Chapter 1097: Naha Fukushuen (那覇福州園)

You’ll find this Chinese garden called Naha Fukushuen (那覇福州園) located less than a nice 10 min walk from Kencho-mae station. You literally can not miss it because they have lanterns decorated outside to welcome guests. Instead of Okinawa or Japan, you get to experience China. It had a similar vibe to when I visited Nagasaki’s Confucius Shrine (Chapter 338) When I approached the ticket booth, the staff member was having a nap, I felt bad to have woken her up.

I really need to invest in a camera hood. Not sure why I just never bought one. The walls of the garden have a lot of beautiful engravings that are all nature related.

One of the first things you’ll notice are the beautiful rooftops that flick outwards like a French moustache.

Yup, it was only 200 yen to enter. A lot of attractions in Japan are considered affordable, especially the gardens.

Naha Fukushuen is surprisingly not that old. It was build during 1992, making it only 28 years old. It was built to celebrate the relationship between Naha and Fukushu or in Chinese its Fuzhou 福州 which is a city in China.

I was very lucky, it was literally empty when I visited.

Through here was a display of faded golden words. The middle is very popular in Chinese culture, I would see this kanji a lot.
福 means fortune in Chinese.

Here was a pretty glimpse of the pond.

By the corner was a coin machine to buy some fish food. It was only 100 yen for a box.

1 box was about the size of my palm.

And very quickly the koi fishes swam my way and battled for food. I can’t express how much I love watching koi fishes, they’re so cute.

I spotted a turtle.

There was a mini waterfall coming from the rocks.

There’s beautiful patterns painted on the roofs.

The vibe at the garden really feels as if you’ve bounced back in time to old China.

I was truly lucky to have had a quiet experience. I think it’s always best to visit places when it’s not too busy, for the benefit of having that exclusiveness to yourself and you can just take your time to enjoy the scenery.

There was a little resting area called the Pine and Bamboo Pavilion. There are decorative windows depicting 2 phoenixes on each side. The trees here replicate how summer feel in Fuzhou with the shade of the Banyan trees and fragrance of the white sandalwood trees.

There was a house that showcased some Chinese ceramics. The pillars were calved to portray 2 dragons.

There’s 2 white pagoda’s at the garden. This was one of them which is almost similar to the second one but there are some differences.

Other than the obvious discolouring. This pagoda has a round nob on the top.

And a panoramic picture of the yard. So pretty!

The pond had a very glossy and shiny colour, almost resembling marble.

The entire garden was very peaceful and quiet.

This was I think the backyard. It had a large rock surrounded by plants. A lot of Chinese gardens are design with 風水 Feng Shui in mind. I remember my mother had a 45 min session with a Feng Shui master that visited our home. They said all my anime and manga posters, figurines and plushes that have sharp shapes will decrease my lifespan (referring to anime hair which is usually sharp). I didn’t take any of his advice and refused to take down anything.

In each corner of the back yard were some animal stone statues. Here we had a turtle on a mighty rock.

A beautiful phoenix.

A Chinese lion or Shisa.

I love these circle arched doors, just like the movies and dramas.

This was the Chinese Zodiac bridge.

It had stone statues of the animals on each side.

Cute right?

I was born on the year of the horse. It had the same expression I had when I was visiting.

Over here is the Pavilion of Spring. It’s like a small resting place with a round roof top shaped like an umbrella. It’s supposed to portray spring time in full bloom.

A close up of the amazing dragon pillars.

Up upon the highest point there’s a bigger waterfall.

Very pretty…Wouldn’t it be quite cool to dress up in Han-fu like those old Chinese dramas and have a photoshoot here?

Bridge view.

Decorative windows and lanterns.

The weather was great and the air was fresh.

I found the stairs up to the waterfall.

And this was the view.

The sound of the waterfall is one of the most relaxing sounds ever!!

More lanterns. I think during the winter months on certain days they have an illumination event with a traditional Okinawa performance.

When I looked up at the tall trees, it sort of looked like a painted on the blue sky. The tree leaves looked fluffy like airbrushed strokes.

Some leaves already began to change colour.

I’m not sure if you can see the pigeons? It was a chubby one and it kept flapping about.

I remember when I first visited Naha back in 2017 I wasn’t able to visit the Fukushuen garden because I didn’t know it was closed on Wednesday. So when I revisited Okinawa, I made sure to go on a different day. As far as I’m aware Wednesday is the only day it’s closed.

This Shisa statue holds ball. It has a such a funny expression.

It was a great visit and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s definitely a lovely place to visit in Naha.

—Tofu