Yanagawa, Town of water, Fukuoka

Tags

Fukuoka, Japan, photography, travel, Yanagawa

Yanagawa is a famous for their 470km of wide canals of town, located Fukuoka prefecture in Kyusyu of West Japan. I love the short novel “Haishi”(on obsolete and dead town) by Takehiko Fukunaga and its movie by Nobuhiko Obayashi director. The story is love triangle tragedy (correctly 3 women and one man love) located in the old town. The canals and boat is a romantic and nostalgic effects in the film. They didn’t say clearly its town was Yanagawa, but the reader or audience could notice it was Yanagawa by the picture of canal. In 17 century, Lord Yoshimasa Tanaka constructed the town and canal, after that people in this town usually used riverboats, now tourists can enjoy ride in a boat, called “donkobune”, like Venice. Meiji period famous poet Hakusyu Kitahara was born in Yanagawa, now there is his house as his memorial hall.

Yoshimasa Tanaka, the first lord of Yanagawa

Willow and stone wall

Yanagawa’s wedding at riverboat (from the poster)

There are many bridges on the canal. Some are too low that the boatman had to bend in the boat.

bridge of Yanagawa. We pass through under the bridge by the riverboat.

Old house in Yanagawa

Japanese iris in the boat

Yanagawa’s traditional decoration for girl

Restaurant of boiled eel. Yanagawa is famous of eel.

We can ride a ship and tour the canal.

Soda pop

My ship’s boatman (he also guides). Most of boatmen are over 60 years old, now. He said the youngest is a high school student.

Yanagawa’s canal

Tortoise basks in the sun.

Wedding at canal (from the Ohana’s poster)

Kurume kasuri (Kurume’s traditional splashed pattern textile)

hydrangea

Children fish at the canal.

Classical fishing trap

Ohana is the hotel of ex-lord Western and Classic Japanese style residence in Yanagawa.

Japanese iris

hydrangea

We can meet a wild duck in the canal.

Passing through the bridge by the boat. We can find the base was stone.

Yanagawa’s canal

Yanagawa’s canal

There are many willow trees at the riverside. Yanagawa means willow river.

In this canal, the ship with engine is prohibited.

Pattern o the parapet of the bridge of Yanagawa

Yanagawa’s canal

Yanagawa’s canal

Yanagawa’s donkobune (riverboat)