridge. From the Second […]
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Kyushu Railway History Museum
Kyushu Railway History Museum, where you can see famous trains of the past and feel like a driver at the miniature railroad park. The Kyushu Railway History Museum is a railway museum located in the birthplace of the Kyushu Railway in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The former Kyushu Railway was established in 1888 (Meiji 21), and the Kyushu Railway History Museum utilizes the headquarters building that was constructed in 1891 (Meiji 24). It consists of three areas: the main building, rolling stock exhibition space, and mini railway park. The late Leiji Matsumoto, a manga artist connected to Kitakyushu City, was the honorary director of the Kyushu Railway History Museum. […]
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Mojiko Retro District
Summary of major buildings in the Mojiko Retro District from the era when it flourished due to foreign trade Mojiko Retro is a sightseeing area that blends old and new buildings by utilizing buildings from the period when the area around JR Mojiko Station in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture prospered from foreign trade (late 19th to early 20th century) while developing hotels and commercial facilities with a Taisho Retro style. By the way, Taisho Roman is a culture that flourished during the Taisho era (1912-1926), a mixture of Japanese and Western styles. The following is an explanation of the major buildings in the Mojiko Retro District. These buildings are […]
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Sightseeing spots in Mojiko
Summary of sightseeing in Mojiko, a port town with an atmosphere of Taisho Roman and Showa Modern Mojiko is an area centered around Mojiko Station in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Famous as a tourist destination, the area retains the atmosphere of an old port town with its coastal warehouses and historical buildings. Although the area is now part of Kitakyushu Port and there is no port named “Moji Port,” the name is derived from the area where Moji Port used to be and Mojiko Station, a key point of transportation in the region. Moji Port is written and pronounced Mojiko (門司港) in Japanese. Taisho Roman and Showa Modern refers […]
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Cormorant fishing
I don’t know how the cormorants feel, but I think they probably enjoy catching fish. Rather, humans are more attentive so that the cormorants can catch fish comfortably. Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method that uses trained cormorants to catch river fish such as sweetfish (ayu). Cormorant fishing is called “Ukai” in Japanese. Cormorant fishing has a long history, with clay figures depicting cormorant fishing excavated from ancient tombs in Gunma Prefecture dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries. Cormorant fishing is mentioned in Japan’s oldest history books, “Kojiki” and “Nihon Shoki”, and in the Chinese history book “Suishu (Book of Sui)” (7th century), cormorant fishing in Japan […]