Page 272 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

A number of carved Usuki
Stone Buddhas, about
which little is known
bus stop. The Ishibashi
Bunka Center, a five-minute
bus ride from the station,
EXPERIENCE Kyushu Japanese garden.
has an art museum and
Many artisans work in the
villages of Hirokawa and Yame,
a 40-minute bus ride from
Kurume. In Hirokawa, visit the
Moriyama Kasuri Workshop,
which employs a 16th-century
technique to make paper,
7 begun during the late Heian using mulberry-tree fibers.
period and completed in the
Usuki Stone Buddhas early Kamakura era, there Kurume Regional Industry
臼杵石仏 appears to be no consensus Promotion Center
regarding the origin of the ⌂ 2F Jibasan Kurume Center,
! B6 ⌂ Oita Prefecture
£ Usuki Stn, then JR bus site, who commissioned or 5-8-5 Higashi Aikawa
executed the dozens of
§ (0942) 44-3700
to Usuki-Sekibutsu
carvings, or why such a large, # 10am–5pm daily
Despite the dissemination of relatively remote area was
images of Oita’s Seki Butsu dedicated for the images. Ishibashi Bunka Center
(stone Buddhas) throughout All of this adds a great deal ⌂ 1015 Nonakamachi
Japan, the site itself is only a of mystery and charm to the § (0942) 33-2271
minor tourist area. Though it place. Late afternoon is very # 9am–5pm Tue–Sun
is probable that the work was atmospheric, when sculptured
sunlight draws out the earth Moriyama Kasuri
hues from the faces and Workshop
torsos of these mysterious ⌂ 109 Niishiro, Hirokawa-
SHOP and peaceful stone Buddhas. machi § (0943) 32-0023
(reservation required)
# 10am–6pm Mon–Sat
Head to the town of 8
Arita, in Saga prefecture, Kurume
to visit ancient 久留米
pottery studios.
Koransha ! A6 ⌂ Fukuoka Prefecture
! A6 ⌂ 1-3-8 Kobira, £ n (0942) 33-4422
Arita-Cho, Nishimat- The sprawling city of Kurume
suura-Gun, Saga 844-
8601 ∑ koransha.co.jp is the center of kasuri textiles.
These employ a distinctive
ikat weav ing style, in which
Fukagawa Seiji the threads have been tie-
! A6 ⌂ 1-1-8 Kobira, dyed before weaving; unlike
Arita-Cho, Nishimat-
suura-Gun, Saga 844- Southeast Asian forms of
0005 § (0955) 42-5215 ikat, both the warp and weft
are patterned. The Kurume
Regional Industry Promotion
Arita Porcelain Lab Center sells these textiles.
! A6 ⌂ 1-11-3 Kami- Rantai-shikki is a local basket-
Kobira, Arita-Cho, weaving style whereby layers
Nishimatsuura-Gun, of lacquer are applied to bam-
Saga 844-0022
∑ aritaware.com boo to produce basketware.
Examples can be bought at
Inoue Rantai-Shikki, opposite
the Honmachi-yon-chome
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