Fukui Shrine in the snowy morning

This snowy morning, I just walked into Fukui Shrine in the Fukui castle ruins.

Beside the hurrying crowd,
I could enjoy a quiet air and felt even more divineness
in the precincts that is beautifuly covered with snow.

The buildings are modern style of bare concrete.
Though it was totaly made of cypress originally,
after being burned down in the WW2,
it was rebuilt as a new architectural style shrine for the coming era.

Looking at the torii of a form that I had never seen before,
I was interested in that it is not only a reproduction of the past,
but designed towards the future.
It also reminded me of the churches that Le Corbusier or Tadao Ando designed.

However, It has unfortunately no permanent chief priest.
The other day a shrine man said to me,
"Of course they have been trying to manage it,
this shrine belongs to the highest rank among the many shrines in Fukui prefecture,
and ordinary priests can't play the role."
TS

Besides the shrine there is the moat of Fukui castle ruins.

  

The monument shows the shrine is the highest rank.

People commute outside the precincts.

New Year’s party

I went to an annual New Year’s party with friends. We always hold the party at a Japanese restaurant where a friend used to help there.

             
                                                   The entrance
                           

Shochu bottles are lined up on the counter.  

                              We usually reserve an inner Japanese room.

         I saw Daruma on a hanging scroll, which made me motivated this year, too. 

    

   The sake “junmai daiginjo” is made in Yoshida Sake Brewery in Eiheiji Town, 

    Fukui Prefecture.  

                                          Some of what we had. 

   We also celebrated a friend’s birthday in January, so a friend brought a hand 

   decorated cake. This is actually a macrobiotic cake, which made with tofu,

   soy milk, canola oil, flour, orange and almond slices. The cake was moist and 　     so good. (H.S)

A Girl from Bhutan -Miraculous Reunion-

A photographer from Fukui visited Bhutan and met a girl there and it was 9 years ago. They said goodbye without asking each other’s information. They both had no idea who they were and where they lived, and many years went by.

 

After 9 years later, miraculously, they finally saw each other again on January 22nd, 2018.

 

 

9years ago, a photographer, Munekazu Matta saw a group of Bhutanese children by chance while he was visiting Bhutan. The children were on their way going home from their school. All of the children in the group were very cute but there was a girl who caught Mr. Matta’s eyes the most. That girl was Sonam Choki. She was only 14years old at that time and she was a student of Middle Secondary School in BUMTHANG.

 

Mr. Matta took photographs of Ms. Sonam and her friends. And one of the photographs that he took that day, was used for Bhutan Museum’s poster.

 

 

According to Mr. Matta, as Bhutan Museum was founded in 2012, many people said “who is this girl?” but no one knew who she was. They tried looking for her, but they could not find her. Many years went by again.

 

Finally, last year, the founder of the museum, Genji Nosaka contacted Bhutan to find her. The secretary of the king of Bhutan said that it would not be that difficult for them to find her because there are only two types of school uniforms in Bhutan. The clothing that Ms. Sonam was wearing in the photograph above was one of the school uniforms. They helped Mr. Nosaka finding her.

 

And finally, the day had come.

 

As Ms. Sonam’s sister was checking one of Bhutan related Facebook pages randomly, she saw a photograph of her sister, Ms. Sonam. And with the photograph, it said that “do you know her? We are looking for this girl”.

 

Ms. Sonam contacted the secretary and told her that it was her who was in the photograph. And then, she was invited to the palace. After that, as you can imagine, it brought endless surprises.

 

 

Finally, on January 20th, 2018, Ms. Sonam was invited to Fukui.

And then…

 

Though they never thought they would see each other again, miraculously, they did!

Stay tuned for our upcoming blogs about Ms.Sonam’s stay in Fukui.

 

T.F

 

Official Website of Bhutan Museum Fukui

Snowy morning in the vicinity of Fukui Castle Ruins

Since the weather report said it was going to be a heavy snow, I left a car at home this morning and went to work by train. So I walked from the Fukui station to the building of Bhutan Museum (here we have an office) through the side of Fukui Castle. Because of a surprisingly good weather, I felt like a comfortable morning walk. However after that the snow came again.
T.S

Snowy morning in Fukui begins with a scenery of snow shoveling. A camera person was shooting it.

Students walking on the frozen snowy road are used to walking on such a surface.

Some ducks floated in the moat.

The most recent change in the scenery of Fukui Castle's site is that this Yamazato-guchi-gomon gate was restored.

Pine trees are protected by ropes against snow in the central park. The dark part in the lower right is not a road but a pond.

Snow is also a great enemy for coin parking lots.

Sweets I bought at New Year’s Cat Festival

At Seibu department store in Fukui, the New Year’s Cat Festival was also held during the photo exhibition of “Cats” Travelogue which I wrote on our blog the other day.

At the event, craft workers opened stalls to sell items on the theme of cats.
And limited-sale sweets designed cats were sold, so I bought some automatically.

Sweets I bought at the New Year’s Cat Festival

The Cat Festival is an event that was started two years ago by shops in front of Fukui Station to vitalize the shopping area. Now it is held regularly and I hope it will continue. (H.S)　

RENEW × Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan -The town loved by young designers and craftsmen- Part 2

As we introduced about the special event, “RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI (Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan)” at Echizen Sabae Echizen Lacquerware Traditional Industry Building, Urushi-no-sato Kaikan in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, there were many interesting and creative things to see and do.

 

Other than Echizen Sabae Echizen Lacquerware Traditional Industry Building, Urushi-no-Kaikan in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, studios and shops in several areas in Sabae City were used for other events as part of the event.

 

 

Source: The photograph from the official website of

“RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”

(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

At the studios in Kawada district, Sabae City, “RENEW” was held. The craftsmen in the venue area opened their studios to the public. The visitors felt how it is to be in their studios and touched the actual products made by them. The products were purchasable.

 

 

Source: The photograph from the official website of “RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”

(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

At Nakayama Park in Sabae City “Creema Craft Caravan in Sabae” was held. There was a flea market in which handmade accessories and many products were sold.

 

 

Source: The photograph from the official website of “RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”

(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

At PARK in Kawada district, Sabae City, “Moving to Kawada district, EXPO” was held. At this event, the visitors observed the inside of Park FACTORY and experienced making products.

 

 

Source: The photograph from the official website of “RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”

(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

The panel discussion was conducted by some of the 67 young designers and craftsmen who moved to Kawada district from other prefectures in the past few years. Also, they invited guest speakers for the special panel discussion. At this event, the vacancy information of the houses in Kawada and employment information were released.

 

If you have a chance to visit the event, RENEW × Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan, please enjoy their great handmade crafts, panel discussion and their studios.

 

Also, even when there isn’t any event held at Echizen Sabae Echizen Lacquerware Traditional Industry Building, Urushi-no-sato Kaikan in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, you can see and purchase the traditional lacquerwares, learn about them and experience making lacquerware.

 

I'd like to share a video of "RENEW", "RENEW × DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI (Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan ". You can see how interesting and creative the event was. Please enjoy!

RENEW×大日本市鯖江博覧会 from RENEW on Vimeo.

T.F

Bamboche de Yama, a lovely restaurant in the center of Fukui City

On the night of heavy snow, I went to a restaurant "Bamboche de Yama", which is in the center of Fukui city but a bit far from the center of downtown. It is a small bistro with 4 or 5 tables.

I ordered a course of dishes to share, 5,000 yen per person for dishes. Of course, you can choose an ordinary  full-course style. First I ordered glasses of Sherry, then Burgundy and Rhone red wine in half bottles. When I want to consult about a drink, it is good that the distance to the shop people is close. We enjoyed our meal calmly.

It was also a point for me that they asked whether there are any foods I can't eat when I called for booking.
I thought that I would like to come again.
T.S

Appetizer of the day

Dish of fish

It is a meat dish, but since the vegetables on the side were beautiful, I took a photo from this direction...

The appearance of the restaurant that I took this morning. It is a house built next to a big building.

Opposite the restaurant, there is the Mouth of Truth on the wall of Fukui Palace Hotel.

Photo exhibition of Mitsuaki Iwago’s World “Cats” Travelogue

The Sea of Japan side was hit by a cold wave this weekend. In Fukui, the snow accumulation of 70 cm was recorded, the first time in seven years. Although I am used to heavy snowfall, looking at the snow falling all day, I was anxious how much the snow would accumulate. Today, snowing finally stopped and I feel relieved that I can see the blue sky.

By the way, during the New Year’s holidays, I went to see the photo exhibition of Mitsuaki Iwago’s World “Cats” Travelogue held at Seibu department store in Fukui. Although this is the year of the Dog, people don’t seem to be interested in dogs. The exhibition was popular. For reference, there is the year of the Cat in Tibet and Thailand etc.

There were photos of adorable cats taken in Paris, Provence, Sicily, Belgium, Croatia, Norway, Hawaii, Taiwan and Okinawa etc. in the exhibition. Most of the cats have beautiful names such as Praline, Requy, Noel, Nina, Pichoux, Lirou, Isabel and Olga etc. which each features its location.

I was happy to be comforted by cats around the world early in the new year. (H.S)

This is the exhibition’s poster cat, Gazette (female) in Paris. The pose is well known in its neighborhood.

*Iwago used Olympus OM-D E-M1 to take all of the cat photos. Of course, while he was filming with a video camera for TV, he also had the camera around his neck. He appreciated it was a high-performance and a small one. And, it was a good thing for cats also.

RENEW × Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan -The town loved by young designers and craftsmen- Part 1

Source: The photograph from the official website of

“RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI

(Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

I went to Echizen Sabae Echizen Lacquerware Traditional Industry Building,

Urushi-no-sato Kaikan in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture in October, 2017.

 

When I visited there, a special event, “RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI (Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan)” was held.

 

The event “RENEW” cooperated with Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten to make this event happen. The concept of the event is the town the town loved by young designers and craftsmen. 85 studios and companies from Fukui and other prefectures participated in the event.

Other than Echizen Sabae Echizen Lacquerware Traditional Industry Building, Urushi-no-Kaikan in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, studios and shops in several areas in Sabae City were used for other events as part of the event.

 

 

Source: The photograph from the official website of

“RENEW　×　DAINIPPONICHI SABAE HAKURANKAI

(Exhibition of Sabae City in Japan”(http://renew-fukui.com/index.html)

*only available in Japanese

 

At Urushi-no-sato Kaikan, as soon as I walked into the building, I saw a cute and gorgeous deer coated with traditional urushi lacquer was exhibited for the special event. And in other areas in the building, there were DJs playing nice music and many designers and artists exhibited their handmade products as well. They also had Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten’s store and panel discussion.

 

One of the special booths I liked was a shopping area. There were stylish products including sweaters, sweatshirts, scarfs, accessories, incense and everything in between. They also had Japanese confectioneries and several kinds of snacks.

 

I bought a pack of incense sticks (the smell is so nice and the package looks stylish)and a bag of organic dried fruits (they tasted sweet even with no sugar added).

 

The event had both new and old ways of creating things.

I think that traditional things are very important in any culture.

However, focusing on only traditional might be less interesting.

With only traditional, people can't see/feel the new things and/or have new perspectve.

Things can stay the same and it can inhibit potential of young people as well.

Therefore, I enjoyed this event so much because it had both new and old.

 

I would like to share one of our videos " Lacquerware artisans from Bhutan taking a training program in Kawada district in Sabae City".

In this video, young lacquerware artisan from Bhutan who learned about Japanese lacquerware in Sabae, Fukui talks about how she felt about the lacquerware in Sabae, Fukui. She also talks about how important for both new and old are used. Please enjoy watching it.

T.F

 

Official website of Echizen Lacquerware Cooperative

Recommendation of izakaya in Fukui City “Rogumi”

Late last year, I went to an izakaya where my friend recommended me.

The izakaya, Rogumi (Fukui-ekimae shop), opened last spring.

It’s a new shop, so the inside is very clean.

I had a 4,000 yen Kagaribi course and 1,500 yen all-you-can-drink option.

They also have many other delicious-looking menus, so I would like to order each dish next time. 

Among the all-you-can-drink menus, there was a fruit liquor called “Ranmei-chu”.

I thought it was like a “Shinru-chu” from China but I didn’t know what kind of liquor it was. So I asked a staff and found it was blueberry liquor. Its kanji also has beautiful expression. It was cold outside, so I had it with hot water and it was good with a soft sweet flavor. 

The izakaya was crowded as it was the end-of-the-year party season, but the young staff’s service was good and I was impressed. A staff even came outside the entrance to see us off. This kind of service remains in my mind as well as the dishes.  

I recommend the “Rogumi”, if you look for a nice izakaya in Fukui City. (H.S) 

　　　　　　　　　　The course starts like this way.

　　　　　　　　　　I went to with a friend and had our own room.

　　　　　　　The course includes other sashimi, tempura, grilled oyster 　　　　　　　and buckwheat noodles etc. 

Happy New Year !

Happy new year !
Thank you for watching our videos and reading the blog.

We will continue spreading the charms of Fukui and Japan through our videos and blog. I hope you enjoy them!

T.F