Chapter 385: Kurume Narita-San (久留米成田山)

Kurume’s Narita-San! I haven’t had the chance to visit the one in Chiba, Narita, but I was very happy to be able to explore the one in Kurume. The day was wet and it was raining, it was cold and it was snowing earlier on with the weather forcast to hit the minus zone during nightfall. It was a good thing I had my waterproof snuggly warm coat and boots!

Kurume’s Narita-San is reachable by bus, either 30, 31 or 32 will take you from Kurume Station and all the way to a stop called Nikenchaya (二軒茶屋) and from there it is about a short 10 min walk depending on your pace. There are no train stations nearby, the closest is probably, Minamikurume-eki (南久留米駅) which is still a 30-40 min walk away.

The admission fee is 500Yen/Per person, when I arrived the ticket office had a sign up saying the person was on break and will be back asap. I found shelter from the rain and waited about 10 mins for the ticket lady to return. After paying I was able to walk freely around, starting with the grounds, you get to see plenty of iconic and interesting stone figures, the tall and mighty statue of Kannon holding a child, dragons and monks.

I also had the chance to enter the statue of Kannon, each level will have a donation box and some sort of statue or picture. When I reached the top I was able to peek through the small window to see the entire grounds of Narita-San. As the weather was bad I could only imagine how nice it’ll look if it was sunny with blue skies. On the ground level there was also passage way to a musuem and buddha. I also went inside the pagoda building and had a great time exploring the spiritual environment of buddism. If you’re in Kurume, I definitely recommend visiting!

—Tofu