Exploring Fukui, from a Cat Temple to the Dinosaur museum - Part one of my journey along the Hokuriku Shinkansen!
- ellieisadragon
- Aug 30, 2025
- 18 min read
Please note: I do not use genAI in any part of my life, and certainly not in my art or writing. This was written from my normal, human brain, with research done from various sources but primarily from the site itself.
Good morning, afternoon, evening, whenever you are!
Before I get to my ramblings I would like to let you know... this is not a travel guide! This is part of a creative retelling of my journey along the Hokuriku Shinkansen. If you're interested in an actual travel guide, I do plan to make one of those eventually, but a recount of my personal experience is something I'm likely to forget if I don't write this quick! It will still, of course, offer advice on where to go and where not to go, but not in such a succinct manner! Anyway, if that's still something you're interested in reading, without further ado, my trip!
My trip was off to a tiring start, as my Shinkansen from Omiya station was just before 8am, with Omiya station being over an hour from home, and I like to arrive at least 30 minutes before the Shinkansen departs. This is why you should book your tickets earlier than the night before! There were no seats left of the later morning trains. This was, unfortunately, a last minute trip with little planning, as it was only a few days after I had moved house, and Japan's paperwork and admin is not the easiest to navigate! Despite being very tired, I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever ekiben, which I had previously deemed just too expensive to be worth it, and was even blessed to be sat next to a very nice lady in the latter half of my trip, who kindly swapped seats with me so I could see the views out the window. I had a chat with her, and she shared that she was on her way to Kanazawa to visit family for Obon, a custom which honors the spirits of those who have passed. Thanks to her, I had a gorgeous view of the ocean to look out on whilst I ate my food.
Day one; Yokai, Pokemon, and lots of Cats!
My first stop was the furthest from home. Thank goodness for the speedy Shinkansen, it's a 6 hour drive from Tokyo to Fukui, but only 3 hours by train! Since I had such an early train, I had time to wander before dropping off my bags at the hostel, so I looked around the station area... Fukui is famous for it's dinosaurs, with many discoveries having been taken place there, and the station does not shy away from that. The station is surrounded by massive dinosaur animatronics and a wooden sculpture of a Fukuiraptor skeleton stands in the station itself.
After having a wander, I stopped by the tourist information centre, which frankly gave me too high a standard for the information centres later in my trip. After flipping through some of the many many flyers available, I went to the desk to ask for a station stamp, at which point the staff noticed the Shinx (Or Korinku, in Japanese!) hanging from my backpack. She shared a flyer with me from behind the desk, which showed information about a pokemon event taking place and the Seibu building. Apparently, to encourage tourism in lesser known parts of Japan, "Pokemon Local Acts" was started, in which different regions were assigned ambassador Pokemon, each of which suited their given community. Fukui, for example, was assigned Dragonite, due to it's dinosaur fossils! I would have thought Kubotops, or one of the Pokemon coming from fossils in game would have made more sense, but who am I to judge. Dragonite is probably just more popular! I decided to head over to have a look, but first got side-tracked by a strange appearance at the centre...
Yokai were roaming through the centre. Recognisably Nasubaba, however there were four roaming together. Curious, I followed them out. If you don't know, yokai are supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore, which were created to explain then-unexplainable phenomenon. I watched as they terrified some children outside, and the nasubaba happily posed for some photos; when their guide noticed I was following along, I was handed a flyer. There was an event going on nearby, where there were masks on display, as well as a gallery of Matthew Meyer's work. To my excitement, I later learned that Matt Meyer was actually attending, and had a stall at the event! He is the creator of Yokai.com, a website dedicated to introducing Yokai to the Western world, which I used quite often as a reference for art, and even learned some things from his books that I later mentioned at my JET programme interview! I figured I'd have to go to the event some time whilst in Fukui, and planned to go the following day.
The Pokemon Local Acts event wasn't too far to walk, so I continued there to check out what was actually going on. Honestly, it was mostly just selling themed goods, of course, but there was a little stamp rally (I always love a good stamp rally), and they had a display of all the Pokemon themed manhole covers you can find in the city! I would have gone hunting for them if I had the time. It's a fun way to explore parts of the city you wouldn't have found otherwise if you have the time, and you don't mind a long walk. I don't like to buy too much for the sake of the anti-consumerist in me, but I found some quagsire washi paper, which I thought would be great fun to draw on, as well as a few stickers with which to decorate my sketchbook. The event-only plushies were incredibly tempting, though.
After exploring the area around the station, I took the Happi line to the station local to the hostel I was staying at. I like to travel a lot, so I avoid splashing out on expensive hotels, and always go for the cheapest possible options. In this case, it was Hostel291 in Takefu. My original plan was to cycle to a kilometer long zip line, which I'd found whilst looking around on google maps, and while this idea does still excite me, a 3 hours of cycling on a mid 30-s celcius day did not! I'd seen that there were plenty of things in the area anyway, and I was not disappointed. I popped into the tourist information centre, just to make sure there was no bus, and alas, no, you really needed a car to get there. Or a bike and some serious dedication. It was clear, however, that the lady working at the centre had not had many customers that day; in fact, when I got of the train, I was concerned I had booked a hostel in a completely abandoned part of the prefecture. There was no one to be seen! Because of this, she was very enphusiastic to tell me about everything in the local area, despite me telling her I was only there for two days. At least she's given me things to come back for one day!
I stopped for a drink in a trendy looking cafe called "My name is...". An interesting use of English, like a lot of the trendy cafe's in Japan. Honestly, it was a little overpriced, but I had a pretty good smoothie, and I needed somewhere to sit down in air conditioning. I made a bit of a backup plan, since my zip line plans fell through, and actually, I think it was a good thing I didn't get to go, as I instead got to go to the house where an artist I admire was born, a buddhist temple known for caring for stray cats, and a lovely little cafe for afternoon tea.
So the first place I headed after doing some drawing in the cafe and finishing my drink was "The House Where Chihiro Was Born" memorial museum. Chihiro Iwasaki was a very famous children's book artist in Japan, and is well-known for her watercolour illustrations, and for her anti-war/child poverty work, joining the Japanese communist party after WWII. She was born in Takefu, but moved to Tokyo when she was very young, and lived in Nerima, near where I used to live, at the end of her life. Her house in Nerima became the Chihiro art museum when she died, which I went to a few months prior to this trip, when I was introduced to her work. I did intend to sit and draw in the museum for a while, but didn't have much chance, as I had a bus to catch, and so was on a time limit. It was only a small museum, but it had a recreation of her workspace, a gallery of her various works, and a library with her books, playing a video about her life. Despite not being a particularly large museum, it was definitely worth the cheap ticket price, and somewhere I would strongly recommend if you enjoy art.
On my way to the bus stop, I grabbed some taiyaki from a nearby stall as a little sweet treat to keep me going, and ate that before heading off to Gotanjoji. Colloquially known as the Cat Temple, Gotanjoji is famous for caring for stray cats, which freely roam the temple grounds, bringing many visitors to see them. They also had a golden retriever, which I was surprised to see did not bother the cats in the slightest! The best thing about it was the large Buddha statue in front of the temple; Buddha statues are a common sight in Japan, with temples everywhere, however the unique thing about this statues, was that he cradled a cat on each knee whilst meditating! It was a fantastic sight. In addition, I finally bought myself a Goshuincho. I had seen my partner get Goshuin, or "Temple seals", in his, but I'd never bought one myself. Goshuincho are the books in which temples can add their seals; although some temples may provide a seal on paper, many will only write one in a Goshuincho. I have been to a fair few shrines and temples since coming to Japan, but never bought a Goshuincho or collected goshuin, but after seeing the embroidered cats on the cover, and the cat themed seals the temple offered, I figured this place was the perfect place to start.
When my time at the temple was up, I made an unfortunate discovery; the last bus had already left. Although I am usually happy to walk long distances, and often choose to do so to save money, I had already walked a fair amount that day, and 90 minutes of walking with a bag in the summer heat was not a pleasant thought. Because of this, I attempted to hitchhike for the first time. At least, I made one attempt. I saw a young couple leaving the temple, and asked them if they had space in their car, and they unfortunately did not. Figuring that I didn't want to disturb anyone else, and no one else seemed to be leaving anyway, I headed onwards, prepared to walk. I walked for about 15 minutes, already struggling with the heat, as the semi-rural environment meant spaces to stop and sit for a while were lacking, before a car pulled over beside me. Of course, fight or flight was beginning to kick in; I was in the middle of nowhere, and getting kidnapped would not be a great start to a trip! But then, I noticed it was the same couple I had asked before. They had cleared space in their car and came back for me! Living in Tokyo almost made me forget that when you leave the city, the locals in rural Japan are some of the most generous people you will ever meet. They drove me back to Takefu station, chatting with me despite my broken Japanese, and I learned that they often visited the temple to hang out with the cats! It was nice to learn that it is a place that locals frequent, too, rather than just a tourist spot.
It was late afternoon by this point, so I went to "Book cafe Godo" for some tea, a lovely cafe with very chatty and friendly staff, and then to Takaseya for dinner. The recommendation I had been given at the tourist information centre was a restaurant near my hostel called Oshozuan, which is clearly very popular, as I had seen it earlier with a massive queue waiting outside in the heat. I was wanting to go there, but what strange opening times! It closed at 5pm. It served soba, so I instead chose Takesa, as it was nearby, and also served soba. It was good... I tried tsukemen for the first time, a meal where each mouthful is dipped in the sauce, which is in a separate bowl, before being eaten. Honestly, I wouldn't say Takesa was anything special. It was nice! But I would recommend exploring elsewhere, as there seemed to be a lot of other interesting options in the area.
Day two; History with a personal touch, and a touch of heatstroke
So two days in a row, I had a fun day, which was not at all according to my original plan. After a half-decent nights sleep at the hostel, I planned to go back to Fukui station to draw some of the dinosaur animatronics, go to the Yokai festival and catch the train to Fukui's famous dinosaur museum. The first two stages, at least, went according to plan. I sketched the triceratops animatronics, and went to a cafe to have breakfast and enjoy air-conditioning whilst I lined my drawings. Following this, I went to the yokai festival... there wasn't a whole lot there, especially not aimed at adults, but I am still very happy I went! I had the opportunity to meet both Matthew Meyer and the artist who had made the yokai masks I had seen worn patrolling the station area the day before, and wandered through a gallery of both of their works. I'm honestly glad there wasn't too much there, because I had to leave pretty early... there was a perfect amount for the hour I had!
After my morning adventures, it was about 11am, and time to head to the dinosaur museum... unfortunately, I failed to notice that reservations were usually required. There was a sign at the station from which the train to the museum departed that said "The museum is crowded today. You may not be able to enter the facility without a reservation.". I figured with an hour long journey there, it was not worth the risk, and I instead made a reservation for the next day, and went to some places I had planned to go later in the trip. I walked along the moat of the castle ruins, which was pretty cool in and of itself, but my destination was to be the Yokokan garden, a garden and sukiya-style building created in the Edo period as a villa for the Matsudaira family. I had a lovely time in the gardens, and sat inside for a while to draw them whilst enjoying the breeze through the open doors. Despite the breeze, it was still incredibly hot, and concerned about heatstroke, I continued through the building, stopping only to watch as a lady fed the huge koi in the pond. I walked through the gardens in the shade of the trees, and found a small well full of water. I was worried it had a specific purpose, or else I would have submerged my head to cool down! As a lady walked by, I mentioned in small talk that the water looks so cool. She clearly did not have the same concerns I did, and dipped her hands right in! One of the biggest rules I recommend travelling as a foreigner in Japan is don't do anything until you see a Japanese person do it first! I did so too, and I was right... nothing better than cold water on a very hot day!
I realised I had spend too long at the park, as I was starting to feel faint from the heat. I had ran out of water, and my head was thumping, so I went to the museum next door, hoping it had a place to sit. It did, but it unfortunately had no drinks, so I asked the lady at the desk if she knew of a vending machine nearby. She clearly did, however, told me as such whilst speaking incredibly fast, and my listening skills are... not great! Thankfully, a kind young man offered to show me, as he spoke English and could help me out. Thank goodness for the kind people in Fukui, saving me from heatstroke two days in a row! He returned to the museum as I bought my drink, and after sitting down to recover for a while, I also bought myself a ticket, and took a look at the exhibition. I enjoy going to museums to draw the things I see, as I can't read the Japanese descriptions (without being at the museum a full week), and I've never been good at absorbing information anyway. I'm just not that smart!
Whilst I was drawing one of the old vases, I was approached - it was the same kind man who had shown me to the vending machines! He introduced himself to me as, for privacy reasons, let's say Tanaka-san. He'd been raised in London for half of his childhood, and went back to attend university. No longer his English was so good! He shared that his grandmother was raised in Fukui, and suffered through air raids when she was 8 years old, moving to Tokyo after losing their home. Tanaka-san was at the museum to learn more about his family history and origins, and he explained a lot of the descriptions to me in English, adding a personal touch, explaining his ancestors involvement in various parts of history! He clearly already knew most of the information in the museum, and I was so happy he was willing to share that with me! I was incredibly grateful to Tanaka-san, who had not only helped me avoid heatstroke, but taught me a lot about Japanese history, and the value of exploring your own family history. It made me realise that I need to learn more about my own ancestors, as I only know as far back as my great-grandparents, and barely even know anything about my grandparents, let alone them.
We parted ways as I went to the special exhibition, a part of the museum he had already viewed, and after thanking him many times, I relied on google translate for the remaining time there! Unfortunately, if you've ever tried to translate a bulk of text from Japanese... it often does not come out right! The special exhibition was focused on Matsudaira Shungaku, the 16th lord of the Fukui domain. At this point, I was pretty tired, and had a bit of information overload, so didn't manage to take in much. I did get a photo of an interesting description of Americans though, as described when they first arrived in Japan. Google translated this description as:
"They received their lives from heaven ten thousand leagues away, and the differences in their appearances are as great as the distances that celestial bodies travel. Their hair is divided into three colours (yellow, read, and black). Their eyes are like lapis lazuli, their noses are high, and they are about 10cm tall. Their manner is very quiet and gentle. Their clothes have gold strings sewn on the shoulders and arms. Those with two strings are superior officers, and those with one string are subordinate officers."
I think it's safe to assume the "10cm tall" is a mistranslation. Unless Perry was just a very tiny man.
It was getting late, and I hadn't even had lunch, so I headed back to the station area, making a brief stop at the castle ruins on the way back. I was disappointed to see that an ugly office building had been built on top of the ruins, but there were still some interesting parts remaining, and the Orouka bridge was an enjoyable spot too. I also stopped briefly to take a look at Sakae no Yashiro Shrine, at least from a distance, as it was closed by then. Gorgeous shrine though, I'd love to go back. Finally, after heading back to Takefu, I hungrily ventured to Kuranotsuji street, hoping to find a good izakaya.
Kuranotuji street is a gorgeous historical street not far from Takefu station. However, despite being a recommended tourist spot, I was there for 15 minutes and saw only one other person. It was very peaceful, and honestly just what I needed. Luckily, despite it's being empty, there were a couple Izakayas open to chose from, so I popped into a secluded looking place, which turned out to be an excellent choice. Mikawaya had a good selection of alcohol, and pretty tasty food, but the most stand out thing here, as in everywhere I had been to in Fukui so far, was the people. Another customer sat at the counter was intrigued by the presence of some unknown foreigner, as I figured this place was primarily used by locals, and everyone knew each other already. I got to chatting with people, and the other customer told me about Japanese whiskey... or, tried to. He had clearly already had plenty of it that night! Chatting with the owners yielded more interesting results, with no offence meant to my friendly fellow customer. After talking for a while, I learned that they were the host family for another ALT from the UK! It was very unfortunate timing, as they were visiting family at the time, otherwise I would have scheduled to meet with them! At this point in the conversation, the other customer, who apparently knew this ALT, joined back in the conversation. He figured, even though it was my last night in Fukui, he would show me the ALTs favourite bars to go to in the city. Although I couldn't go this trip, I do have them saved, so maybe one day I will go back and check them out! Mikawaya is somewhere I would very much recommend to people staying in the area. The people there are absolutely lovely (though not much English), the food is delicious, and they have a good variety of drinks!
Final day; Dinosaurs!
I checked out of my hostel and dragged my bags to Takefu station, where I had previously noticed a soba stand which opened early in the morning; a perfect spot for breakfast before heading back to Fukui station! After taking the happi line for the last time, watching the rice paddies and spacious plots of trees and crop fly past, I dropped my bags off at the station's coin lockers and got ready to head to Fukui's big thing... it's dinosaur museum! I'd managed to get tickets for 11:30am, and waited for my train with a cup of coffee in the station cafe. It was there that I learned of the dragonite stamp rally around the area, which was associated with a Dragonite train! Which went to the Dinosaur museum! Unfortunately, I went online to check it's running times, and I had just missed it! Damn. Disappointed, I caught my very normal (and very slow!) train to Katsuyama, and was lucky enough to see the Dragonite train leaving the station! I was happy I at least got to see it.
It was a while before my bus to the dino museum was to leave, so I had a bit of a wander across the Katsuyama bridge, a huge bridge standing over the Kuzuryu river. Not only did I see a gorgeous view of the mountains, rivers and of the distant Katsuyama castle, but I got surprisingly close to a bird of prey, which only flew off after spotting a fish in the river, swooping down and catching it! The surrounding area was beautiful, but it was clear the dinosaur museum was what it was really known for, as the town itself was very quiet, with dinosaur statues scattered around in fairly frequent intervals.
The bus ride was busy, and filled with the screams of a crying child, and upon getting there, I was met with a similar energy. There was a massive queue to get into the museum, and after waiting for 10 minutes with my tickets, I finally got in. Honestly, I loved this museum, but it was immediately overstimulating, and a complete change from my so-far-peaceful holiday. Upon entry, you are directed down a large escalator to the "Dino street", the walls of which were covered in various plant fossils, leading down to the "Bone bed". The Bone bed was a recreation of a nearby excavation site as it was found, with a large curled up dinosaur (which I unfortunately cannot remember the name of). Up the stairs from there, I was met with a further huge crowd, so as much as I wanted to see the dinosaurs, I briefly retreated to the geology zone to google translate some information on rocks and volcanoes (fun fact, 7% of the worlds active volcanoes are in Japan! Scary!), where I encountered the last of many helpful strangers in Fukui.
A member of staff approached me, being the only foreigner there at the time, and informed me that she was there to help out overseas guests! She didn't need to know I lived in the country, I was just happy to have someone speak to me in English. She gave me a flyer in English with information about the museum, and just talked to me about bits of information! For example, we talked about Leonardo, a mummified dinosaur on loan from a museum in the US. She told me where he was in the museum, and that he was named Leonardo as the site where they found him had graffitti nearby saying "Leonard Webb loves Genva Jordan 1916". Leonardo is the most "complete" dinosaur fossil ever found, uncovered in Wyoming in 2000, and was a young Brachylophosaurus canadensis. He was definitely one of my favourite things in the museum, along with a camarasaurus made up of 90% real bones; it's skull was replaced after being crushed, however it is still displayed beside it.
There were also, of course, lots more to see in the museum, including more fossils and skeletons, surprisingly well made animatronics, artwork and information... 3 floors of it in fact! I unfortunately didn't even get to see everything, as I just had to leave after a while. As I said, the museum was incredible, but it was also very busy, and packed with children! I guess that's the downside of coming in the summer holidays. In spite of this, I still had an excellent time, and would recommend this to anyone not suffering or recovering from agoraphobia!
Finally I returned to Fukui station a couple hours before my Shinkansen, as I do typically treat getting the Shinkansen with the same weight as getting a plane... it's certainly the same sort of price, so I didn't want to miss it! Whilst I waited, I got myself an ekiben to enjoy on the train for dinner, and an Acai smoothie from the station cafe (I was on holiday, I can have an occassional expensive treat...), sitting in the cafe doing the lineart for the dinosaurs I drew at the museum. My Ekiben was dinosaur themed, and used ingredients local to Fukui, and honestly, it was one of the best things I've ever eaten. Then again, I think everything tastes better after an overwhelming day, when you finally get to sit down in peace and enjoy some food.
Thank you for reading about my experiences in Fukui! I think Fukui more than anywhere else I've visited was really made special by the people who spoke to me, helped me, or were even just around. I realize how corny that sounds, but it's true. In Tokyo, people tend to keep to themselves and avoid talking to anyone if at all possible, and despite travelling fairly regularly, I've never felt so welcomed to a place as I have in Fukui. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about my next stop. I'll be writing about the days I spend in Kanazawa next, and I can assure you, my experience with the locals took a full turn.
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