Kokura

Kokura is a city in the north of Kyushu and it is famous for being the original target of the bomb that eventually hit Nagasaki; the city's people must have been grateful for the bad cloud cover that day. We were staying there as a base to head out to Space World the next day but we had the evening to explore the area.

A view over the river, the place was quite lively with a lot of it lit up.

A nice Bavarian looking restaurant on the riverbank.

That's the Riverwalk complex, a large collection of food places, shops and entertainment centres. It was also the main destination for the evening.

Very strange statues on a bridge with Penne pasta for heads, and here comes perhaps the worst pun of the trip. These people are called pastafarians.

Whilst some of the group rushed to McDonalds before it closed (why?) some of us found a nice Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed noodles. This crouching on the floor does hurt the knees after a while so I didn't mind standing to take the photo.

Arty shot inside the Riverwalk looking up.

Cute Halloween toy in one of the video game centres.

The Riverwalk complex is very modern look and surprisingly enjoyable to photograph with lots of lines in the structure that make good photos. The complex was pretty much closed at this time of night so playing with the camera was all we could do.

The Kokura skyline taken from a nice open bar atop the Riverwalk. The reflection is due to a large water feature with perfectly still water on it.

The balcony also offered a perfect vantage point of Kokura Castle, right next door to the Riverwalk.

Escaping the Riverwalk we explored the area and thought we'd try a little bar on the third floor of this place but it was closed so all we got from it was a lift ride.

Cute looking brides.

Another dinky police car.

After a good night's kip we decided to head out in the morning again, retreading our route to get some shots during the day with a focus of the castle grounds, which were closed the night before.

The Riverwalk and a coaster track looking fence on the bridge.

The pastafarians again.

This is our hotel, very nice it was too although I didn't like the idea of the young female bellboy having to carry our luggage, so I spent the lift journey having a chat with her instead.

Kokura Castle was originally built in 1602 and like a lot of prominent buildings burnt down in 1865. It's restoration didn't fully finish until the 1990s. The effort was worth it as the castle looked great.

The main Torii gate leading into the grounds of the castle. At first we weren't sure if we could enter. The paranoia in me was convinced the men that were working in the area were secret agents keeping an eye on wayward tourists.

Various statues and stuff within the grounds.

A Torii tunnel?

An advantage of being up so early in the morning is that you can catch the sunrise beautifully.

I didn't think much of the guard dogs.

Thirsty dragon was cool though.

Weird igloo shrine thing.

Views from the highest floor we could reach in the Riverwalk.

Artyfarty shot.

The castle was stunning and I love this Japanese architecture. I was so pleased that the hotel was literally just across the river. It meant this morning's walk was the shortest of the trip.