Things to do in Takeo

I came here after watching Detective Conan. It feels like a small Dutch town, very relaxed, without the crowds of TDL/S or USJ, and you don't need to rush to any attractions. It's just nice to stroll around quietly. There are many hotels here, making it suitable for overnight stays. There's a light show at night, and if you're lucky, there's even a fireworks display.

Mifuneyama Rakuen was a private garden of the Kuroshima family, the lord of the area during the Edo period. Built against the 210-meter-high Mifuneyama Mountain, it covers an area of ​​more than 500,000 square meters. Every spring, the blooming azaleas cover the entire azalea valley like a carpet, and the artificial winding water and the towering Mifuneyama Mountain form a unique landscape.

We prayed for our elderly family member in front of a 3,000-year-old camphor tree. Compared to Ureshino and Takeo, Takeo is much bigger and more pleasant to visit.

Ureshino Hot Springs is famous, and so is its tea. Ureshino tea is the tea that Toyotomi Hideyoshi brought back from the Korean Peninsula with the captives of the Central Dynasty (including soldiers from the tea-producing areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang) and the tea-growing and tea-making techniques. Did the three great expeditions of Wanli win or lose? In any case, when they later paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming people from Nanjing brought the iron pot tea-frying technique to the east. It is said that part of Ureshino tea, namely the iron pot tea, still retains the tea-frying technique of the Ming Dynasty. Now most Japanese tea-making techniques are steam-extracted tea, including matcha. I talked to a tea garden owner about organic tea. Ureshino is a hilly basin area. As long as a tea garden inevitably uses pesticides, the pesticide residues floating in the air will cause a large area of ​​tea gardens to not be able to obtain pesticide-free certification, and organic certification seems to be very difficult. Everyone tries not to use pesticides as much as possible, and then takes tea leaves from higher altitudes that are not easily contaminated by second-hand pesticides for certification. I couldn't control myself and bought a certain iron pot tea from Ureshino and a mixed tea of ​​green tea and tea powder from another tea garden. The website of another tea shop said that they had 3 kilograms of award-winning tea. I went there just to take a look at the award-winning tea, but it was sold out just a few days after it was on the market. In the end, I ended up buying some tourist tea as a souvenir.

The vermilion color of the stage is amazing! That alone is worth the visit. The shopping street in front of the temple is a little rundown, but it's fun to look at the souvenirs. 😊

Arita Ceramic Park is a leisure park with ceramics as its theme. The biggest highlight is the ceramic art museum built to simulate the German "Zweienger Palace". The museum houses world-renowned Arita ware works. The historical evolution of Arita ware can be clearly seen from the works from the Edo period to the Meiji period. In addition, the 180 cm large vase exhibited at the 1870 Vienna World Expo is one of the must-see collections in the museum. In the Arita ware workshop, you can experience the fun of kneading pottery and painting. Even beginners can create a unique Arita ware. The Arita Pottery Market held in late April and early May every year is a grand local festival with a history of nearly 100 years.

#HuisTenBosch trip on the way back to #Fukuoka, stopped by #Takeo for a bit... Check out the beautiful library, sit down and have a drink at #Starbucks...

Takeo Onsen, which has a history of 1,300 years, has been a popular hot spring resort for historical figures since ancient times. The Japanese historical book "Hizen Province Fudoki" records that Empress Jingu once came to bathe. During the Bunroku-Keicho War, Toyotomi Hideyoshi also visited with many soldiers and left a red seal for bathing experience; famous military commanders of the Edo period, such as Miyamoto Musashi, Date Masamune, and Inō Tadataka, also left their footprints. You must experience the exclusive use of the lord's palace. And you must experience the 150-year-old hot spring Motoyu.

Accommodation Guide for Takeo - Kyotoya Takeo Romantic Hotel [Recommendation reason] We chose Kyoto Taisho Romantic House as the hotel to stay in Takeo, mainly because its room rate is relatively cheap, with breakfast and dinner for a double room only over 1,000. In addition, they claim to be a century-old store with a romantic atmosphere of the Taisho era, and they also provide the service of picking up guests with antique cars. [Travel tips] As expected, we arrived at Takeo Station on that day and asked the sister of the travel agency to call the hotel for us. Soon, a short driver drove the vintage car in the picture to pick us up. Although the journey only took three or five minutes, the experience was still quite good. [How to play] Their hotel is indeed very old in terms of facilities, especially when entering the door, the carpet is worn out. In the lobby, you can see many antiques from the Taisho era, such as phonographs, coffee sets, etc., which are very characteristic of the times and can be used to take literary photos. The hotel rooms are relatively old but still clean, and the public bathrooms are also good. It is enough to take a bath. Meals are eaten in the restaurant. Although it is ordinary Japanese food, it tastes good. After running the hot springs, I recommend that you put on the hotel's yukata and outer kimono jacket, and walk around Takeo Onsen Street in the wooden clogs provided by the hotel. Takeo Onsen Street is right outside the door. You can look at some cute little shops along the street and walk all the way to Takeo Onsen Public Bathhouse. Here, you can see the legendary red gatehouse, which is also a good place to take pictures. There are many Japanese locals here to take a bath. If you buy a pass, you can take a bath in several hot springs. Of course, under normal circumstances, two baths are enough.