Yanagawa back to Fukuoka

We were back on the trains again yesterday morning,  heading SE this time to visit the Ariakekai Bay side city of Yanagawa. But first Haruko took us a few stops on from Yanagawa to the small fishing town of Nakashima. For this short detour we used a very basic (but so clean and cute and colourful) local train service.

 Haruko wanted to show us a favourite morning market in the streets near the Nakashima railway station. 

 These okonomiyaki proved to be delicious........

 The markets this morning were dominated by friendly, kind hearted older women buying and selling the morning's fresh catch from the Bay, produce from their gardens or handmade food. Haruko had great chats with all of them and they were all very interested in who we were and where we were from.

 Back at Yanagawa, we made our way to the canal area for which the city is famous .......

 and waited for our boat to be ready ......

 The canals date back hundreds of years, originally used to irrigate farms, but then to protect the large castle, built by a powerful samurai family who lived here until early last century. Today the canals are enjoyed by holidaymakers and tourists and are a great drawcard for the town.

 We wondered how we would fit under this low bridge!

 This is how it's done!

The town reveres the poet Hakushu. A three day festival of poetry reading, music and fireworks on the canals was starting this same evening in celebration of Hakushu. We saw preparations in place for the festivities all along the canal ride today. The boat operators are all great singers too. Our oarsman had a beautiful voice

Yanagawa is renowned for its sea eel and Haruko took us to lunch at the best sea eel restaurant in town.

I was a little dubious about this lunch as sea eel was my least favourite food that I tried on our last visit to Japan.

But this sea eel was completely different, served with rice and egg noodles it was delicious - and served in such a refined and classy environment .....

 The samurai's house has been partially restored and is open to the public. One of the rooms displays the decorations used in Yanagawa's other great festival ... the girls' festival, held in March each year - all intended to ensure the health and prosperity of the girls of the region - such a lovely idea! 

 The samurai's gardens include around 150 perfectly clipped pine trees

 We were back in Fukuoka by around 3.30 and Haruko had another treat in store for us. Her dear friend Mie and her partner had invited the three of us around for a special dinner - but we were asked to come over early to ensure we had time for a therapeutic massage first with Mie's favourite "chiropractor". He worked on me first - determining very quickly that my spine was curving and my shoulders were too small to stay stable (Haruko's translation). Spot on I'd say! He took ages trying to fix my shoulder alignment. I felt about 2 inches taller and much "lighter" by the time he'd finished. 

 Rob had a few issues too - and our masseuse spent a good hour fixing him too.

 Meanwhile this amazing meal was being prepared .....

 This is shabu shabu - a hot pot meal based on very thinly sliced Wagyu beef which is dipped in a seaweed based broth and mixed to each person's liking with vegetables, sesame or miso based sauces and pickles (and kim chee on this occasion granted Mie's Korean heritage). There was lots of laughter about our lack of finesse with chopsticks!

 The broth is kept replenished with these beautiful fresh herbs and vegies throughout the meal.

 At the end of the meal we had a long conversation with Mie's partner (who speaks English) about his passions: Chinese astrology, Hiragana and Kanji, Art and his visual diary of his daily lunch box creations (they are works of art I kid you not). Mie and her partner are a very interesting couple; they are like family to Haruko and they could not have been more welcoming and generous to us. we ended off the night being taught how to fold these little paper boxes for our after dinner fruit peelings.

Haruko has provided us with an absolutely unique insight into life here on this beautiful island of Kyushu. We are so lucky!