Ryokan Maidashi

Fukuoka

by hardy987542

"Sky Dream Fukoka"

Sky Dream Fukuoka is a Ferris wheel at Evergreen Marinoa (Kyūshū's largest outlet mall) in the city of Fukuoka, Japan. It has a diameter of 112 meters, and stands 120 meters high. One revolution takes approximately 20 minutes, and it is possible for couples to reserve a gondola for two entire revolutions. A smaller Ferris wheel stands nearby.

"Fukuoka castle"

The castle lies in the center of Fukuoka, on top of Fukusaki hill. The Nakagawa river, (那珂川, Nakagawa?) acts as a natural moat on the eastern side of the castle, while the western side uses a mudflat as a natural moat. Hakata, a bustling port city, is located on the opposite side of the Nakagawa River to the east. The castle town was set on the northern side, facing the sea.

Much of the castle grounds has been converted to Maizuru Park, which houses several sports facilities, a courthouse, and an art museum. Heiwadai Baseball Stadium, the past home field of the Seibu Lions and Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, was also located on the castle grounds. Some of the castle's gates and yaguras are preserved inside of the park, one of which have been marked as important historical artifacts by the Japanese government.

The remnants of a Korokan (鴻臚館, Kōrokan?) foreign embassy were discovered under the castle grounds in 1987, showing that the castle was a vital geographical checkpoint even into the Heian period. This is the only Korokan remnant found in all of Japan.

"Stone barrier in Fukuoka"

Fukuoka's Hakata Bay is Japan's gateway to Korea and China. Gateways, of course, attract interest; after having conquered and terrorised Asia, the great Mongol Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire turned his attention to Japan starting in 1268, exerting a new external pressure on Japan with which it had no experience. Kublai Khan first sent an envoy to Japan to make the Shogunate acknowledge Khan's suzerainty. The Kamakura shogunate refused. Mongolia repeatedly sent envoys thereafter, each time urging the Shogunate to accept their proposal, but to no avail.

In 1274 Kublai Khan mounted an invasion of the northern part of Kyūshū with a fleet of 900 ships and 33,000 troops, which included troops from Goryeo on the Korean peninsula. This first invasion was compromised by a combination of incompetence and storms.

After the first invasion of 1274, Japanese samurai built a stone barrier 20 kilometers in length bordering the coast of Hakata Bay in what is now Fukuoka city. The wall, between 2–3 metres in height and having a base width of 3 metres, was constructed between 1276 and 1277 and was excavated again in the 1930s.

Kublai sent another envoy to Japan in 1279. At that time, Hōjō Tokimune of the Hōjō clan (1251–1284) was the Eighth Regent. Not only did he decline the offer, but he beheaded the five Mongolian emissaries after summoning them to Kamakura. Infuriated, Kublai made another attack on Fukuoka Prefecture in 1281, mobilizing 140,000 soldiers and 4,000 ships. The Japanese defenders, numbering around 40,000, were no match for the Mongols and the invasion force made it as far as Dazaifu, 15 kilometers south of the city of Fukuoka. However, the Japanese were aided by another typhoon which struck a crushing blow to the Mongolian troops, and the invasion was thwarted.