Yanagawa is a small town 46 minutes from Tenjin Station in Fukuoka city, and was originally constructed in the 16th century, and is today particularly famous for its hundreds of kilometers of canals that run around the city. Punt boats, or flat-bottomed boats with a squarish-front, ply the canals, many of which are today used for sight-seeing.
The River Punt-Boat Tour was basically the highlight activity for Day 10 – my last full day in this 11 day trip to Chūgoku and Kyushu. There are basically two options for the tour: you can book your tour rides with the companies independently, and there seem to be several operating in the area and with different start points and routes. Admission prices are ¥1,000/SGD13 for adults and ¥500/SGD6.50 for children. Alternatively, there’s a sight-seeing package that includes these two significant bits:
Travel between Tenjin Station, Yanagawa Station, and Dazaifu Station
River Punt-Boat Tour admission
There are also a number of other discounted coupons thrown in. The package costs ¥2,930 and the details are here. A quick calculation will reveal some cost savings. For instance:
Travel between Tenjin and Yanagawa Stations: ¥850/SGD10.90
Travel between Yanagawa and Dazaifu Stations: ¥670/SGD8.60
River Punt-Boat Tour admission: ¥1,000/SGD13
The package can be purchased at Tenjin Station’s Office. There’s also a form to fill-up, but I think that’s meant more for ease of understanding how many tickets you’d like to buy than anything else.
At Yanagawa itself, the start point of the tour with the appointed company is about 5 minutes easy walk away. Basically, exit the train station, and cross the train tracks (pay attention to train signals at the crossing), turn left and continue on the main road, and you’ll see the distinctive red bridge that leads to Takahatake Park and Mihashira Shrine. The first boat tour leaves at 9:40AM, but their admission counter opens at around 9:25AM so you can start queuing if you’d like to sit at the front of the boat.
The tour itself lasts an hour – much longer than the one I just did at Bikan Historical Quarter on Day 07 – and will finish at Rokkyu Boat Stop. From that point, you can wait for the free shuttle bus included in this combination package that’ll return you to the start point – Shogetsu Punting Station – or Yanagawa train station just a bit further down. Alternatively, you can also walk the approximately 3km.
Pictures and comments!
Summary: The Yanagawa boat tour has a very different feel from the one I did just two days back at Kurashiki: it’s much longer, and in a sense – the canals of Yanagawa feel a lot more organic and real than the almost made-for-tourists canal in the Bikan Historical Quarter. Highly, highly recommended.
My exploration of Yanagawa continues in the next post!
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