Our Visit to Ichijodani Ruins, Eiheiji Temple, Dinosaur Museum at Fukui Prefecture (Day 1)
12/27/2020
On Saturday morning we woke up extra early to start our Fukui Prefecture trip. Travel time is about 6 hours via expressway. At 4 AM, we are already hitting the road to Fukui Province. Of course, there are different options for going to Fukui, such as riding a bullet train or even an ordinary train, but we opted for the long drive to enjoy the mountain views along the road. It was raining and cold already during our visit at the end of November of this year, so we made sure to pack our winter jackets or other winter necessities. During our trip, stopping by at the car station is one of our children’s favorite, as they see many goods or foods selling inside the station, plus the good design of every station adds to their excitement.
Our long drive going to Fukui Prefecture.
Please stop by at one of the stations we pass by to refill the gasoline. Bought some snacks too for the children.
Moving on, after almost six hours of a long trip, we arrived safe and sound at Fukui Prefecture at around 10 AM. We directly stop by at the famous ruins temple of the said province.
Inchijodani Ruins
I visited the ichijodani Asakura Clan Historic Ruins, part of the valley is the Asuwa river. Many of the other tourists roaming the castle when we arrived. This is a place known to be a historic site since 1971. Many artifacts were designated in June 2007, now being called the Important Cultural Property. See Wikipedia of Ichijodani for detailed information.
The hallway entrance of the Historic Ruins.
Inside the historic houses were the antique things that were used during the Ichijodani Period.
This is us while getting into one of the houses.
A staff sculpting a piece of wood and then sell it after.
Knives are also in a display showing the designs taken at the time of Ichijodani ruins. It is also on sale for all the tourists.
The design of the toilet during the start of the Ichijodani regime.
The rental costume is also available on site for those guests who opted for a picture taking with vibes of the ruins.
A lot of water well can be found at the temple too that was used during the old time.
Statues depicting the everyday lives of the people during the Ichijodani regime.
At the back of the ruins are the golden fall trees that most tourists wanted to picture.
After a few walks, we pass by the restaurant which we ate quick cold soba. The taste is just the same as the usual Japanese cold soba, which is delicious.
The restaurant at the Ichijodani ruins seems affordable all their menu yet sumptuous.
The Cold Soba from Ichijodani ruins.
Nearby the Ichijodani is the Asakura Yasada ruins or also known as the Asakura yoshikage`s residence. It is open to all the tourists as well, just walking distance from the Asakura ruins. We enjoyed walking as it is located by the hills, with a lot of beautiful colorful trees brought by the fall season.
A mini bridge connecting the Asakura residence.
A lot of fish koi are in the residence area. It was so big and mostly catching the attention of the children.
Inside is this signboard informing that the place was the Asakura residence.
We continue to our next destination after the Asakura residence. Nearby the Ichijo Dani is another historic temple named Eiheiji Temple.
The Eihei-Ji Temple
We drove for around 30 minutes to reach the temple from the Ichijodani ruins. Based on my readings, the eiheiji Japanese term has an English meaning as an ei-eternal, hei-peaceful, and Ji-as Buddhist temple. Founded in the 13th century as a training monastery of more than 200 monks and nuns residence. This is one of the famous tourist attractions of the Fukui prefecture where some of the guests can arrange their tour and be one of the monastery’s religious trainees.
Saw this post, which is a famous hotel near the eiheiji temple.
Entrance to the temple requires a ticket via this vending machine. A staff is inside the office for assistance, but tourists must be the ones to operate the machine.
The ticket is priced at 500 yen for adults while 200 Yen for 7 years old and above. Our youngest child, who is 5 years old, is still free of charge.
The path to the eiheiji temple.
At the main entrance of the Eiheiji Temple. I walked for 20 minutes from the ticket vending machine to reach the place.
The main entrance of the eiheiji temple.
The man in a large room will welcome the guests. It looks like he is one of the monks explaining the location and significance of each room inside the temple.
A pamphlet is also given to all the tourists once you get in, but it was all in Japanese character. If you are a foreigner who is not that good in Kanji character like me, it would be better to research everything about the temple before touring the temple on site.
This is one of the ceilings from one of the rooms of the temple. Designed beautifully during the beginning of the Eiheiji temple.
A unique painting on display in one of the rooms.
The rooms were basically made of wood, with huge space and interconnected with many rooms by long stairs. The design was meticulous and great during the old times.
Before I forget, the temple has provided sleepers to all the tourists getting in the Eiheiji temple. That time had a crowded moment when we visit because it was a weekend, yet sleepers have more than enough at the temple entrance. Everything was very organized in the Japanese Way.S.
One can check the label on the rooms just if you are confused about which room you are in. This time it has furigana writings.
View from one of the rooms of the temple. The roof is made of bricks rock, which is so fascinating as it already exists during the temple’s historic era.
The Buddhist temple praying room in the eiheiji temple.
The rooms are interconnected with each other by stairs.
Another praying room for all the monks in the monastery.
One room, which is called Jyoyoden, has this noticed which is closed to all the tourists.
Another view from the inside of the Buddhist praying room.
Sculptures are on display, too, inside the monastery. Oni is a Japanese term that means a ghost in Japanese folklore that can be translated as the devil, demons, ogres, or trolls.
After around 1 or almost 2 hours of walks inside the temple, we finished the tour and were able to head outside the temple. During the Covid time, this washing station is a must when you tour any places. A mask is a requirement too when you enter the temple and maintain a 1 meter apart from the other tourist.
A hand washing station outside the Eiheiji temple.
The Fukui Dinosaur Museum
Directly went to the dinosaur museum for the children. Another famous tourist spot in Fukui if you have children. For sure, children will use their imagination once they see this dinosaur museum. It is one hour drive from the temple going to the dinosaur museum. We already reserved our ticket on-site before we arrived at the museum. Around 1：30 in the afternoon, we arrived at the museum, waited in line to pay for our server tickets.
The view while we approach the location of the dinosaur museum.
Just in front of the museum is this huge tower of dinosaurs.
The price of the ticket at the dinosaur museum.
The sanitation area before entering the museum. A thermometer at the entrance is installed too to check the temperature of all the guests.
You are in Japan, so everything is operated via machine. This is the moment we paid for our ticket at the entrance gate.
The price of our ticket to the dinosaur museums.
By that time, we are so hungry, yet the restaurant’s lines were so long. We waited for around 1 and a half hours to wait for our number to be called.
Reservation is configured in a system too, wherein you need to input your number so they can send you a message.
The museum is composed of 4th floors.
I just took this nice ceiling view in the middle of the museum.
In the basement is this museum is the fossils of different kinds of animals and insects.
A hall of fossils.
The replica of a dinosaur fossil I took from the upper part of the museum.
The animated dinosaur is in the basement as well.
Some display in the museum has in Japanese and English writings.
The anatomy of dinosaurs also in the basement.
Depicting the situation of a scientist digging the fossils of a dinosaur.
On the other level is this Dino Lab.
Also, the anatomy of the dinosaur in its replica.
Previous species of turtle is also on display. This one is said to be the real anatomy of a huge turtle.
A lot of other marine fossils were on display too.
Early dolphin anatomy is on display too.
The different designs of the tree rings and a stone.
By 3 PM we are called at the restaurant. With fewer people because it was late lunch already.
The only menus from the restaurant as of November 2020.
Bought this Tonkatsu and cold soba with its sidings and soup. Also, Chichen burger with Fried potatoes.
COrn soup and fried shrimp are also included in our lunch meal.
And a Fried chicken with corn soup.
We paid a total of 4150 Yen for all the foods that we ordered.
The food was delicious, and we are so full after we ate everything. By this time, our children were energized for another walk inside the museum. Stop by at the mini-theater of the museum too to watch a movie just beside the restaurant. A sticker is given to all the kids inside the mini-theater.
The characters present in the anime movie in the museum.
The seats were all filled with all kinds of people.
The Story shown at the mini heater is fun and adventurous, which tells the adventure of the characters that visited the dinosaur museums, back to Dinosaurs anatomy after the movie.
Back to the lower ground of the museum.
This time we explore more of the corners of the museums. By this, we found this different kind of stone in colorful colors and arrangement.
End up buying some memorabilia for our children at the dino store of the museums.
By around 4:30 in the afternoon, we managed to finish all the attractions of the museums. By that time, we went out as the museum personnel announced that they would be closed after 30 minutes. I went to the car park and went directly to our hotel for our first night at Fukui.
Our family room for our first night stays in Fukui Prefecture.
With complimentary gifts for kids composed of toothbrushes, slippers, and towelette.
Plus, this Go to Travel ticket given to all the tourist of Japan following Covid-19 motivation to travel.
That night, the hotel served us this huge plate of the delicious plate to our hotel.
The food for our little one.
This is where our first day at Fukui ended. We enjoyed ourselves a lot on this day, and we hope to return to one of the destinations we visited, especially the dinosaur museum coz it’s our children’s favorite. Kids surely learned something on this trip, till my next blog, which I’m going to share with you, what happened on our second day in Fukui Prefecture. See you again, and thank you for reading, guys.
