Fukuoka City Museum

The Fukuoka City Museum is located in the Momochi district, an area of land reclaimed from the sea in western Fukuoka City.

The wide and spacious approach has two large areas of shallow water, which makes for great reflections.

The smallest pond had some trees around it and so offered another striking scene.

It was opened in 1990 and was designed by the AXS Satow Company.

There is a large, stand-alone arch which is purely decorative, but lines up with a similar arch at the entrance to the museum.

This makes for a very grand and monumental approach.

The main structure has a central reception hall with two main exhibition halls on either side.

These two halls are completely glazed on the exterior, and so also make for great photos.

The museum has permanent displays that showcase the history and culture of the region as well as changing special exhibitions.

Probably the most famous object on display is the gold seal given by the Chinese Emperor to the "King of Na"

I didn't go in, but reports speak very highly of the exhibits, especially considering the low entry fee of only 200 yen.

Fukuoka has a lot of interesting and innovative modern architecture, so I will be posting a lot from there for a while.

Arcus Sasebo

 

Arcus Sasebo is a large, new cultural and exhibition centre with several stages and a large auditorium.

It is located close to the station and the port in the renovated downtown area of Sasebo.

It opened in 2000 and was designed by AXS Satow.

A little earlier on my trek around Kyushu I visited another structure by AXS Satow, the Saga Space & Science Museum, and I can detect some stylistic similarities.

Actually I had a bit of trouble finding info on the building because even though its proper name is Arcus, it is most often written as Arkas, which is how the Japanese version of Arcus, Arukasu, is translated back to roman alphabet.

I got to Sasebo late on my 65th day walking around Kyushu and was to spend 3 nights here as a convenient location to get to a cluster of temples in the surrounding area.

The previous post in the series was on the Saikai Bridges...

Yumeginga Saga Prefecture Museum of Space & Science

 

Yumeginga is the name given to the Space & Science Museum in Saga Prefecture.

It is located on a hilltop outside the town of Takeo, famous for, among other things, its hot springs.

The museum and its landscaping were designed by AXS Satow, the company set up to continue the legacy of Takeo Satow who died in 1972. The museum was completed in 1999.

It is said that the design represents a spacecraft taking off from a spaceport.

There are five main areas, Space, Earth, Saga, an area of interactive exhibits, and a kids area. A 200-seat planetarium is housed in a spherical structure.

I was here the first time on the 58th day of my walk along the Kyushu Pilgrimage but couldnt wait until opening time to explore inside, but most reviews are very favorable

The previous post in the series was about the many shrines I visited on day 57.