Old-style European architecture at Mojiko Retro, Kitakyushu

This week's travel and living segment in Yatie Chomeyl's Blog will brings you guys to see some part of Japan which has an European touch on it. I'm talking about Mojiko Retro, which is situated at Kitakyushu. This place is the most northern part of Kyushu Island.

Mojiko means Moji's port, and Retro comes from the word "retrospective" in English. This port was opened in 1889 and become one of the most successful international port during that era. A lot of national and international trading companies built their office in Mojiko, and its downtown was very busy with visitors all around the world. Even after declining of the distribution business in Mojiko area, most of buildings have been remains the same till today. After 100 years its prosperity, now Mojiko area has been revived with the intermixed of exotic buildings of old age and attractive new amusement spots.

This city is nice for sightseeing as it offers different view of the buildings in other part of Japan. Bukan senang nak dapat tengok bangunan design European kat Jepun ni, selalunya bangunan kotak2 4 segi *yang macam Ultraman dengan Raksasa duk pijak2* tu je. There are lots of tourist spots available in this city, so we try as much as we could to went to all of the suggested place.


1) Mojiko Port
• we park our car at the port and have a nice stroll around the city
• baby SN seronok betul dapat jalan kat port tu, siap "bye bye" kat semua orang yang lalu sebelah dia, bajet2 dia artis ke apa ntah eheh.

=- budak kecik perasan macho, jalan takmo mommy pimpin tangan dia -=

2) Mojiko JR station
• built in 1914 and now become a national important cultural property because of it's status as the oldest wooden building in Kyushu island
• there were also rickshaw service available here for a tour around the city, tapi kami tak naik lah..lagi senang nak ambik gambar kalau tour jalan kaki sendiri.

3) Kyushu Railway History Museum
• opened in 2003 by reviving the old office building of Kyushu Railway Company.

• It features the history of Kyushu Railway by showing the real trains or rolling stocks, also there is miniature steam trains that children can enjoy to ride.

=- bye bye, nak balik kampung dah -=

• Baby SN and his daddy got the chance to control the train in the simulation room. Seronok budak kecik tu dapat tekan2 dan tolak throttle tu.

=- inside the train simulation -=

• We also ride on the train's miniature though it is a little bit small for mommy & daddy to fit in into the model. Mommy & daddy terpaksa lah naik jugak train tu, takkan nak biar Baby SN naik sorang2 kan? *ngeeee....alasan; padahal memang gedix nak naik gak*.

=- sikit lagi nak terhantuk kepala mommy & daddy; budak kecik pulak tgh berangan jd driver train -=

=- inilah train yang baby SN drive -=

4) Old Moji Mitsui Club
• This building is also designated as an national important cultural property.
• Albert Einstein stayed here on the time he visited Japan with his wife, and that room keeps remains the same as an exhibition.

5) Kaikyo Plaza
• Kaikyo Plaza is a souvenir shop where visitors can enjoy shopping the unique gifts or dining in the restaurants.
• This place also features "Music Box Museum" and "Glass Art Museum."

6) Old Moji Customs Building
• It is constructed in 1912 with beautiful red bricks. They have a cafe and gallery inside.

7) Kitakysuhu Commemorative Library Of International Friendship

• this building is a replica of the Chinese eastern railway Office that Russia had constructed in Dalian, China.
• was built in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the friendship between Kitakyushu and Dalian.
• 1st floor: restaurant, 2nd floor: a library with a collection of Chinese and East Asian literature; 3rd floor: a reference room

8) Kanmonkyo Bridge
• The largest bridge at Kitakyushu, linking Kitakyūshū and Shimonoseki (on Kyūshū and Honshū respectively) via the Kanmon Straits.

9) Mekari Second Observation Deck
• The terrace offers an unparalleled view of the mountains on Kyushu Island and Honshu Island, the Kanmon Strait between them and many ships that pass through the strait.

• Visitors can see a beautiful night view featuring the Bridge and the city lights on the opposite shore.

=- ahli rombongan ke Kitakyushu -=

• Memang cantik pemandangan kat puncak ni, sebab boleh nampak pemandangan seluruh city ni dan jugak jambatan yang terkenal kat sini iaitu Kanmon Bridge.

• Kat sini jugak ada "Mural of the Battle of Dannoura between the Genji and Heike".

=- "Mural of the Battle of Dannoura between the Genji and Heike" -=


=- the history of the mural -=

10) World Peace Pagoda
• This pagoda was originally built to commemorates the Japanese soldiers who were killed at the Burmese front during World War II. Nowadays it is a peace memorial.
• We didnt get to enter the pagoda area as it was already closed when we arrived to that place, so we just posing kat luar pagar tu je la.

11) Norfolk Square
• The grand Kanmon Strait spreads right in front of Norfolk Square.
• This is a popular place to view ships and the Kanmon Bridge.
• This place was named in commemoration of the sister city relationship between Kitakyushu and Norfolk, Virginia, which is on the east coast of the US.
• Baby SN was already fall asleep when we arrived here, tapi mommy & daddy tetap dukung dan paksa dia posing walaupun kepala dia dah terlentuk2 eheh...*kejam betol*.

=- terlentuk2 dah kepala baby SN -=

Actually, our main intention to visit this place was to walk through the Kanmon Pedestrian Tunnel and walk inside the water tunnel to reach Honshu Island!. This tunnel starts in Moji-ko, near Mekari Park. The tunnel runs underwater between the islands of Kyushu and Honshu. But, unfortunately the tunnel was closed for maintenance work on that day. So, we end up letting the kids enjoy playing at the squid slides at Mekari Park.

Surprisingly, it seems like not only the kids enjoying the slides but mak bapak budak2 lagi terlebih excited main gelongsor2 unik kat situ...ekekekeke.

=- mommy & daddy 'terpaksa' temankan baby SN main slides ni -=

I hope you guys did enjoy the pictures and also story behind this trip. Gambar tak superb sangat due to foggy and gloomy sky on that day. Overall it was a nice sightseeing trip experience and I am very happy to be able to share it with you guys . Stay tune for the next entry of travel and living segment in Yatie Chomeyl's Blog as I'll bring you to another famous tourist spot here in Kyushu Island. *ecewahhh, macam rancangan TV pulak, siap suruh orang stay tune segala bagai ngeeeee*.


# Info gathered from: http://www.retro-mojiko.jp/english/


Psssstt : minggu ni geng Malaysian nak gi jalan2 kat Kyoto, tapi kitorang tak dapat nak join since I ada kelas on Friday and Saturday..huhuhuhu.