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A prefecture of
ceramics colored by the cultures of the Asian Continent. The site of
Yoshinogari Remains featuring a reconstructed ancient colony with a
12-meter tall watchtower
Saga is located in the northwestern part of Kyushu. The shoreline
of the Higashi-Matsu-ura-hanto Peninsula facing the Genkai-Nada (the
Sea of Genkai) is a saw-toothed coast with many outlying islets
sitting in the offing. In the prefecture are many nature-rich places
to visit, like Niji-no-matsubara (Rainbow Pine Grove) with a Japanese
black pine forest arcing 5 kilometers from east to west along Karatsu
Bay. Nanatsu-gama known for a row of sea-eroded caverns created by the
raging waves of the Genkaki-Nada is another place worth visiting.
Thanks to its location facing the Korean Peninsula with the Sea of
Japan in between, Saga was an important point of trade with the
continent and had been influenced by the Chinese and Korean cultures
since early times. Even now, you can witness such influences at places
like the Tashiro-Ota Mound in Tosu City known for an ancient color
picture-decorated grave. The site of Yoshinogari Remains, featuring a
reconstructed complex of a 12-meter tall watchtower and an ancient
colony, is said to be where Yamatai-Koku, a primitive polity of Japan
mentioned in an ancient Chinese history book Gishi-wajin-den, stood,
and has attracted more than 10 million visitors since its discovery in
1989.
Boasting many potteries, Saga has been known as the home of ceramics,
like Arita-yaki, that have grown as chinaware enameled with color
pictures, Imari-yaki and Karatsu-yaki long loved by masters of
ceremonial tea, since Korean-descended potters from the Li Dynasty
opened the first kilns there.
Getting there
An hour and 45 minutes to Fukuoka Airport from Tokyo Haneda
Airport; one hour and 15 minutes from Osaka Itami Airport. Five
minutes from Fukuoka Airport to Hakata Station by subway. Four hours
and 50 minutes to Hakata Station from Tokyo Station by the JR Tokaido-Sanyo
Shinkansen Line; 2 hours and 20 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station.
Thirty-seven minutes to Saga Station from Hakata Station by the JR
Nagasaki Main Line Limited Express.
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Arita and Imari
Arita - Cradle of Porcelain Manufacture in Japan, Imari -
Intermediary for East-West Exchange
Arita, the cradle of porcelain manufacture in Japan, is a quiet
town among mountains, located in a western part of Saga. Ri Sampei
(Korean name, Lee Cham-Pyung), a potter from Korea, discovered a
fine-quality white porcelain mineral in Mt. Arita-Izumi-yama. This
was the beginning of Arita's development into an internationally
known town of porcelain. A monument in memory of Ri Sampei stands in
the Toyama-jinja Shrine, the chief tutelary shrine of Arita.
White-walled houses originating in the 1930's and old Western-style
buildings are still present in Akae-machi where many potters once
lived. At the back of these, there are Tonbai fences made of used
fireproof bricks and old-fashioned potteries. Pottery and porcelain
lovers must visit the Kyushu Toji-bunkakan (ceramic museum), and the
Arita Toji (ceramic) Museum near Arita Station where they can see
exquisite pottery and porcelain pieces.
Imari, located on the coast of Imari Bay lying between the Higashi
Matsu-ura-hanto Peninsula and the Kita Matsu-ura-hanto Peninsula, is
a fine natural port and was once an intermediary for East-West
exchange of porcelain. Remnants of the good old days still exist in
O-kawachiyama, a secluded pottery center in the mountains. In the
17th and 18th centuries, top-quality gift pieces for the Imperial
Court and Shoguns were manufactured there. Accordingly, the
porcelain manufacturing method and potters were under very strict
management.
Getting there
An hour and 45 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Fukuoka
Airport. An hour and 15 minutes from Osaka Itami Airport. Five
minutes by subway from Fukuoka Airport to Hakata Station. Four hours
and 50 minutes from Tokyo Station to Hakata Station by train on the
JR Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines. Two hours and 20
minutes from Shin-Osaka Station. An hour and 30 minutes from Hakata
Station to Arita Station by a Limited Express on the JR Main
Nagasaki Line and Sasebo Line. Twenty minutes from Arita Station to
Imari Station on the Matsu-ura Tetsudo Line.
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Karatsu and Yobuko
Strange-shaped Rocks and Caves Formed By the Power of Raging
Waves - Pottery Center Once Prosperous as a Whaling Base
Karatsu and Yobuko-machi, located on the Higashi Matsu-ura-hanto
Peninsula in a northwestern part of Saga, were prosperous from
ancient times as an important point for trade with Mainland China.
Karatsu has many scenic spots including Niji-no-matsubara stretching
along the coast and the Tategami Rocks and Nanatsu-gama carved by
the raging waves of the sea of Genkai. Nanatsu-gama is a cliff
formed by the raging waves, having a chain of caves called
Kaishokudo at its foot. Sightseeing boats starting from Yobuko go
through some of these caves. Karatsu is also noted for Karatsu
pottery. Most of the forty or so potteries in the city are open to
tourists.
Yobuko was once prosperous as a whaling base. The watchtower for
whales and the memorial monument for captured whales on Ogawa-shima
Island are among the remnants of the heyday of whaling. A well-known
morning market is held at Yobuko Port crowded with regular-service
vessels and fishing boats. With the lights of fishing boats
flickering at night, it has a lively air typical of a fishing port.
A wide variety of fresh fish and dried fish are sold at the morning
fair. Tourists can taste fresh delicacies of the sea.
Getting there
An hour and 45 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Fukuoka
Airport. An hour and 15 minutes from Osaka Itami Airport. Five
minutes by subway from Fukuoka Airport to Hakata Station. Four hours
and 50 minutes from Tokyo Station to Hakata Station by the JR
Tokaido - Sanyo Shinkansen Line. Two hours and 20 minutes from
Shin-Osaka Station. An hour and 30 minutes from Hakata Station to
Karatsu Station on the JR Chikuhi Line.
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Takeo and
Ureshino-onsen Hot Springs
Hot springs with hot water gushing out of crevices in the sandstone
- A village for porcelain, crowded with pottery lovers
Both Takeo and Ureshino are located in the western part of Saga
Prefecture, near the boundary between Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures.
Takeo-onsen is a hot spring town, located at the foot of Mt. Horai-san,
full of strange rocks and bizarre stones. The town has a history of
more than 1,200 years and is known for its water quality that makes
the skin smooth. At the entrance of the public bath in the center of
this hot spring resort, there stands a red tower gate built in the
shape of Ryugujo, a castle in the sea in a fairy tale.
Ureshino is a town, famous for its green tea, surrounded by
mountains. The green of the tea fields gently spreading out at the
foot of these mountains is refreshing. There are about sixty inns
lined up in Ureshino-onsen in which hot springs gush out from
crevices in the sandstone along the Ureshino-gawa River. Neon lights
in the town are turned on at night, and the quiet rural landscape of
daytime changes into an urbane and showy night scene.
Getting there
Fukuoka Airport is 1 hour 45 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport,
and 1 hour 15 minutes from Osaka Itami Airport. Hakata Station is 5
minutes from Fukuoka Airport by subway. Hakata Station is 4 hours 50
minutes from Tokyo Station by the JR Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen
Line, and 2 hours 20 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station. Hakata Station
is 1 hour 10 minutes from Takeo-onsen Station by the JR Nagasaki
Honsen Line and Sasebo Line Limited Express. Then take a bus from
Takeo-onsen Station to Ureshino-onsen, which takes about 30 minutes.
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Yoshinogari Remains
Ringed-dugout Settlement -- Mystery of Ancient Age - Restored Pit
Dwellings, Watchtower and High-floor Storehouses
The Yoshinogari-Remains lie on the spacious hilly area in
Kanzaki-machi, Mitagawa-machi and Higashi-Seburi-mura of Kanzaki-gun
in the northeastern part of Saga. Remains of a ringed-dugout
settlement presumably dating back to the 3rd century B.C. were
unearthed there, and excavation is still under way at the site. They
are among the largest-scale remnants in Japan.
More than 2,600 tombs containing pot coffins, a tomb mound under
which large pot coffins were unearthed, remains of pit dwellings,
high-floor storehouses, and many others were found at the site.
These remnants match the description of things of Yamatai-Koku
governed by the queen Himiko in the Chinese history book entitled
Gishi-wajin-den of the 3rd century. The assertion that "the origin
of Japan lies in northern Kyushu" attracted attention.
Four pit dwellings, two high-floor storehouses and a watchtower,
which gave rise to the controversy over Yamatai-Koku, have been
restored. In the Tomb Mound Museum located to the north of the
ringed-dugout settlement, the largest tomb mound in Japan extending
26 meters east and west and 49 meters north and south as unearthed
is displayed. It gives visitors an idea of the grand scale of the
remnants. Articles unearthed at the site and models are exhibited in
the Yoshinogari Exhibition Hall.
Getting there
An hour 45 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Fukuoka Airport.
An hour 15 minutes from Osaka Itami Airport. Five minutes by subway
from Fukuoka Airport to Hakata Station. Four hours 50 minutes from
Tokyo Station to Hakata Station by train on the JR Tokaido and Sanyo
Shinkansen Line. Two hours 20 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station.
Fifty-six minutes from Hakata Station to Yoshinogari Koen Station on
the JR Nagasaki Honsen Line.
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Information
provided by Japan National Tourist Organization.
