blog for people from abroad about Fukui Prefecture in Japan.
May/3,5/2019
Nishiyama Park is a historic park, which is designated as one of Japan’s top 100 historical parks. I wrote about the history of this park in a previous post(2018 Autumn Leaves Festival at Nishiyama Park in Fukui Prefecture), so please read it.
Nishiyama Park is a good place to visit all year round. In April, you can see cherry blossoms, in May, you can see azaleas, and in November, you’ll see autumn leaves. Also, you can see a snowy landscape in January and February.
April/6/2019
There’s a tunnel of cherry blossoms(sakura), which appears once a year along the Asuwa River in Fukui City. I personally call it the Asuwa Sakura Tunnel. It’s about 2.2 km long and there are about 600 cherry trees. The Asuwa River has been selected as one of Japan’s 100 best spots for viewing cherry blossoms. A lot of people come and see them every spring.
April/5/2019
Cherry blossoms are very special for Japanese people. Every year, when spring is approaching, they get excited. The timing of the flowering of the cherry blossoms is forecasted by the Japan Weather Association. A lot of people in Japan look forward to seeing the flowers.
Motoori Norinaga(1730-1801), a famous Japanese classical scholar, wrote a poem about the Japanese spirit and the cherry blossoms:
April/4/2019
Earthquakes used to be mysterious things.
Aristotle, an ancient philosopher, thought that the wind blew through the underground space and caused it to vibrate. These vibrations were earthquakes. It’s now understood that seismic waves brought on by the sudden movement of the Earth’s crust are the cause of earthquakes.
March/10/2019
Today I went to Bell, a shopping center in Fukui City, to see an exhibition of One Piece called Hello, One Piece. The exhibition was also held abroad in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and China.
One Piece is a Japanese manga series, and it’s about the adventures of the boy Luffy and his friends in Luffy’s quest to become the next Pirate King.
February/11/2019
Today I went to an international symposium about varves in Wakasa-cho, Fukui Prefecture.
I’ve written about varves before, so if you don’t know about them, please read my previous post(The Miracle Lake in Fukui Prefecture, Japan). About 270 people attended the symposium, and most of them were ordinary citizens.
February/2/2019
Did you know that there’s a jungle in Fukui Prefecture where animals live? A zoo called Happy Jungle opened in Fukui in 2018. It takes about 40 minutes to get there from Fukui Station on foot. There’s also a regular zoo next to Happy Jungle.
Happy Jungle is an indoor zoo, and you can go in for free. The zoo has two floors, and the second floor is a rest area where you can buy food and see the animals through the windows. The first floor is the main part of the zoo.
January/26/2019
In 2013, Okakura Tenshin’s 150th birthday anniversary exhibition was held at Fukui Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts. I went there and saw the first edition of The Book of Tea and artworks by his students, like Yokoyama Taikan.
Tenshin was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1863. Since his father was born in Fukui, Tenshin always said that his own hometown was Fukui. He’d studied English since the age of 8, and he’d also studied the Chinese classics, like the Analects of Confucius, since the age of 10. He went to the University of Tokyo and studied politics, economics, philosophy, English literature, Japanese literature, and Chinese classical literature.
December/23/2018
The power of nature is always beyond people’s imagination. A while ago I read about a mysterious cave in Takahama-cho in Fukui Prefecture, and I recently went there. (In Takahama-cho, there are a lot of sightseeing spots like beautiful beaches. If you want to know more about them, visit the official English website.)
December/23/2018
Zen is a form of Buddhism that developed in China in the eighth century. It was imported to Japan in the 13th century and soon became an important part of Japanese Culture. The essential principles of Zen are “transcendental wisdom” and “compassion.”
These days a lot of Western people practice Zen. For example, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer, was known for this. He even thought about going to Eihei Temple in Fukui Prefecture to become a Zen monk. It’s said that Apple products have been influenced by Zen (in their simplicity, for example).