Hasetsu (/Karatsu), Kyushu, Japan

[theglassheart]

Yuri!!! on Ice Wiki Hasetsu: Main Page

Crunchy Roll: Anime vs. Real Life Hasetsu
Anime vs. Real Life: Part 1
Hasetsu/Karatsu Info & Pictures: Tumblr Post
Yuri!!! on Ice Real Location Revealed: Article
Karatsu Historical Port: Japan-Korea-China (Language +2 basic)

Karatsu, Saga
Karatsu Kunchi
Hamatama, Saga Beach
Ice Castle: Iizuka Ice Palace

Travel Guides
Karatsu Wiki Travel
Karatsu Travel Guide
Lonely Planet: Karatsu
Fukuoka Now: Karatsu Getaway
Into Japan Official Guide: Karatsu/Yokubo Area

Hightlights/Points of Interest
- Karatsu Castle (Castle & Park)
- Nagoya Castle (Museum & Castle)
- Hoto Shrine
- Saga Prefectural Shrine (Museum & Architecture)
- Nijinomatsubara (Hamburgers & Seaside Resort)
- Kazenomieruoka Park
- Karatsu Shrine
- Kagamiyama (Mountaineering, Camping, Park, Outdoor Rec)
- Matsuura Riverside Park
- Takatori Residence
- Kawamura Museum
- Tashima Shrine
- Ochionsententoko Hot Springs
- Shikinooka Park
- Mt. Hachiman
- Enichi-ji Temple
- Shishiozanmyohoji
- Kagamiyama Park
- Takagushi Hot Spring

Trip Advisor Highest 10
1. Karatsu Castle (***)
2. Nijno Matsubra
3. Former Takatori House
4. Nagoya Castle Ruins
5. Kagamiyama Observatory
6. Yobuko Ohashi
7. Hikiyama Exhibition Hall (***)
8. Previously Karatsu Bank
9. Yobuko Morning Market (***)
10. Nanatsugama

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Comments

What a Great Idea, Yuuri! Let's Go to the Spring Festival!

[yuri_plisetsky]

Kasasagi Morning Market (based on Yobiko Morning Market) - Sunday morning street market, combined with a little spring festival sponsored by a local shrine and the Hasetsu business owners' association

- Cherry blossom decorations all over the damned place

- Usual market stalls selling fresh fish and other products, including tofu, miso paste, fruits/veg, and household goods

- Street food vendors selling treats:
-- Grilled squid on a stick
-- Sakura mochi (pink-tinted sweet rice cakes filled with red bean paste wrapped in salted/pickled cherry leaves)
-- Manjuu (steamed buns with sweet red bean paste)
-- Cheap greasy yakisoba
-- Kara-age (fried chicken bites)
-- Takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings)
-- Black sesame soft-serve ice cream (yes this is a thing and it's delicious, it tastes toasted and nutty)
-- Taiyaki (fish-shaped waffle cakes filled with red bean paste)

- Plenty of people with sandwich signs promoting businesses, handing out tissue packets and flyers with logos on them or discount coupons. Businesses might include local hotels/ryokan with banquet rooms (like Yu-topia), martial arts or sports facilities (like the Ice Castle), car and bicycle repair shops, travel/tourism companies offering tour packages to Hawaii or Australia.

- A local politician or two, a mayor or prefectural representative or the like, working the crowd

- A tombola type game of chance, where you turn a handle on a wooden box and a red or white ball comes out. White balls get something cheap like a sticker or a paper fan; the red ball wins a free all-you-can-eat squid dinner at a local seafood restaurant.

- Middle and high school girls in white and red shrine maiden outfits walking around, encouraging people to visit the shrine and buy good-luck charms

- Small stage with local performers from the nearby middle and high schools (a wind quintet, a women's choir, a traditional dance group, an enthusiastic after-school club band with too many guitar players)

- For the kiddies, a guest on-stage appearance by the beloved Red Racer from the ongoing sentai series Galactic Driver Zuttoranger (i.e., a poorly paid actor in red spandex and a face-obscuring helmet, whose gymnastic/fighting moves are not the best) who fights a rubber-costumed monster from the evil Galactic Formula Z Empire. (Yuuri would not be expected to know what exactly is going on, but he can guess the plot based on the overdubbed vocals coming through the sound system and how a nice young lady is standing by with a microphone, encouraging the kids to cheer for the hero.)

- Other chaos as necessary

Re: What a Great Idea, Yuuri! Let's Go to the Spring Festival!

[gramarye1971]

(Too lazy to switch journals for a few add'l notes)

- Current exchange rate for ease of conversion: $1.00 = 100 yen = 50 rubles
- Language on most major street signs: Japanese on top, English below
- Most street vendors are probably not going to have fantastic English, though they'll definitely be patient! (They certainly were with my jetlagged efforts to speak to them in Japanese with some random English.)

Re: What a Great Idea, Yuuri! Let's Go to the Spring Festival!

[fivetimechamp]

Was that the exchange rate in 2014, too?

Re: What a Great Idea, Yuuri! Let's Go to the Spring Festival!

[gramarye1971]

The dollar-yen rates were about the same ($1=103 yen), though it looks like it might have been about 35 rubles to 100 yen. Good news for the Russians (Yuri in particular) at least.