Canal City

CANAL CITY, HAKATA, FUKUOKA, JAPAN

Canal City is in itself like a city within a city. But don't be misled by the name, Canal City is not actually a city per se, it is a just a big shopping complex with hundreds of internationally branded shops, cafe, and restaurants. It also serves as a venue for internationally acclaimed artists and acrobats. I happened to watch a circus during the golden week that amazingly kept my eyes glued on the performances.

Hakozaki Shrine

At the entrance of Hakozaki Shrine.

This is one of the three major shrines of Hachiman god, along with Iwashimizu Hachiman shrine (Kyoto)and Usa Hachiman shrine（Ooita）. This shrine is dedicated to Emperor Oujin, Empress Jingu and Tamayorihime-no-mikoto. It was founded in 923, with the transfer of god from Daibu Hachiman shrine in Honami-gun, Fukuoka. Since the 12th century, as the role of Korokan (ancient guesthouse for diplomats) declined, this shrine became a busy juncture of overseas trading and has survived a series of fires from the Mongolian invasion. Numerous building structures, including the main hall, the worship hall, Sakuramon gate, Ichino-torii (gate) and wooden lantern, are designated as important cultural assets. Tamaseseri Festival and Hojoya Festival are held at this shrine every year and attract a lot of people. (Source:http://www.hakozakigu.or.jp/)

Shinkansen, Japan's Fastest Train

I had the chance to ride on this very speedy train in Japan called the Shinkansen. It is a kinda luxurious kind of transportation yet very comforting. Its modernity is amazingly unbelievable.

Here are some of the descriptive facts about the shinkansen which I got from Wikepedia.

The Shinkansen (新幹線?, new main line), also known as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of 2,387.7 km (1,483.6 mi) of lines with maximum speeds of 240–300 km/h (149–186 mph), 283.5 km (176.2 mi) of Mini-shinkansen with a maximum speed of 130 km/h (81 mph) and 10.3 km (6.4 mi) of spur lines with Shinkansen services.[citation needed] The network presently links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, with construction of a link to the northern island of Hokkaido underway and plans to increase speeds on some lines up to 320 km/h (199 mph).[citation needed] Test runs have reached 443 km/h (275 mph) for conventional rail in 1996, and up to a world record 581 km/h (361 mph) for maglev trainsets in 2003. Running at speeds of up to 300 km/h, the shinkansen is known for punctuality (most trains depart on time to the second), comfort (relatively silent cars with spacious, always forward facing seats), safety (no fatal accidents in its history) and efficiency

Kansai International Airport

After almost fours of riding the Cebu Pacific plane, finally we landed in Japan. We landed at the Kansai International Airport in Japan. It is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Ōsaka Station, off the shore of the cities of Sennan and Izumisano and the town of Tajiri in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is newer than the Osaka International Airport, which is quite closer to the city and now handles only domestic flights. It was ranked 4th overall in the Airport of the Year 2006 awards named by Skytrax, after Singapore Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and Munich Airport. The airport serves as an international hub for All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

Going to Japan

I am pretty busy carefully packing our things for our Japan trip tomorrow. It will be a new experience for me and my daughter as we travel to a place where we are both illiterate. LOL. Only few Japanese can speak English and it will surely be a hindrance for me to communicate with them. I just hope that my mastery in sign langauage, I mean, action words, will do good for me and help me in letting the Japanese understand what I mean. Let's wait and see. For the meantime, I have to finish packing our things. Bon voyage to us.