For two thousand years, everything that reached Japan from the mainland came through this bay: Chinese imperial seals, envoys, monks, Zen, tea. In 1274 and 1281 the fleets of Kublai Khan came too, and the Japanese raised a stone wall along the shore to stop them. Twelve stops between the gold seal of the king of Na, the wall against the Mongols, the lake inspired by China, the castle of the Kuroda, the envoys' guest house, the shrine of the exiled poet, the Hakata festival, the temple founded by Kukai, Japan's first Zen temple, the port facing Korea, the statue of the emperor who prayed against the invasion and the shrine that calls for the enemy's surrender. Approximate audio duration: 22 minutes.
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Fukuoka: la puerta de Japón por donde casi entraron los mongoles
Durante dos mil años, todo lo que llegó a Japón desde el continente pasó por esta bahía: sellos de emperadores chinos, embajadores, monjes, el zen, el té. En 1274 y en 1281 también llegaron las flotas de Kublai Kan, y los japoneses levantaron un muro de piedra a lo largo de la costa para frenarlas. Doce paradas entre el sello de oro del rey de Na, el muro contra los mongoles, el lago inspirado en China, el castillo de los Kuroda, la casa de los embajadores, el santuario del poeta desterrado, el festival de Hakata, el templo fundado por Kukai, el primer templo zen de Japón, el puerto que mira a Corea, la estatua del emperador que rezó contra la invasión y el santuario que pide la rendición del enemigo. Duración aproximada de audio: 22 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~22 min of audio · 12.04 km on foot (~3 h walking) · about 3 h 30 min in total
You are in front of the Fukuoka City Museum, in the Momochi district. A few blocks to the north is the sea. That water is Hakata Bay, and it is the reason for this whole walk.
Picture a map of Asia. From here, the Korean peninsula is closer than Tokyo. For two thousand years this shore was the door through which almost everything from the mainland entered Japan.
The oldest proof is inside the museum. It is a gold seal just over two centimetres across, with a knob shaped like a snake. A farmer found it in 1784 on Shikanoshima, the island that closes off the bay.
Five Chinese characters are c…
2
The Wall Against the Mongols
You are beside a stretch of the Genko Borui, the defensive wall against the invaders. Look at the stacked stones. They do not seem like much. But more than seven hundred and fifty years ago, Japan staked its independence behind them.
The story begins in 1268. A letter reached Japan from Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, who ruled China and Korea. It asked for relations with the king of Japan, and hinted that no one would wish to resort to arms. The samurai government in Kamakura did not reply.
In November 1274 the Khan answered: some nine hundred ships carrying Mongol, Chinese and Korea…
3
A Lake Copied from China
You are on the shore of the lake in Ohori Park. Look at the water, the little islands linked by bridges and the people jogging around it. The circuit is about two kilometres long.
This lake is not entirely natural. It was an inlet of the sea, a small bay called Kusagae that reached almost this far. In the early seventeenth century the Kuroda lords closed it off and turned it into the outer moat of their castle.
Ohori means, precisely, the great moat. For more than two hundred years it was a military defence, not a place for a stroll.
In 1929 the city turned it into a park. The design drew o…
4
The Castle of the Kuroda
You are among the stone walls of Fukuoka Castle, also called Maizuru, the dancing crane. If you can, climb to the highest stone platform, the tenshudai. From the top you can see the city and, in the distance, the bay.
The castle was built by Kuroda Nagamasa from 1601. He had fought on the winning side at the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and Tokugawa Ieyasu rewarded him with the province of Chikuzen. The work took about seven years.
Nagamasa named the castle Fukuoka, after the village in Bizen province his family came from. That is how the city got its name.
Notice the size of the platform …
5
The Envoys' Guest House
You are in front of the hall that protects the ruins of the Korokan. Inside you can see the foundations and the excavated pits, just as the archaeologists found them.
For centuries no one knew exactly where it had stood. Only in 1987, during works at the old Heiwadai baseball stadium that occupied this spot, did the remains come to light.
The Korokan was the official guest house of the Japanese state in Kyushu. It operated roughly from the seventh to the eleventh century. Envoys from China and from the Korean kingdom of Silla stayed here when they arrived in Japan.
It worked the other way t…
6
Tenjin and the Exiled Poet
You are in Tenjin, Fukuoka's commercial centre, surrounded by shops, offices and subway entrances. Tucked between the buildings is a small shrine, Suikyo Tenmangu. The district takes its name from it.
Tenjin is the deified name of Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and poet at the court in Kyoto. In 901, through the scheming of his rivals, he was exiled to Dazaifu, about fifteen kilometres south-east of here.
Dazaifu was no ordinary punishment. It was the seat of government for Kyushu and the office in charge of relations with the mainland. It defended this coast and ran the Korokan you have j…
7
The Heart of Hakata
You are at Kushida Shrine, the guardian shrine of Hakata. Look for the enormous decorated float, more than ten metres tall, covered with figures of warriors and legendary characters. It is on display almost all year.
According to tradition, the shrine was founded in 757. Hakata's residents fondly call it Okushida-san. For them it is not a monument but their neighbourhood shrine.
Hakata was the merchants' city. Japanese traders lived here, and Chinese ones too, who in the Middle Ages had their own quarter and traded with the mainland. It was one of the richest cities in Japan.
In 1274, when …
8
The Temple Kukai Founded on His Return from China
You are in front of Tochoji temple. Look at the red five-storey pagoda rising above the street. It is recent, from 2011, but the temple is one of the oldest in the city.
It was founded in 806 by the monk Kukai, one of the most important figures in Japanese Buddhism. He had just returned from China, where he had studied the esoteric teachings of Shingon Buddhism in the Tang capital, Chang'an.
Kukai had set out from this shore with one of the official embassies to China. On his return he landed at Hakata. The temple's name alludes to that: that the teaching brought from China might spread east…
9
Japan's First Zen Temple
You are in front of Shofukuji. Walk slowly along the path between the low walls and the pines. It is far quieter here than in the surrounding streets.
It was founded in 1195 by the monk Eisai, with the backing of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun. Eisai had travelled to China twice and come back with a new school: Rinzai Zen. Shofukuji is considered the first Zen temple in Japan.
At the gate you will see a plaque with an inscription saying so: the first Zen retreat in the land of Fuso, one of Japan's old names. Tradition attributes the calligraphy to Emperor Go-Toba.
Eisai brought some…
10
1281: The Second Fleet
You are at Hakata port, beside the red port tower. Look out to sea. Every day fast boats leave these piers for Busan, in South Korea, about two hundred kilometres away. The crossing takes a few hours.
The Mongol fleet made the same journey in reverse. After 1274 Kublai Khan sent envoys again. The Kamakura government had them executed. War was now inevitable.
In the summer of 1281 two fleets arrived. One sailed from Korea, with Mongol, Korean and northern Chinese troops. The other, much larger, sailed from southern China, with soldiers of the newly conquered Song dynasty.
Chinese chronicles …
11
The Divine Wind
You are in Higashi Park. Look for the large bronze statue on a tall pedestal: it is the retired emperor Kameyama, in court robes, facing the sea. Nearby stands another statue, of the monk Nichiren.
During the invasions Kameyama wielded no sword. His weapon was prayer. He ordered temples and shrines all over Japan to pray for the enemy's defeat. Nichiren, for his part, had warned years earlier that a foreign invasion would punish the country.
In August 1281 the two invading fleets finally joined up, west of here, off the island of Takashima. And then a typhoon struck. In a night or two much o…
12
May the Enemy Surrender
You are in front of the two-storey gate of Hakozaki Shrine, one of the great shrines to Hachiman, the god of war. Look up. Above the entrance is a plaque with four gilded characters.
They read tekikoku kofuku: may the enemy country surrender. According to the shrine, they reproduce the calligraphy of Emperor Kameyama, the man of the statue you just saw, who dedicated those words as a prayer against the invasion.
In 1274 this shrine was on the front line. The invaders reached it and burned it. It was rebuilt. The present main hall dates from 1546 and this gate from 1594, a gift from the feuda…
How long does the "Fukuoka: Japan's Front Door, Where the Mongols Nearly Came In" audio tour take?
It has about 22 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 12.04 km walking route (~3 h on foot). Plan roughly 3 h 30 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "A Gold Seal for the King of Na" (coordinates 33.5894, 130.3521). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Fukuoka and pick "Fukuoka: Japan's Front Door, Where the Mongols Nearly Came In". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean
