Walking Iizuka-shuku, a post town on the Nagasaki-kaido

In the afternoon, we had decided to go to Iizuka-shuku (飯塚宿) in the heart of the Iizuka city.  Iizuka-shuku was one of the important post stations (宿場 -shukuba) along the Nagasaki Kaido highway from Kokura to Nagasaki. It is now Honmachi shopping arcade, a covered walkway on the way to Cosmos Common Iizuka multipurpose hall and Iizuka City Library from Nozo Hachiman-gu Shrine.

A monument for the site of east gate in front of the shopping arcade shows at the edge of the old station town.

Like other shopping streets in Japan, the place was so crowded until the 1960s. However, many shops closed recently because of shopping malls opened in the suburbs.

The first thing I saw was the Karakuri clock tower. It'll be play the Japanese folk song every hour.

Once I got out of the arcade and went to a nearby temple, Taiyo-in (太養院).

Then I went to the site of Chaya/Honjin on the hillside of Taiyo-in. It was used by daimyos for the sankin-kotai.

The Iinoyama site opposite of above mentioned place. The Buddhist monk named Seiko who helped rebuilt the Myosho-ji Temple. He asked someone in Taiyo-in to cook their meals, but they made too much. They are piled up cooked rice here. Since then, there is a legend that explains the origin of the name of Iizuka.

After that I went to see the street art of Iizuka-shuku in the Edo period.

I was going to the Aso Sake brewing company where the former Shinto shrine is located, but I don't know where it is. I went straight to the site of west gate.

The journey will continue to Nagasaki.

Visiting Tagawa City Coal Memorial Park

On August 5, we went to the Tagawa City Coal Memorial Park. This park is located on the site of Mitsui Tagawa Coal Mining Plant.

A monument to the birthplace of the Tanko-bushi (炭坑節) folk song.

The Tagawa City Coal Mining Museum shows explained the coal mines in the Chikuho (筑豊) district located in the central part of Fukuoka prefecture, as well as pictures of Sakubee Yamamoto who drawn his work and life at the coal mine. These recorded pictures were registered in UNESCO's World Memory Heritage in May 2011. 

The Ita shaft tower.

Twin chimney shift towers of the Mitsui Tagawa coalmine. There are two boilers below this, and the steam from the boiler was coming out on top.

A restored coal mine house and the Ita shaft tower. The house was closed at the moment.

On the outside of the museum, many large machines such as load headers used for coal mining, excavation, transportation etc. are on display.

A steam locomotive 9600 series used for coal transport in the Chikuho area. He was once a hero of the coal industry in this area in the early 1900s. It is now no longer in use and kept in the train shed.

The Kawara-dake (香春岳) saw mountain is clearly seen from the park.