Visiting Sofuku-ji Zen temple, Nagasaki

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

Before that we went to Sofuku-ji (崇福寺) Zen temple. It's my favorite Chinese temple in Nagasaki. 

Welcome to the temple of dragon palace. 

I looked back on the sanmon gate from the top of stone stairways.

When we went up the stairs, we met the colorful temple gate.

Main Hall. It seems quite different from the Japanese temples such as the structure of the building.

Maso-domon (媽祖堂門) or the gate of Chinese sea goddess. By the way, the characteristic of Chinese temples in Nagasaki have mazu hall of ancestors. 

I went through the mazu gate, there is the mazu goddess headpiece. It was made by Chinese traders prayed for voyage safety and worshiped them.

I found a rare bus stop on the way

Do you know funny bus stops in Japan? It's a cute fruit shaped bus stop in Isahaya, Nagasaki. There are five types of bus stops which are made of local specialties such as melon, strawberry, orange, tomato and watermelon, 16 in total. These bus stops are located along National Highway 207 in the old Konagai town area.

I tried to upload some of them.

Melon bus stop

Tomato bus stop

Orange bus stop

Visiting Yutoku-inari Shrine, Kashima, Saga

Next we went to Yutoku Inari Jinja (祐徳稲荷神社), a Shinto shrine located in Kashima, Saga. It's one of the most famous Inari Shrines in Japan.

When I went there more than 20 years ago, there weren't many people like now. The reason why the number of cars and people increased everywhere in Japan was that it became more and more car society.

Yutoku Inari's Romon (楼門). The two gods on the right and left of the tower are finished with Arita-yaki ware, a traditional craft of Saga Prefecture.

Honden (本殿) or the main shrine. A stately main building was settled on a splendid stage of red color painting that would not be defected to the Kyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto.

I went up the stairs to the main shrine.

You can also go to the top of the shrine by elevator, but you have to pay a fee of 300 yen.

Haiden (拝殿) or the hall of worship. We prey for the family of health and welfare. 

A view of the entire shrine from the main hall.

Romon and Iwasaki-sha (岩崎社). According to the website (in Japanese), the great goddess of worship is enshrined as a god of marriage, and in recent years it has been crowded with young women praying for a good marriage.

After that I went to the Okuno-in (奥の院) inner shrines. It's fun to tour the inner sanctuaries and don't forget to pray for your wish! 

Visiting Shiota-shuku (塩田宿), a post town on the Nagasaki-kaido

Before going to Yutoku-inari Shine, we stopped at Shiota-shuku in Ureshino, Saga. Shiota-shuku was flourished as a hub of land and water transport with the Shiota River as the river port. 

It's a beautiful old post town, either there's no telephone pole or electric wire on this road.  

The Nishioka Family Residence. It was a mansion of a merchant who made a rich man in shipbuilding and pottery industries from the Edo period.   

Shida-Yaki Pottery Factory Museum, Ureshino, Saga

On Tuesday, we had decided to take a drive to the Yutoku-inari Jinja Shinto Shrine and Nagasaki. As usual, we bought some "Dog" Chinese New year goods at Min-min boutique shop in Nagasaki Chinatown.

Before going to Yutoku-inari Jinja, we went to the Shida-Yaki Pottery Factory Museum (志田焼の里博物館 Shida-yaki-no-sato Hakubutsukan) in Ureshino, Saga. This was started operation in the Taisho era, liveware such as a brazier was made until it was closed in 1984. It seems that the time has stopped in the retro factory. I don't know when it is now, but it just feels like a craftsman had done work until now. 

There is a pottery museum next to the factory. Here is exhibition and sales of the modern Arita ware on the first floor, the exhibition of contemporary artists' works on the second floor, and the old Shida pottery is on display on the third floor. There are not so many exhibits as I throught, but it is worth a visit.

Boarding on the plane:An Asiana Airlines flight OZ136 on 23 October 2017/2017年10月23日アシアナ航空OZ136便搭乗記

A flight report on OZ136 from Seoul Incheon to Fukuoka. This is the last flight on this travel.
仁川ー福岡間のOZ136便搭乗記です。今回の旅行で最後のフライトです。

Flight info/フライト情報
* Flight number/便名：OZ136
* Origin/出発地：Seoul Incheon/ソウル仁川
* Destination/目的地：Fukuoka/福岡
* Flight time/飛行時間：1 hours and 25 minutes/1時間25分
* Aircraft/機種：Airbus a330-300/エアバスa330-300
* Registration number/機体番号：HL7741

After sightseeing in Seoul, I went back to the airport by taxi. The time is 4:30 pm, it's 90 minutes before departure. I picked up my baggage at the luggage deposit, then checked in at the counter. 
ソウル市内を観光後、タクシーで空港へ戻ってきて出発1時間半前の午後4時30分ごろに着きました。手荷物保管所にて預けたかばんを引き取ってからチェックインカウンターにてチェックイン。

Ending the boarding and immigration procedures, I went to the boarding gate. There were already many passengers waiting there. The scheduled boarding time of my flight is at 5:20 pm. The flight will be boarding at gate 29. No boarding bridge is installed here, so I have to go by bus.
出国審査を終え早速搭乗ゲートへ。そこにはすでにたくさんの乗客たちが待っていました。搭乗開始予定時刻は午後5時20分。今回は沖止めの29番ゲートなのでバスに乗って向かわなければなりません。

After getting off the bus, I get on the plane with a boarding ramp.
バスを降りてからタラップで飛行機に乗り込みます。

The plane left on time. 15 minutes later, it was takeoff on Rwy 33R. This is a fully booked flight, with many Japanese and Koreans getting on board. I was very surprised that many Koreans going to Fukuoka and various places in Kyushu on a trip. They're all individual travel not a tour. The young man sitting next to me was a Korean who was traveling towards Genkai Royal Hotel in Munakata, Fukuoka.
飛行機は定刻通り出発し15分後に滑走路33Rから離陸。当便は満席でした。後で気が付いたのがこれから旅行で福岡や九州各地へ向かう韓国人乗客が多く乗っていたこと。それもツアーではなく個人や少人数ばかりでした。隣に座っていた客も旅行で宗像市の玄海ロイヤルホテルに向かっていた韓国人でした。

Unlike the outbound flight, in-flight entertainment system was the old one, not the latest on-demand system. 
エンタメは行きの便とは異なり古くて最新のオンデマンド方式ではありませんでした。

Meal. Because of just one hour flight, they only gave us Beef Bulgogi with Steamed Rice. It tastes like Bibimbap, mixed vegetables and meats on rice. I love Bulgogi, so I ate it all up. How to eat it right? Put gochujang or a red pepper sauce on it as you like and stir it well.　
機内食。短いフライトだったので牛プルコギのごはん和えのみ。コチュジャンをかき混ぜながら食べましたがとても美味しかったです。わずか1時間弱のフライトでこのようなホットミールを出してくれるのはとてもありがたいことです。

After passing through to the Tsushima Island, the plane will arrive at Fukuoka soon.
対馬を通過後飛行機はまもなく福岡に到着する予定です。

There's no time to relax and enjoy listening to music, the plane was ready for landing. And it was landed on Rwy 16 at 7:22 pm. 
音楽を聴いてリラックスしている時間もなく飛行機は着陸態勢へ。そして午後7時22分に滑走路16へ着陸。

I just answered simple questions from customs officer and ended immediately.
税関申告では簡単な質問に答えただけですぐに終了しました。

It all been done for my 6 days travel. 
The end.
これにて6日間にわたるソウル＋バンコク＋シンガポール旅行が無事終了しました。
終。