Friday, 28 November 2025

Another epic trip in an epic train today but before that there were a couple of temples and shrines to visit as well as another art museum.

I had wanted to visit Shofukuji, the oldest Zen temple in Japan, and on Todd’s recommendation the Asian Art Museum. My route to the latter took me to the Kushida Shrine. Before any of that I visited the Buddhist temple Jotenji and discovered it was the origin of soba and udon noodles in Japan. Shoichi Kokushi brought the skill of milling and the recipes for the noodles back with him from China in 1241. The temple has a monument in his honour (it’s the one on the left).

3 monuments, one on the left is for soba & udon noodles

The grounds also had some nice Buddha statues and a sand garden.

a particularly cute Buddha

nice sand garden

Then it was onto Kushida and that was very popular with people everywhere.

one of the entrances

To the left of this entrance is a pedestrian street and first time around I totally missed this shrine entrance and wandered down the pedestrian street instead and then had to circle back again.

if you have patience you can make people disappear

hello old friend

people just kept turning up

With more focus I navigated my way to the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, which I discovered was closing next month for renovations. There was only one gallery open but there was some interesting things to see.

not even in the actual museum but in the foyer on level 1

upstairs in the museum near the coffee shop

Sleeping Pintado by Roberto Feleo

Battle of Mara by Thawan Duchanee

Part of “Badman” by Herii Dono

Now to find Shofukuji.

nice bell tower

and a Hall of Buddhas

the temples and shrines are hording the autumnal foliage

nice standing Buddha

three Buddha images

There is gold thread tied to the right hand of each of the Buddhas and they are then attached to a memorial pillar via a rope of goodness, according to a message on the pillar (in Japanese).

“Touching the memorial pillar means touching the Buddha of the Three Worlds. This is a rare opportunity to touch this pillar and pray for good health, longevity, and recovery from illness. It is said that a rare bond will be formed, the Buddha’s mercy will be bestowed upon you, you will be able to enjoy the benfits of his merits, and your wishes will come true.”

the pillar in front of the hall

It was then time to return to the station and my appointment with a N700Supreme. The current top of the line Shinkansen running on the Sanyo and Tokaido lines. Most Nozumi services are still using the N700A but if you examine the timetable you can find the N700S services. Unfortunately this one left Hakata at 3pm and got to Tokyo 5 hours later at 7:57pm, unfortunately because sunset is at 4:30pm in Tokyo (4:45pm in Kyoto) and so the bit I missed on the south bound leg will be in darkness.

N700S

Yes it’s hard to tell the difference from the outside, from the front at least.

understated N700Supreme on the side

bit nicer inside than a N700A

By a massive fluke my seat had a great view of the station staff flagging off the train.

we are ready to roll

Oh and I finally bought an ekiben (eki = railway station, ben shortened bento), it was a 5 hour journey so I had snacks and drinks too.

tasty ekiben

I’m now in Tokyo for a couple of days to catch up with friends.