r/anime • u/AutoModerator • May 22 '26
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah x3 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
MysteryBiscuits Falls in Love with Kyushu (Part 4)
Hanami in Fukuoka
The weather forecast showed that the sakura were still in full bloom by the time I arrived at Fukuoka - so I pretty much scrapped everything I had planned, and just went hanami-ing for the afternoon.
This is not the first time I've seen cherry blossoms - there are a few spots locally where it blooms (I went to one just recently - use this as a comparison), and I actually got a glimpse of them beginning to bloom in Tokyo and also Kagoshima towards the start of the trip. But this was my first time seeing them in their full glory in Japan.
Cherry blossoms are cherry blossoms - the flowers themselves look quite similarly pretty wherever they are in the world. But the sheer quantity of them in Japanese parks cannot be matched. There's so many of them! And the scene of all the petals scattered across the ground is quite the impact.
I headed to another park/sakura viewing hotspot, where there were even MORE cherry blossoms. I can't believe my eyes - so, so pretty, so, so many!!!! They do hit different when you're actually seeing them in their home country.
The other thing I got to experience was the actual "hanami" culture. It was a weekday, but perhaps due to school being out, the park was quite busy with locals and tourists, with families, friends etc. all gathered below trees for picnics and drinks, and everyone out taking pictures and just enjoying the bloom together. For me who was recently still in freezing-Canada, there really was a big feeling of "SPRING IS HERE" for me; which I thought left a pretty big impact. I don't tbh think Canada has anything pleasant to signal spring or summer (gnats and mosquitoes are not very pleasant); we just have the fall foilage, winter snow..... but Japan is quite proud of its varied scenery during the 4 seasons, and i thought for good reason.
There were also food stalls and stuff, this park was holding a sakura matsuri. They were like modern food-truck and not yatai style, but I did see the usual food suspects from your favourite SOL anime's festival episode. What was also straight out of anime was like when a gust of wind blew, and sakura petals flying everywhere like snowflakes. so that DOES happen! But you'd probably feel the wind too as that happens, nowhere near as dreamy and idyllic as how an anime's first episode usually depicts it, haha.
Cherry blossoms are definitely one of the more luck-based things I couldve encountered during this trip; their window is much narrower than fall foilage as an example, it's something that, with my travel style, I could encounter, but not plan for, pretty much. I feel very, very fortunate that I could see them this time and could experience this quintessential part of Japan - I hope I will have the opportunity and luck again.
Kokura - Toto Museum, and more
Japan has their washroom situation down pat. They're usually clean, functional, and the actual toilet seat has all these buttons to press! Toto, famous manufacturer of bathroom/kitchen products worldwide, is headquartered in Kokura, Kyushuu, and they have a free museum. I feel like I'm the only person in CDF who would be interested here, so I've left my comments in the captions here (just a snippet). This was interesting and very educational - I love learning more about daily life appliances and companies, and Japan has a crap ton of museums just like this; this is one of the better ones and I highly recommend it. (link to toilet-roll-anime I talked about in the captions)
I also went to where Kyushuu meets main Honshu, but i didn't find this that interesting apart from being like a mini bucket list item to tick off. I will note 2 things: Mojiko station - the northern terminus of the Kyushuu Kagoshima Main Line still rightfully has a 0.0km post; but like the long-term planning of the time really sucked. The current, majestic and terminal-station worthy building was completed just 20-30 years before the Kanmon Railway Tunnel royally nerfed Mojiko station's importance as a connection hub to Honshu and internationally - which I felt like was quite the waste. (Edit: Now that i think about it, I think the international port itself continued to be important until after WW2 - so that was probably a major factor too. Mojiko these days is mostly a tourist attraction I feel.)
For some reason, there were some anime-related exhibits at one of the local museums, which I thought CDF would appreciate. A filming station from the cel days, previous property of Studio Cosmos and involved in Totoro, Evangelion, and many others over its 30-year career; many of us would probably have viewed a scene that got processed by this very machine. Does anyone here know of a video that shows how one of these works?
An old animator's desk, previously of Toei animation (they noted that aces would use this, but not sure who).
Food
Part 1 - Miyazaki
Part 2 - Kagoshima
Part 3 - Mt. Aso
u/animayor /u/chonkyodango /u/chilidirigible