October 30th, 2018

Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Sasaguri English Booklet
Compositions about Sasaguri sightseeing spots
This simple English booklet contains short compositions of 21
24 sightseeing spots inSasaguri town written by nine Japanese students who are also residents of Sasaguri.
The students hope to give the readers a glimpse of Sasaguri town’s renowned places
such as Nanzoin’s
Sleeping
Buddha (featured on the cover) through their compositions
Okunoin's
Hasami-Iwa
and photographs. Below are specific definitions of each term used in the title.
1. Sasaguri: a town located in Kasuya district, Fukuoka City, Kyushu Island, Japan.
2. Sightseeinga: the activity of visiting places of interest in a particular location.
3. Spota: a particular place or point.
a= Defined by Apple’s Dictionary version 2.0.3

Sasaguri English ClassSasaguri English Class aims to:
1. Create a simple English booklet that briefly introduces renowned places in Sasaguri
such as shrines, temples, recreational areas and natural sceneries.
2. Provide guidance and advice to students to writing English compositions about 2 ormore topics based on their chosen themes.
3. Provide guidance and advice to students to verbally presenting their written
compositions to the class.
4. Visit some of Sasaguri sightseeing spots.

Sasaguri English Class’s main objectives are as follows:
1. Divide students into groups.
2. Each group decides on their theme of their composition.
3. Students decide on the topics and content based on their themes.
4. Students write short compositions about their chosen topics.
5. Students refine their compositions based on their teacher’s corrections and advice.
6. Students verbally present their final composition using audio-visual aids.
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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Map of Sasaguri Town

The locations of 21
24-sightseeing spots

On the map there are names of 21
24-sightseeing spots that the students had written about
in their compositions. JR train stations are labeled as A, B, and C, which were thethree themes where students had grouped into respectively. Within the vicinity ofthese train stations, students had chosen the sightseeing spots (1 to 2124) as their topics
for their compositions but were not limited to these 2124 spots.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing SpotsGroup A: Sasaguri station
Create Sasaguri is north of Sasaguri
station. It is a Cultural Facility. There
are multipurpose rooms, which have atotal seating capacity of over 600, alibrary and other rooms for group
activities.

Oasis Sasaguri is north of Sasaguri
station and next to Create Sasaguri. It
has a hall, a lobby, a karaoke room,
an athletic gym and a big public bath.
Everyone is welcome to use thefacility.

Honmyouin temple is located north ofSasaguri station. It takes 10 minutes
on foot. This temple is the 33rd temple
out of a total of 88 temples however,
it is referred to as “Uchihajime”.
Uchihajime means starting point ofpilgrimage. If you intend to visit all
the 88 temples, you are highly
recommended
tostartfromHonmyouin temple. The total
distance traveled from temple number
1 to number 88 is about 44 km.

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Fudarakuji temple is located threeblocks from Sasaguri station. It is the79th of the 88 temples, however, it is
the last temple that pilgrims visit.

Mt. Wakasugi, a symbol of Sasaguri
town is known as a sacred place. It is
681 meters in height and has morethan half of Sasaguri 88 pilgrimage
temples all over the mountain. There
are many routes taken to visit those
temples on the way to the summit.

On the top of Mt. Wakasugi, there isa temple named Okunoin. It is theplace where Kukai made his spiritual
training. On the way to the temple,
we can see the Twin Stones called“Hasami-Iwa”. The fascinating thing
about the twin stones is that the space
between these stones is about 30 cm,
but no matter if you are heavy, youwill pass it if your heart is honest.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

The sports park has a soccer ground,baseball ground, tennis court, jogging
road and playground for the children.

Wakasugi Rakuen is a campsite.
Visitors are free to choose thecamping spots within the campsite.
Near the campsite, there aresightseeing spots such as Okunoin,
Komenoyama and the Ruins of
Takatori Castle.

These are the biggest Japanese cedars
in Fukuoka Prefecture. They werediscovered in April 2000.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Suga Shrine was built in 1775.
Sasaguri Gion annual festival takes
place in July. The float is carriedthrough the town. At night you cansee the fireworks. Many street
vendors set up stalls to sell theirgoods.

Taiso Gongen came from China in724. He is a god who brings forthrain. Taiso Kagura is dedicated to therain god in April and October.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Group B: Chikuzen Yamate Station
This station has 100 stairs and is anunattended station, however, you cansee attractive wall paintings.

The park has beautiful green lawn
and amazing scenery of waterflowing from the dam. It is a veryrelaxing sight.

You can see Route 201 through thetrees from Mineo. Car lights at nightprovide colorful and luminous
scenery.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Sasaguri town is rich in nature.
About 70% of Sasaguri is covered
with forest. Aratakougen is one of
Sasaguri’sforests,
whichisrecognised as a “forest therapy base”.
People who visit the Aratakougen
can enjoy the programs for healthand relaxation.

Ninotaki temple has a beautiful
waterfall next to it. A lot of people
visit this temple for the purpose of“takigyou” (spiritual training) andrefreshment in fresh air in thewaterfall vicinity. There is an inn
where visitors can use for lodging.

We are able to bathe in fresh air andsunshine in this area. Also, it ispossible to have barbeque parties. It
is a great spot for relaxation withnature.

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Sasaguri Sightseeing Spots

Maximum amount of water reserve:
4,400,000 m3 tons
Height: 67.4 m
Length: 3080 m
This is a water tank for Sasaguri
town’s people.

Gotoh means five-story pagoda (aHindu/Buddist temple or sacredbuilding). It resembles water flowing
from five-story pagoda. We are able
to enjoy the view of seasonal change
camellia, cherry blossom in spring,and bursts change of brilliant colorsof leaves in fall.

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Group C: Kidonanzoin Mae Station
0Nanzoin is the most famous temple
in Sasaguri and has the biggest
bronze “Sleeping Buddha” in theworld. Many years ago, a Nanzoin
Chief Priest was known to have won
lotteries many times.
Nanzoin have sent medical supplies
to the children of Myanmar andNepal for many years.

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The lying figure makes itself at homevery much. It is the biggest bronze
statue in the world. The statue is 41
meters long, 11 meters high andweighs about 300 tons, roughly thesize of a jumbo jet.

The Sasaguri English booklet came to fruition due to the tremendous efforts of all thestudents (Ms. Yasuko, Ms. Keiko. E, Ms. Miyoko, Ms. Mitsue, Ms. Chika, Mr.
Hiromi, Ms. Eiko, Ms. Mie and Ms. Keiko. A), the guidance provided by Mr. Soli
(English teacher), the assistance from English Coordinator Ms. Chie (Ehouse), andgenerous help from Mr. Katsuki (Create Sasaguri) who provided reference materials(photocopying, printing, CDs) for the teacher and students to use.
Mr. Soli and his students are very grateful to have been able to use one of theconference rooms at Create Sasaguri Community Center for their English classes
every Thursdays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (December 10th, 2009 to March 18th, 2010).

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