Hi, how is everyone? I have a bit of free time today at the shop so I had a look through some recent/old photos, and realised that I haven`t yet uploaded the Shimonoseki photos. It`s weird how quickly time seems to be passing by recently, which is probably not a bad thing this year as… Read More Shimonoseki and Mojiko.
A few years ago my wife and I went to Kokura for the day. It`s a big industrial city now and actually it has been since the industrial revolution back in the Meiji Period. Before that, it was a beautiful castle town right at the tip of northern Kyushu overlooking the very important Kanmon Straits.… Read More Kokura Castle, Kitakyushu, Kyushu
I can’t believe that February has gone by so quickly. I’ve been busy preparing for the opening of my new business. My wife and I are going to open a hairdressers and cafe together here in Fukuoka. We are so excited and can’t wait to open which should be at the beginning of May. Anyway,… Read More Yanagawa – City of Canals, Fukuoka
I recently visited Yamaguchi Prefecture and found out that the first Christmas ever celebrated in Japan was right there. During the Christmas holidays I watched the movie ‘Silence’ so I decided to dig a little deeper. Searching for more information I came across this article. It’s well written, thus I would like to share it… Read More First Christmas in Japan, 1552
The end of this semester is nearly here. I have no lessons today but I still have to be here at school for the closing ceremony. So I have a few hours to spare. One of my friends came to Fukuoka recently and we went to Dazaifu and Onojo together.. I’d like to share with… Read More Ancient Dazaifu, Fukuoka
The DR30 Skyline is one of the most iconic cars in the 1980s. This restored DR30 looks like it just came out of the factory, but even better as it has modern technology keeping it alive. Brake calipers have been thoroughly overhauled at the restore. The DR30 has been out of production for 30… Read More Nissan DR30 Skyline RS-Turbo
Iwaya castle ruins sits within Onojo fortress ruins. Onojo fortress dates back to the 7th century making it probably the oldest fortification in Japan. Iwaya castle dates back to the 16th century. Finding information about Iwaya castle has been virtually impossible. I searched both Japanese and English. However, I must say on thing that really… Read More Iwaya castle ruins-Shimazu and Toyotomi samurai battles. Fukuoka, Kyushu.
I live only 15 minutes by car away from Onojo. The mountain , Mt Shioji is easily seen from where I live as it dominates the eastern side of Fukuoka city. I have visited Onojo ruins twice now. The first time was an unscheduled visit for just a short time and the second time a… Read More Ono castle (Onojo) ruins, Fukuoka.
Mysterious Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita Prefecture, Kyushu The Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita is one of those rare regions in Japan that is untouched. It is a place of misty mountains and valleys, old forests, rivers and, excuse my French, a crap load of temples. For a visitor to the region, its remoteness is a blessing but… Read More Kunisaki Peninsula, Oita, Kyushu
I finally got around to editing the photos from my trip to Oita earlier this year. Here is Nakatsu castle. It’s not a bad castle to visit. Lots of history here too. It’s small enough to walk around in about an hour and the museum inside is alright. Not enough English unfortunately. For me, the… Read More Nakatsu Castle, Oita, Kyushu
Now for the final photos of the cars on track. Took a little while to process them but I’m excited to finally show them to you. Rain about lap number 40 really made its mark in the race. I was up at the hairpin at that time and got some nice photos of the car… Read More Autobacs 2019 Super GT, Autopolis, Oita, Kyushu – On track pictorial
Pictorial of my pit walk from the Super GT race in Autopolis 2019. Captions added. Photos by Stuart
I went to Autopolis last weekend to watch the Autobacs SuperGT race. It was a great day despite being really hot and humid. I took a lot of photos and I’m going to start off with the grid girls. Enjoy
Last May a friend of mine (Audrey) from Australia came to Fukuoka and we had a chance to meet up for dinner. It was great to speak to another Aussie again. She has her own blog which I’d like to introduce here. During her time in Fukuoka she did some research into ‘shotengai’ and ‘yatai’. … Read More Shotengai in Japan: Nostalgic, Atmospheric Streets Crammed with Cheap, Delicious Eats
Despite Fukuoka castle being one of the all time great castles of Japan (I’m a bit biased as I live in Fukuoka) there is not a whole lot of research material in English about it. Wikipedia has quite a nice write-up, but as we don’t know who the author is, it is not usually used… Read More History of Fukuoka Castle
Thankyou to the new people who have followed me. I hope you can enjoy Japan as much as I do. Every spring the little town of Arita is host to one of the biggest ceramics festivals in Japan. But Arita is not about pottery, the surrounding town and environment is stunning, so let’s dive in.… Read More Arita/Imari Pottery, Saga, Kyushu
Yoshinogari is a a large moated town from the Yayoi Period (300BC-300AD). The Yoshinogari Yayoi ruins were found in 1986 while surveying for a new industrial site. Luckily this was put on hold and a 3 year excavation began. The site uncovered the largest Yayoi village ever found in Japan. The village is thought to… Read More Yoshinogari – Historical Yayoi Park, Saga, Kyushu
I visited Akizuki castle ruins last Thursday. It was a nice drive from Fukuoka. The region of Asakura city quite historic and is famous for fruit picking and onsens. I haven’t done a lot of research of the area as yet. The castle is more like an estate, similar to Nijo-jo but not as big.… Read More Akizuki Castle Town, Asakura, Fukuoka.
Scanning photos today I found another early map of Fukuoka. I think I took this in the archaeology center in Fukuoka. I labelled some of the main points we know today. I think it was made after 1603 as Fukuoka castle is clearly visible. According to my earlier post, the population of Fukuoka at that… Read More Early map of Fukuoka city c.1600
Last summer I went to Beppu for a few days. Unfortunately as the trip drew closer Kyushu was hit by a bloody typhoon. The typhoon passed but we were still on the back end of the weather so it rained for most of the time 😦 Anyway here are some photos of the 2 day… Read More Welcome to hell! Beppu Jikoku, Oita.
