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Things I found around Kochomon (Natural Arch along Echizen Coast) on Echizen Coast

2017.01.30

Life in Fukui

 

I went to Echizen Coast last week. I stopped the car by Kochomon for a while and watched waves. Just watching waves was enjoyable as same as watching the bonfire. It was a little windy but it was pretty warm and the waves were calm for Sea of Japan in winter.
Therefore, I was able to get close to the sea and enjoy watching it.

 

A baseball was covered with barnacles and looked like a blowfish.

 

せいこ丼

It was around lunch time, so I had a crab meat rice bowl at “Rest Ujou”. “Seiko-crab” is female crab and the name is used in Fukui.

 

焼き鯖定食

Grilled mackerel set meal the person I went with ordered was plentiful and had an impact. Moreover,

 

有情の和式トイレ

I was surprised at the elaborated bathroom in this restaurant. There was a small garden called Tsubo-niwa in the bathroom. The picture above is Japanese-style toilet (squat toilet).

 

有情の洋式トイレ

There was a western toilet as well but the garden was the traditional Japanese one.

 

T.S

Triangular Rimmed Ancient Mirror Decorated with Gods and Animals Chocolate

2017.01.10

Life in Fukui

Fukui newspaper, January 8th, 2017

 

I see, this is the bronze mirror which was made with chocolate and it looks exactly the real thing. Isn’t this interesting? There have been workshops held by Mr. Fujikawa, a curator in Fukui City History Museum who helped me with the shooting the Buddha statue exhibition was held a while ago. The workshop for this year will be held on February 11th and 12th. I wonder if he let me take a video of the workshop…

T.S

The depicted girl in this statue looks cold

2016.09.20

Life in Fukui

Due to the typhoon, it has been raining all day today. The girl depicted in this statue looks cold under the rain. Fukui City placed this statue in the center of the city as one of the statues for a development project of "community with statues" in the 1990s. When I walk around this area, there are figurative statues like this, and I can also see abstract ones. There are about 20 of them altogether. （T.S）

Fukuro (Owl) Cafe

2016.08.15

Life in Fukui

I visited “Fukuro (owl) café” which has been opened up in Fukui City on this August 1st.

The café is located right by the intersection of “Yamaoku-cho” near Mt. Asuwa.

I bought a photo book the other day, “Beautiful Owls in the World”

published by PIE International + PIE Books.

I have heard that the book is selling well so I think owls must be popular now.

 

Customers get to stay there for an hour

(10 minutes for the staff to send off the customers and welcome the new ones,

10 minustes for the staff to give instructions to the customers

and 40 minutes for the customers to actually interact with owls)

and it starts every hour on the hour. It is a café but you cannot take time

enjoying your coffee because time flies having a cute owl on your arm,

looking at it closely and looking at resting ones on the shelf.

 

 

T.S

 

Fukuro (Owl) Cafe Fukui (available only in Japanese)

Fukuro (Owl) Cafe Fukui Facebook

 

Fukui-born stone “Shakudani Stone”

2016.08.09

Life in Fukui

People who were born and live in Fukui Prefecture must have seen the Shakudani stone by your side for granted. The stone is slight pale blue and it changes to dark blue if you run water over it. Previously, I myself have never been taken notice of the stone.
But the other day, while at plumbing work by its contractor in my backyard, an old Shakudani steppingstone appeared in the soil. So I wondered why my predecessor buried the stone, whether they just wanted to dispose it, and I became curious about the stone itself as well suddenly.

 

Shakudani stones are hardened ashes fell and settled by volcanic blast in ancient times and were taken around Mt. Asuwa mainly in Fukui City, but not any longer. According to records, the stones appeared in history of Fukui already 1,500 years ago, and they were used for stone Buddhist images or art objects as they were tractable.
Especially, the most important use perhaps was castle stones, I suppose.
And, Fukui Castle Ruins’ Shakudani stones still remain as shown in the photos below. (H.S)

 

※Fukui Castle was built in 1606 by Hideyasu Yuki and it was burned down in 1669.

 

 

 

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