Karatsu’s dark forest

     

Below is a photo of a manhole cover I took from my recent trip to the city of Karasu. Kewl-lookin', it features a stylized depiction of the Niji-no-matsubara.

What the Niji-no-matsubara actually is, is a 4km-long strip of grotesquely-contorted & growth-stunted pines that act as a barrier to the strong winds coming in off the bay; the wind causing the deformations.

The twisted forest

So, back in November, 2007, myself & a couple of workmates headed up to Karatsu to take in the sites. One of our main goals was actually to sample the Karatsu burger.

We found a burger-serving van in a car-park on the side of the road that passes through the forest. The pepper-mayo garnished (run-of-mill) hamburger was phenomenal, the 30-minute wait & small serving less so.

After polishing off our meals (snacks), we walked through the forest in search of weirdness. In amongst the weirdness, we found a dragon. (Not this first picture, and not the last one either. You’ll know it when you see it.)




The castle

The final destination for the day was the local castle where, as can be seen, shenanigans ensued. For information about the castle check out its profile page: Karatsu castle.


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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9800312 Travis Seifman

    Pines are often compared to dragons… though I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so draconian as this one before.

  • Anonymous

    Awesome manhole cover!

    That forest is sure one twisted wonder!!

  • Anonymous

    I wasn’t aware of that. Your comment did prompt me to do a little
    googling, and I did come across a few. A question, does the comparison only exist in (East) Asia (or Europe)? Geez, I should’a googled that too…

  • Anonymous

    Thx! I’ve really got my eye out for them now. And now that I’m noticing them, they are EVERYWHERE.

    That forest is one of the cooler ones I’ve been to. (Because there’s a hamburger shop in the middle.)

  • http://www.budgettrouble.com/ Anna Ikeda

    That’s one cool forest! Were there pickles on your burger?

  • Anonymous

    I recently went to the physician and he made no mention of pickles on my burger; or anywhere else for that matter. Thank you very much.

  • http://profiles.google.com/sarahjworley sarah worley

    Hah! That tree totally looks like a dragon sitting on its hind legs begging for table scraps. The third to last photo looks like you’re playing Wii Fit in the forrest.