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The birthplace of great poet Hakushu Kitahara

Water andYanagawa

Yanagawa

Seoul Fukuoka
TokyoBusanJeju

The City of Water

Osaka Nagoya

Yanagawa

HongKong

GuamManila

Fukuoka Pref.
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Nagasaki
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umamoto
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Miyazaki
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FukuokaYanagawa City

History shows that Yanagawa has developed withwater. Around 2,000 years ago, a vast tideland of theSea of Ariake turned into land, and people dug
ditches in the wetland to store domestic andagricultural water. In the 7th and the 8th centuries, awaterway and a grid of paths between rice fields
were developed, and a modern castle town emerged.
Even today, this waterway, approximately 930 km
long, spreads around in Yanagawa City, and is known
as a Cultural Heritage because of its traditional,
cultural, and unique landscape.

Kagoshima
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From each airport
Tokyo
NagoyaFukuoka
Airport

Osaka
Tokyo,
Osaka

Subway Subway
10 min. Tenjin Sta.

Walk
3 min.

Urban
Expressway

KyushuHighway

7 min.

SagaAirport

Saga Bus Center

Nishitetsu
Fukuoka(Tenjin) Sta.

Dazaifu I.C 29 min. Yame I.C

By car30 min.

Nishitetsu Tenjin
Omuta Line47 min.

By car30 min.

Yanagawa

Yanagawa

Saga Bus Center

50 min.

Yanagawa

Yanagawa City
[Yanagawa City] (URL) http://www.city.yanagawa.fukuoka.jp
Tourism Section, Yanagawa City Hall87-1 Hon-machi, Yanagawa City, Fukuoka, 832-8601
TEL: 0944-73-8111 FAX: 0944-74-1374
Yanagawa City Tourist Association (inside Yanagawa City Tourist Information Center)
35 Okinohata-machi, Yanagawa City, Fukuoka, 832-0065
TEL: 0944-73-2145 FAX: 0944-72-9013
2008.3.

Yanagawa, where small boats (called donko-bune) with tourists
on board come and go on the rippling waterway
Awaiting you is a lovely time in an area with an atmospherereminiscent of a castle town.
The flow of water and gentle tones of poems soothe your mind.
Yanagawa offers travelers abundant and genuine pleasure.

Canal boat sailing

Enjoy the seasonal landscape from the canal.

Looking for vestiges of thecastle town boasting a long history

Gifts from the fertile sea andtraditional skills

Unagi no Seiro-mushi
Cherry blossoms andthe canal

Kawakudari in autumn

Kotatsu-bune down the canal
Ohana Seiyokan (Western-style building)

Former Residence of the Toshima family

Yanagawa was established as a castle town governed by the lord of acastle since 700 years ago in the Muromachi Period (1333-1568).
Then it was ruled by the Tachibana family during the Edo Period(1600-1868).
Shoto Park (Ohana) that was a villa of the Tachibana family, the former
residence of the Toshima family, and many temples and shrines arereminiscent of the history of Yanagawa.
Tono-no-kura

Yanagawa
MariYanagawa Nabe

Cuisine made of fish andshellfish from the Sea of Ariake“Unagi no Seiro-mushi” (eel steamed in a basket), aspecialty of Yanagawa. Try this delicious cuisine at
one of over 20 unagi restaurants. Yanagawa hasmuch more to offer special foods of fish andshellfish caught in the Sea of Ariake, such as“Yanagawa Nabe”, a hot pot of loaches. Folk art
and handicrafts including Yanagawa Mari (handball),Yanagawa K a m i d a n a (Buddhist altar) are the product ofskills passed down from generation to generation.

Nami-kura

Kawakudari is most popular
A boat ride down the canal called
among tourists visiting Yanagawa. Getting on a boat at one of
the six boat stations in the city, visitors can enjoy anapproximately one-hour boat trip. The introductionofKotatsubune , a boat equipped withkotatsu (a Japanese style fireplacewith a coverlet) in 1965 enabled tourists to enjoy the boat trip
all year round. Now there are six boat operators with about 100
boatmen, who also offer emotional and humorous anecdotes as
they guide tourists through the beauty of the seasons.

A footstep of the great poetthe town of water produced
Healing effect of hot spring water
Kyushu is renowned as a hotspring paradise. Yanagawa is
not an exception. A hot spring
found in 1965 contains sodium
bicarbonate and salt in its
colorless and transparent water,which beautifies your skin and iseffective for skin diseases andneuralgia.
Mizu no Sato “Haenkaze”

Yanagawa Municipal Folk Museum

Seasonal events that gives
various colors to Yanagawa

Hakushu Kitahara, a representative poet ofJapan in Taisho-Showa Period, producednumerous fine pieces of poems and lyricsof children’s songs. He was born to a
family running a seafood wholesale store
and a sake brewery, a purveyor to theYanagawa Domain. Although their house
was burned down when he was 16, it wasrebuilt in 1969 and now serves as amuseum displaying his writings andarticles. Also Kitahara Hakushu Memorial
Park, located behind the house, introduces
Wa ter Parade at Hakushu
historical and folklore data as well as the Festival
life of Hakushu.

January: Birthday Celebration of Hakushu Kitahara (JaFebruary: Setsubun (Bean Throwing) Festival of Hiyoshi
March: Doll’s Festival / Sagemon-meguri (mid-Feb. April: Nakayama Great Wisteria Festival
May: Okinohata Suitengu Shrine Festival (May 3-5)
July: Nakashima Gion Festival (4th Saturday)
July: Unagi Kuyo Festival (Requiem Service for Eel) (July: Sunflower Festival (late Jul. - early Aug.)
August: Ariake Sea Firework Festival (late Aug.)
September: Dan Kazuo Literature Festival (Sep. 23)
October: Mihashira Shrine Onigie (early Oct.)
November: Hakushu Festival (November 1-3)
December: Tofu Memorial Service for Hase Ken (1st Sun