Walking the Chinese settlement of Nagasaki

In the evening we went to Nagasaki Chinatown. As usual, we bought some "Monkey" Chinese New year goods at Min-min boutique shop there.

The distance between Karatsu and Nagasaki is so far, it takes about 3 hours via national highway. We went through the Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス) Dutch theme park in Sasebo. It reproduced the streets of the Netherlands and a replica of the original Huis Ten Bosch palace in the Hague. After passing through Huis Ten Bosch, we could see the big arch bridges called Saikai Bridges (西海橋 -bashi). The bridge spans the Hario Seto (針尾瀬戸) Straight which is known as the three biggest rapids in Japan. Finally we arrived safely to Nagasaki at 5 o'clock.

We stopped our car in the parking lot in front of stone gates. Here is the entrance of Tojinyashiki-dori (唐人屋敷通り) Street that leads to the Kannaimachi (館内町) settlement area. The Nagasaki Lantern Festival will be held after one week, that's why they already have colorful lanterns in the street.

When the walk just a little bit, you'll see the huge Chinese-style entrance gate to Kannaimachi. The gate, a height of 8.7 meters, has become a new landmark of the area.

The history of Nagasaki Tojinyashiki (唐人屋敷) area

After the isolation of Japan in 1639, the Edo Shogunate avoided exchanges with ordinarily Japanese and foreigners, thus the Shogunate allowed to live foreigners to special zones such as Dejima. They decided Chinese immigrants to move Tojinyashiki area located in a place called in the current Kannaimachi district. Tojinyashiki is almost the whole area of Kannaimachi, and it was completed in 1689. 
The area is twice as large as Dejima (出島), surrounded by a double in a brick wall and arrow bamboo fence. The doorway was installed two gates, Daimon or the main gate and the second one. The entrance to the area had been strictly limited by these gates.

Going up some steep hills, we came into the temple street. The first place we've visited is the Doshindo (土神堂) temple. As the name suggests, it's a temple that was dedicated to the god of earth. It was originally built in 1691 and was rebuilt in 1977.

Next, we went to the Tengodo (天后堂) temple. The immigrants from Nanjing who pray for safety of the voyage, it was dedicated to the god of voyage "Our lady Tin Hau" has to be the origin.

We went further walking to the street, we arrived at the Kannondo (観音堂) temple. The main hall has been enshrined Avalokitesvara and the emperor of Qing. It seen to be founded in 1737 and the current building has been renovated in 1917. There is a very very funny place inside the temple, a nursery school with a swing and slide set!

The last one is the Fukken (福建, Fujian) Hall, built in 1897. It's a rare temple style building with a brilliant wood curving.

The time is already 5:45. We got very hungry, so we had decided to go Chinatown to have dinner. We found a good restaurant at the corner of a busy street, called Shinwaro (新和楼). Delicious food and friendly staff. They have English and Korean menu that would be helpful for international tourists. We want to go there again.

A day at FUK on 11 February 2016, part 2/2016年2月11日福岡空港での飛行機たち（その2）

After having a short break at Seven-eleven convenience store near the airport, I went back to my usual spot on the end of Rwy 16. I was keep going to take pictures of planes takeoff and landing until the sunset.
空港近くのセブンイレブンで休憩後、いつもの撮影場所である滑走路16エンドに戻ってきて日が暮れるまで撮影を続けました。

At 3:54 pm, an All Nippon Airways flight NH257 from Tokyo Haneda was landing and taxiing.
午後3時54分に全日空の東京羽田発ANA257便が着陸＋タキシング。

When the plane was landing, it was coming to the Youme (pronounced as Yu-me) jet special livery. I was amazed to see ANA's special jet.
飛行機が着陸した瞬間になんとゆめジェット塗装機で来ていたのでわくわくしながら見ていました。

At 4:10 pm, a Tiger Air Taiwan flight IT241 to Taipei was taking off.
午後4時10分にタイガーエア台湾のIT241便台北行きが離陸。

At 4:53 pm, an All Nippon Airways flight NH262 to Tokyo Haneda was taking off.
午後4時53分に全日空のNH262便東京羽田行きが離陸。

At 5:30 pm, a V Air flight ZV212 from Taipei was landing and taxiing.
午後5時30分にVエアの台北発ZV212便が着陸＋タキシング。

V Air, a budget airline of Taiwan, began operating a scheduled service between Taipei and Fukuoka to 1 flight per day from 25 January.
去る1月25日から同社は福岡ー台北線を1日1便で就航開始しています。

A day at FUK on 11 February 2016, part 1/2016年2月11日福岡空港での飛行機たち（その1）

Yesterday I went to the airport to see planes takeoff and landing in the afternoon, from 2 to 6 pm. I was successfully caught pictures of two budget airlines of Taiwan, Tiger Air and V Air. The new Taiwanese based low-cost carriers were just coming to Fukuoka from the end of January.
昨日は飛行機を見に行きました。午後2時から6時まで4時間ほどいたのですが、去る1月末から新規就航した台湾のLCC2社、タイガーエア台湾とVエアの捕獲に成功しました。

 Let's start uploading.
それではUPしてゆきます。

At 2:04 pm, a China Eastern Airlines flight MU518 to Shanghai was taking off on Rwy 16.
午後2時04分に中国東方航空の上海行きMU518便が滑走路16から離陸。

3 minutes after, a Korean Air flight KE746 to Seoul was taking off.
3分後に大韓航空のソウル行きKE746便が離陸。

This is a seasonally operated flight offers for a winter time only.
当便は季節運航で冬季スケジュールのみとなっています。

At 2:16 pm, a Juneyao Airlines flight HO1390 to Shanghai was taking off.
午後2時16分に吉祥航空の上海行きHO1390便が離陸。

At 2:37 pm, a Korean Air flight KE789 from Seoul was landing and taxiing.
午後2時37分に大韓航空のソウル発KE789便が着陸＋タキシング。

At 2:59 pm, a Tiger Air Taiwan flight IT240 from Taipei was landing and taxiing.
午後2時59分にタイガーエア台湾の台北発IT240便が離陸＋タキシング。

From 28 January, the airline began operating a scheduled service between Taipei and Fukuoka five times per week expect on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
去る1月28日から同社は福岡ー台北線を水・土を除く週5便で就航開始しています。

Just after the Tiger Air plane was landing, a Dragon Air flight KA380 from Hong Kong was touched down.
タイガーエア機が着陸後すぐに香港ドラゴン航空の香港発KA380便が着陸。

To be continued..
続く..

Old Takatori House, Karatsu

On February 2, we had decided to take a drive to Karatsu and Nagasaki. As usual, we bought some "Monkey" Chinese New year goods at Min-min boutique shop in Nagasaki Chinatown.

Before going to Nagasaki, we want to visit the Old Takatori Family Residence (旧高取邸 kyu-takatori-tei), a traditional Japanese-style house and garden near the Karatsu Castle. Facing the Karatsu Bay, there is about 2300 square meters which was build by Koreyoshi Takatori (高取伊好), the owner of Kishima coal mine in Saga prefecture. It's a valuable building that is the pursuit of style of modern architecture which is a mixture of western and Japanese styles.

Let's take a tour to the main house. A worth seeing is the Noh stage, located in the tatami room. Note that taking photograph is strictly prohibited in the room.

Going up to the second floor, you'll see wonderful views of the Karatsu Bay from there.

After the tour, we moved to Karatsu Castle. We don't have enough time, so we only took pictures of the castle seen from Jonai Bridge.