Panoramic views of the Battleship Island from Nomozaki Narcissus Park

After visiting Toyotamahime Shrine, we wanted to go to the place where we can see the Battleship/Gunkanjima Island. We know Nomozaki Narcissus Park in the Nomozaki area of Nagasaki city. The park's annual narcissus festival will be held between January 6 and 27, with 10 million species of daffodils blooming on the hillside.

The distance between Ureshino and Nomozaki is so far, it takes about 2 hours via Nagasaki Expressway and National Highway 499. And the weather forecast says it will be cloudy in the afternoon. It's getting cloudy near Omura but clear in the Nagasaki city.

We came here at half past one. There is an entrance in front of the special parking lot. From here, we took a walk up to the observation deck.

When we went up the stairs, we finally met the island shaped like a battleship.

 A close up view of the island is like this.

After that we went to the Eastern observation deck.

Before going to Nagasaki, we went to the Gunkanjima Museum next to the narcissus park. At the museum, we saw a 4K short film of history of the Hashima Island coal mine between the late Meiji and the mid-Showa periods.

Toyotamahime Shrine, Ureshino

After visiting Zuiko-ji, we went to a nearby spot, Toyotamehime-jinja (豊玉姫神社) Shinto shrine. The shrine is famous for its catfish statue who is an errand of Toyotama-hime, the daughter of Watatsumi, a god of the sea.

There are two ways to go to the shrine; either from the main entrance in front of the Taisho-ya Ryokan hotel or the back entrance on the roadside. If you're from the hot spring town, you walk down the shopping street and find the stone torii gate in front of the hotel. There's a bilingual sign that shows the way to get the catfish temple. It is very helpful for us.

Crossing the Saga Prefectural Road 303, you'll see the second torii.

Now we're going down a narrow path to the main shrine.

Finally we came to the shrine. We prey for the family of health and welfare.

The statue of catfish in front of the main shrine.

 This is the one that makes you beautiful.

I looked back on the main street from the shrine. 

Zuiko-ji, a Buddhist temple in Ureshino, Saga

On January 19, we had decided to take a drive to see the Battleship/Gunkanjima Island in Nagasaki. As usual, we bought some "Pig" Chinese New year goods at Min-min boutique shop in Nagasaki Chinatown.

Before going to Gunkanjima, we went to Zuiko-ji (瑞光寺), a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai sect in Central Ureshino. This temple was built by the Ureshino family of the Nabeshima clan (perhaps?) who ruled the area during the Muromachi period. Later it moved to the present location, and was used as a Honjin (本陣) where only allow the Daimyos to stay in this place.

The entrance gate of Zuiko-ji.

Crossing the stone arch bridge, we'll see a Sanmon or the temple gate. 

Next to the temple gate, there is a 800 year-old camphor tree that grows straight up.

We saw the Jizodo prayer hall on the way.

The main temple.

A beautiful small garden and stone lantern in front of the main temple.

After that we went to a nearby spot, Toyotamahime-jinja (豊玉姫神社) Shinto shrine.

Delta Airlines discontinue flights to Fukuoka

According to Nishinippon Shinbum, a local news paper in Fukuoka Prefecture, reported today that Delta Airlines will take the Honolulu - Fukuoka route out of service on May 8.

The airline began operating a scheduled service to Fukuoka in December 2011. Although their current load factor is not too bad, however it will be decided to suspend the service because of considering the most effective utilization of aircraft. This route is currently operated 5 flights a week.

In the past there were direct flights between two cities by Japan Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Northwest Airlines, but they are gone now.

Thinking about international flights from Fukuoka

A Happy New Year to everyone!

Today I would like to think about international flights at Fukuoka after privatization.

The summary is as follows.

On May 16, 2018, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) announced that it will be privatized the airport from April 1 this year. The ministry decided to entrust the operating rights to a private sector company, Fukuoka Airport Holdings Corporation established by local enterprises such as the Nishi-Nippon Railroad company (Nishitetsu), the Kyushu Electric Power company and a consortium company consist of the Changi International Airport Group of Singapore and Mitsubishi Corporation.

According to the plan, it will be strengthened for international flights; both the number of routes and passengers are planned to increase to up to 3 times more than now. Currently, there are 18 international routes from the airport, mainly in East and Southeast Asian directions. It will be shown that it is an intention to expand to 26 routes by 2023. In 2048, it will finally be increased the number of flights to around the world, Europe, North America and so on.

Furthermore, they will be established a new department specialized in attracting foreign airlines. Not only to conduct business activities both Japan and abroad in corporation with the sales base of the Changi Airport Group, but it will also be establish new routes by making effective discounts on landing fees which can be said to be the great advantage of privatization.

In addition, regarding corporation with Kitakyushu Airport, they will support as a role of complement with the current function of Fukuoka Airport e.g. guiding an airline company that wants early morning and late night flights, attracting cargo flights, and supporting freight handing to support cargo bases.
==
I agree with their long-term plans to extend the routes of East and Southeast Asian countries which is the best use of Fukuoka's geographical advantage. But at this time, there are only budget airlines launch a new service to Fukuoka especially the Korean one. They like to travel to Fukuoka and Kyushu on their vacation because it is cheap. On the other hand, however, some full service carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas and others have been take out of service. The another example is KLM, a dutch based company. KLM is the first airline to offer direct flights between Fukuoka and Europe in April 2013. However, it was suspended for less than three years due to the deterioration of the route condition and the fact that the exchange rate of Japanese yen caused a negative result of route revenue.

Dispute of the fact that the airport side still intends to establish a LCC terminal on the south of the International Terminal. They said it is the most cost effective way to travel across the country and abroad. Is it really necessary for us? The airport company will have to consider what is most convenient for us after privatization.