We visited a Hakata Dolls store this time. The name of this shop is Shogetsudo. Hakata is one of the traditional city in Fukuoka. Hakata Doll was founded back in 1601. They keep producing characteristic dolls such as beautiful ladies, samurais, “Noh” play charactors, children, etc. You can see those dolls, purchase ones, or even experience painting them in the store!

They give you example photos and you just paint on the doll with some colours as you like! So it’s up to you what kind of charactor you would like to put on your doll.



Now, you made it! That’s the only Hakata Doll you have in the world! (You can see the colour differences between these two dolls.)



Here are the comments from these students;

“It was very eye-opening to see all the delicate Hakata dolls. The store is beautifully decorated and all the dolls are exquisite. The painting area is really spacious with a wide selection of colors. I really enjoyed the painting session because it was fun and relaxing. It was really helpful that we learned a little bit about the dolls before going to the store. It was also fun to learn about the fun types of Japanese dolls and what festivals they are used for! I would definitely recommend all students to paint their own Hakata doll because it not only makes for a pretty decoration but also is a fun and relaxing activity.”

“First our teacher told us a little about traditional Japanese dolls. Then we walked to the store and got to pick the dolls we wanted to paint. There were many different ones, it was hard to decide! After that we got to start painting them right away. It was nice and surprisingly relaxing, although a bit hard. I definitely have respect for the makers and painters of these beautiful dolls! We even got to keep the dolls we painted. All in all it was a good cultural learning experience.”

Visiting Dazaifu is quite special in Japan. Espacially, Dazaifu Tenmangu is a shrine for people who are going to take entrance exams. A man in the Heian Era became a God of study. So when the entrance exam season comes, many students visit this place and pray for their success.

On the way to Dazaifu, you can use a train to get there. They offer a special train covered with pink which is the colour of pine flower. If you are lucky to get on this train, you can make a wish on a plate and take it to another shrine close to Dazaifu Tenmangu.

After getting off the train, you walk to the shrine. You can see a lot of shops and restaurants alongside the path. As you walk close to the shrine, there are bridges and ponds. You pray for your study success at the shrine.

There is a historical museum close to the shrine, so you can see some history in this museum.

Here is a commet from our student;

Dazaifu Tenmangu is a wonderful place. The shopping arcade located right in front of the temple has a variety of shops from a kitty shop to different mocha stores. The temple itself is gorgeous, decorated with gold and red. The trees, ponds, and the bridge fully provides an image of a Japanese garden. It is definitely a great spot for taking photos.

The Kyushu Museum is huge! We could have easily spent the entire morning (or even the entire day) looking at all the artifacts on display. It is really interesting to learn about the historical tools and how people lived when civilization just started. I would’ve liked it if we could spend more time at the museum.

Our students joined a Fukuoka City Tour we planned this time.
The place we visited were Suikyo Tenmangu, Furusato-kan, Kushida-Jinja, and the Rainbow Plaza.

Suikyo-Tenmangu is a shrine where a God of study is. Michizane Sugawara was sent to Fukuoka from Kyoto (the Capital city at that time) and landed this place. He looked at his face reflected by the river and it looked very tired, so he was sad. The word ‘Suikyo’ means a water mirror. The name was from this story. He became a God of Study in Dazaifu.

In Furusato-kan, you can join a part of making Kimono (Japanese traditional clothes) and learn some histories in Fukuoka.

Kushida-Jinja is another shrine in Fukuoka. We have well-known festivals from this shrine in Summer. You can buy a fortune slip by yourself in most of Japanese shrines. In this one, you are able to read English version.

The Rainbow Plaza is a community space in a builging where interenational students can get a lot of information about events, places to visit, life in Fukuoka (or Japan), etc. You can find resources you need to be in Fukuoka, Kyushu, or Japan.

Here is a comment from our student.

The Suikyo Tenmangu is definitely a spot that everyone must go to. Not only can you learn about why the Tenjin area got its name, but also can take in the peaceful aura at the tenmangu. The furusato-kan is very interesting because it showcases Hakata’s history. However, it would be hard for students who don’t understand that much Japanese to understand everything that are exhibited since the information cards are only in Japanese. Even though I couldn’t understand everything, it was still really fun to look at the pictures and understand bits and pieces of the culture. It was also worth going there because we got to try weaving the Hakata-ori. The Kushida Shrine is also a must because of its beautiful grounds and calm aura. It was really nice to learn about the Rainbow Plaza because there are a lot of resources there for foreigners. I definitely think every student would benefit from a visit to the Rainbow Plaza. Overall, it is a very well-planned tour and showcased a lot of the beautiful places in Fukuoka city.

We had an excursion to Saga Area. We visited a place called, “Ninja Mura (Ninja Village)”. Ninja is a kind of secret agent in these days. They collect secret information fro their enemies, asssassinate the important person by sward, poison, etc. They do a kind of magic to avoid being found.

In this village, you are able to change your clothes to Ninja Uniform. With this uniform, you can experience some activities which Ninja was doing during old time Japan.

Shuriken is a kind of knife which is specially designed to hurt or kill enamies by being thrown. There are a virety of Shuriken shape so that you can find one(s) to throw. You learn the Ninja fighting style that is completely different from Samurai ones.

One of the most popular Ninja activities among Japanese children is a posture of a magic. When they play Ninja, they spell some words for vanishing! Of course, they cannot disappear at the place.

We think our students enjoyed playing this Ninja roles. Here is one of the comments given to us.

The ninjamura was really fun. I would recommend that everyone change into the ninja clothes because the clothes do make taking photos much more interesting. It was a very enjoyable and fun trip.

Our group visited two places this time. Here are the information of them and comments from our students.

*Yusentei*
Yusentei is a famous Japanese garden in Fukuoka. The name suggests a place for meeting with friends. Guests can choose from 3 types of refreshment, green tea with traditional japanese snack, green tea with dorayaki and coffee with kit kat. I highly recommend the traditional japanese snack with green tea for a truly authentic experience.

The refreshment is served in the hall where guests can view the beautiful garden and pond while sipping their tea. The sound of a nearby waterfall could also be heard in the hall. It is a serene place for reflecting while savouring the traditional Japanese snack. After the refreshment, we took a walk around the garden and took many pictures with the beautiful landscape in the background. Stone lanterns, waterfalls, seasonal flowers and green trees can be seen in this garden. It was a relaxing activity and somehow I left with a newfound sense of peace.

*Washi Workshop*
It was a long travel to Yame-shi for this activity. We arrived at a traditional craft museum where the workshop was carried out. Participants were given a choice to select various types of paper products they wish to create, from bear-shaped fans to name cards. After selection, participants were allowed to choose various dried flowers and leaves for their creation. The paper slurry for making paper was prepared by the staff beforehand, participants just need to pour the slurry into their product mould and decorate it.

As I arrived in Fukuoka in Spring, I decided that Spring will be the theme for my creation. I decided to make a paper fan with purple and pink flowers and accentuate them with ajisai and green leaves. The staff also gave suggestions on how to place the decorations for better visual experience. After decoration, the staff helped to apply a layer of glue to the surface to seal in the decorations. It took about 40 minutes for the paper creation to dry. During which, we visited the traditional craft museum and saw many traditional crafts such as straw weaving, stone sculptures and wooden altars. The crafts were beautiful and I wished I was able to make them too. Overall it was an interesting experience that would be hard to chance upon for tourist.



We are very happy that our students enjoyed taking part in these places. The great thing is that anybody can have an experience the Japanese tradition at each venue in Fukuoka. We believe our activity plans make our international students have unfrogettable memories.

We visited a place where you can make typical Japanese Food Samples. Here is the comment from one of our students.

Food samples are commonly seen at the entrance of Japanese restaurants. I always thought the food look delicious and are real food. However, after touching them, I was surprised to find out that they are actually made of plastic!

Through NILS short term course, I was able to attend a session on making food samples. During the sessions, participants are allowed to choose between making a cake or parfait sample. I chose the parfait and had a hard time choosing the toppings for my parfait. A wide selection was available to the participants, ranging from fruits to chocolate, in different size, texture and shape.

Together with the shop staff, I squeezed out ‘soft cream’ and scatter ‘cornflakes’ into my plastic cup. After that, I was given free reign on placement of the toppings on my parfait. While the participants’ work are being dried, the shop staff gave us a live demostration on making Tempura samples and cabbage. It was such an amazing skill, we were all impressed.

All the food displays in the shop are for sale and we were particularly interested in the curry spoon key chains. It smells like real curry which makes a great souvenir for friends.

Overall it was a great experience and a must try activity for those visiting Japan!

Our students visited ‘the Kingdom of Kompeitoh.’

Kompeitoh is a colorful sugar candy which was imported from Portugal long time ago. It came to Japan before the Edo era. In this kingdom, you can make the Kompeitoh.

It is not so difficult to make it for visitors.
The shape of Kompeitoh is already there in sugar white. You put them in the machine which is rolling slowly. You have a choice of colour.

Then, you keep rolling the machine and adding the colour until the sweet gets enough colour. They chose green colour this time.



Et voilà! They made it!

Here is the comment from one of them.

The conpeitoh activity was an interesting and very sweet event. Making one’s on flavor and picking color was very eventful and learning the meaning and culture to the Japanese people and what it means for them is insightful. Having friends around and doing the activity together really brought us even closer together. It definitely leaves good memories and highly recommend it for future on going activities.

Dazaifu has one of the famous shrines in Japan. A God of Study is there. Many Japanese students take entrance exams from December to March. They come here and pray to the god for passing the exams.
This place is also well-known with plum trees and February is the best season to watch them. you can enjoy watching this trees everywhere in this shrine. You also enjoy a sweet shaping the flower of the tree together with a cup of green tea.

We met kindergarden children turing this shirine ares like us. Thery were very lively and friendly.

There is a historical museum with a modern designed building next to this shrine. You are able to find information from the ancient time.

We had an excursion to Nagasaki by train.　Nagasaki is famous for the Chinatown next to Yokohama. You can go to this city from Fukuoka i the short period of time.
It was a new year time in Chinese calender and they had a lanturn festival when we visited Chinatown.

The town was well-decorated, but it was not so lively because there was not light in lanturns. However, we enjoyed Chinese food there waiting for the night drawing in. Then, we are all amazed by the lights.

One of our students gave us a comment of this trip.
“Nagasaki was an interesting place and I was told one of the first few places in Japan to allow foreigners to come by which was interesting to see.”

We went a house called ‘Yusentei’ with a traditional Japanese garden.
Our student enjoyed the old Japanese house with a room with a kind of display called ‘Tokono-ma’. You can see a pond, greens, and some stones and stone products created in traditional way. Japanese gardens are aimed at a small sized nature, so they try to put trees, plants, stones, ponds, moss, etc. as much as the real nature inside their lands.

Our student also enjoyed feeding Koi carps at the pond and experience tea drinking in formal (traditional) way which is quite different from the normal (present) way. The student said, “Yusentei park was amazing lovely scenery and experiencing traditional Japanese culture with macha tea and sweets.” after we came back.