June 12, 2009
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from June 12, Iizuka City
Today's "go somewhere" was a solo Friday trip out to the city of Iizuka at the kind invitation of Sharon, a missionary who lives in the area with her lovely husband. The scenery was interesting, lunch delicious and the fellowship wonderful.
Here is some scenery taken from the train station platform at Chikuzen Daibu. The rice fields have been flooded and planted.
The first stop on the tour was at Oozuka Kofun, an ancient royal burial site. The kofun tomb itself is in green, and the brown part is the museum that houses some of the articles that were found there.
Here are some old horse fittings in amazingly good condition!
This is how they would have been used. A haniwa horse acts as a model.
This is a replica of the inside of the tomb. I have never seen such a wonderful paint job! The actual tomb is only open to the public twice a year to protect it from mold and fading. The indented area has a place for two bodies.
Here is where the paint came from. Certain colorful rocks are crushed to a powder and made into paint.
Next stop on the tour is the Kaho Theater. Iizuka once boasted of a coal mining industry, and was a center of local entertainment.
Here is the inside of the theater photographed from the back. The seating is old fashioned "masuzeki," and the audience sits on cushions on the floor inside their boxes.
Kaho Theater interior from the stage
The stage has a revolving portion that is good for quick scenery changes. Two to three scenes can be set up. and to change the scenery, the stage is revolved manually from below.
Some scenic props - a pleasure boat and a bridge
This reminded me of the ships that we visited in Nagasaki recently - shrouds and ratlines. These are probably for changing scenery backdrops.
Inside the prop room
This door in the revolving part of the stage is called a "seri" and the platform is lowered or raised to allow actors to make dramatic entrances and exits.
Light is coming through a crack between the parts of the stage. Let's go below.
This us under the revolving stage, turned manually by 12 strong folks pushing against the round poles that hang down from under the stage. This all looks quite new, and there is a reason for it.
A few years ago the nearby river flooded and the theater was badly damaged.
Flooding outside..
and inside. Donations were collected and the theater was restored.
This car was parked in the Kaho Theater parking lot. I really liked the upholstery.
I came home and told hubby what a wonderful time I had in Iizuka with Sharon, and he decided that he needed to go and check the place out for himself. The rest of the pictures in this entry are from July 13, 2009. Behold the Iizukian manhole.
The first stop on hubby's tour was the home of Itoh Denemon, the "Coal Mine King." We were not allowed to take pictures inside, and local residents were giving tours of the home, maybe to keep an eye on us. (^-^)
Got that?
This was at the side of the gate. The curved grill on the window was unusual.
I loved the windows and wish I could have taken a picture from inside!! One of the tour guides came up to me and asked me where I was from, and I said "Fukuoka," knowing that was probably not the answer she wanted to hear, but I don't have to relate my life story to all and sundry. "Fukuoka? Oh, your Japanese is so good!" Um, hello? Fukuoka is the same in either language... 福岡は英語でも日本語でも一緒だからね・・・
A picture of the outside of the house, probably including the tea room that I wanted to take pictures of from the inside.
The house seen from the garden
See the second floor room with all the windows?
This is it from the inside. It was the room of the wife, Byakuren. I would love to wake up to this every morning. Apparently Byakuren didn't. She was married very young and missed Tokyo, and dumped her husband when she was 36 and remarried for true love.
Moving on, here is Chidoriya, a famous local confectionary shop. Turn around 180 degrees and cross the street to enter an old shopping arcade.
This was originally part of a main trade route that ran from Nagasaki to Kokura. I understand that elephants walked this route on their way north.
These shopping arcades tend to loose business to the local "K-Marts" and are not too peppy, but it would have been nice to have had time to explore a bit more. But hubby was itching to move on and conquer the next destination.
This picture of the hanging paper cranes reminded me of a kaleidoscope.
Fresh fish anyone?
How about some kimono gear?
How about some chopsticks or a lunch box?
This is the shopping arcade as seen from the outside. It seems that there are residences upstairs for the shop owners.
Our next destination was actually the Kaho Theater again, but today we couldn't go in because there was some kind or rehearsal going on.
Since the Kaho Theater was closed, we decided to hike to the Iizuka Museum. Shall we cross this bridge?
Nah, yonder footbridge looks like more fun.
These mountains are slag heaps made from mining debris. They are starting to be covered in green.
Some couples used to work the mines.
From all of the shell bracelets on his arm, this must have been a fellow of status. He was placed in a ceramic casket that was sealed at the top by a large stone.
A replica of another casket with funiary items, mirrors and a bronze spearhead.
Haniwa
This armor was interesting. Have a look at the back.
This fellow was a flag bearer according to the metal fixtures on his back.
Bowls from Ito Denemon's home
This small kofun tomb was moved here from another site for preservation.
Inside the kofun
Some haniwa figures. The museum is going to have a "make your own haniwa" class for kids in August. I wonder if I can crash the party?
On the way back we wanted to stop in at a nice Chinese restaurant in Hakata Station, but the entire part of the station is closed down for renewal. Soooo we decided to go to Fukuoka Airport two stations away to the Chinese restaurant there. They have a nice view of the airport runway. Here are a buncha random shots.
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