Travels in Japan (Part Six) [Fukuoka Pt. 2] 🇯🇵.

Travels in Japan (Part Six) [Fukuoka Pt. 2]

Last day in Fukuoka, walked around Kushida shrine a bit. Enjoy!

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Shrine, Hakata 櫛田神社

The Kushida Shrine in Hakata, Fukuoka City, is the most important shrine in the area.

Kushida Shrine was founded in 757 when Hakata was the point of arrival and departure for trade and diplomatic missions between Japan and China and Korea.

The main deity enshrined here is Ohata Nushina no mikoto, an obscure kami who is claimed to be the ancestor of the Watarai lineage of priests from the Outer Shrine of Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture.

From early to mid July the shrine hosts the Yamakasa Gion Matsuri, the biggest festival in Fukuoka. On the last day of the matsuri seven teams from the seven neighborhoods of Hakata race carrying giant floats called kazariyama.

Each of the floats are decorated with traditional figures and scenes and are up to 10 meters tall and weigh1 ton. If you can’t visit the matsuri one of the huge floats is on permanent display in the shrine grounds.

Fukuoka (福岡市, Fukuoka-shi, pronounced [ɸɯ̥kɯokaꜜɕi]) is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, situated on the northern shore of the Japanese island of Kyushu. It is the most populous city on the island, followed by Kitakyushu. It is the largest city and metropolitan area west of Keihanshin. The city was designated on April 1, 1972, by government ordinance. Greater Fukuoka, with a population of 2.5 million people (2005 census), is part of the heavily industrialized Fukuoka–Kitakyushu zone.

As of 2015, Fukuoka is Japan’s sixth largest city, having passed the population of Kobe.[2] In July 2011, Fukuoka surpassed the population of Kyoto. Since the founding of Kyoto in 794, this marks the first time that a city west of the Kinki region has a larger population than Kyoto. In ancient times, however, the area near Fukuoka, the Chikushi region, was thought by some historians to have possibly been even more influential than the Yamato region.

Exchanges from the continent and the Northern Kyushu area date as far back as Old Stone Age.[3] It has been thought that waves of immigrants arrived in Northern Kyushu from mainland Asia.[4] Several Kofun exist.

History
See also: Timeline of Fukuoka
Fukuoka was sometimes called the Port of Dazaifu (大宰府), 15 km (9 mi) southeast from Fukuoka. Dazaifu was an administrative capital in 663 A.D., but a historian proposed that a prehistoric capital was in the area.[5] Ancient texts, such as the Kojiki, Kanyen (found in Dazaifu) and archaeology confirm this was a critical place in the founding of Japan. Some scholars[6] claim that it was the first place outsiders and the Imperial Family set foot, but like many early Japan origin theories, it remains contested. Central Fukuoka is sometimes still referred as Hakata which is the name of the central ward.

In 923, the Hakozaki-gū in Fukuoka was transferred from Daibu-gū in Daibu (大分), 16 km (10 mi) northeast from Dazaifu, the origin of Usa Shrine and established as a branch of the Usa Shrine at Fukuoka.[7] In Ooho (大保), 15 km (9 mi) south from Dazaifu, there are remains of a big ward office with a temple, because in ancient East Asia, an emperor must have three great ministries (大宰, 大傳 and 大保). In fact, there is a record in Chinese literature that a king of Japan sent a letter in 478 to ask the Chinese emperor’s approval for employing three ministries. In addition, remains of the Korokan (鴻臚館, Government Guest House) were found in Fukuoka underneath a part of the ruins of Fukuoka Castle.

Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire turned his attention towards Japan starting in 1268, exerting a new external pressure on Japan with which it had no experience. Kublai Khan first sent an envoy to Japan to make the Shogunate acknowledge Khan’s suzerainty.[8] The Kamakura shogunate refused. Mongolia repeatedly sent envoys thereafter, each time urging the Shogunate to accept their proposal, but to no avail.

In 1274, Kublai Khan mounted an invasion of the northern part of Kyushu with a fleet of 900 ships and 33,000 troops, including troops from Goryeo on the Korean Peninsula.[9] This initial invasion was compromised by a combination of incompetence and severe storms. After the invasion attempt of 1274, Japanese samurai built a stone barrier 20 km (12 mi) in length bordering the coast of Hakata Bay in what is now the city of Fukuoka.