September 23, 2009

• September 23 - Karatsu Trip

   

  Dotter decided that she had not gotten enough of pottery in Arita yesterday, so today we went to another town that is famous for its pottery among other things, Karatsu.  Behold the Karatsian manhole.

  

  We started with lunch at Karatsu Station.  The specialty is very tasty squid leg tempura.

  

  These "melon breads" imprinted with a picture of a festival lion float are always for sale at the baker's shop in Karatsu Station.

  

  Let's head down the shopping streets to show Dotter the sights.

  

  Karatsu Shrine

  

  The venerated mirror

  

  Pulling the ropes and ringing the bells to get the gods attention is part worship. 

  

  A fox shrine

  

  Foxy lady?

  

  Inside the buildings where the festival floats are stored.  I have covered these in depth in previous entries, so if you want to know more, click on any of the Karatsu links on the left of the web page.

  

  Still drooling over this mug.

  

  Next stop is Karatsu Castle, but let's stop on the beach for a bit and pick up some shells.

  

  Sunshine from behind Karatsu Castle

  

  Scenery from the top floor

  

  ...and back to the beach!

  

  It's going to take hours to sort these out!

  

  

  This clock tower has been in previous entries, too, in the video version.  It is a cuckoo clock of sorts, and this fellow comes out every hour to let us know it's time to go home by beating on his drum.

  • 05:31
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