Kyu-Takatori residencePhoto: STA3816 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Getting there
- Taxi about 10 min, about ¥1,600 (our estimate); about 15 min on foot from the castle
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
The seaside house of Takatori Koreyoshi, who made his money in coal, built in the late Meiji era and now an Important Cultural Property. A Noh stage stands inside the Japanese house, beside a Western wing, painted cedar doors and cloisonné door pulls. 09:30–17:00, last entry 16:30. Adult ¥520 until 31 March 2027; from 1 April 2027 ¥800 for visitors from outside Karatsu (children ¥400). Closed on Mondays (a Monday holiday opens and the next day closes) and 29 December–3 January.
- Number 3 of ten on our list for Karatsu.
- Short enough to be certain of: 1 hr 30 min door to door.
- Closed on Mondays (a Monday holiday opens and the next day closes) and 29 December–3 January. Check the day before you plan around it.
- 1 hr 30 min door to door needs a 3.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Where the 1 hr 30 min goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside. The minutes are our estimates from timetables and maps, not timed on the ground.
If your ship is late, cut the 1 hr 10 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from official timetables and our estimates, with this stop in them.
The castle and the Takatori residenceNeeds a 4.5-hour call · ~2.5h door to doorAny call of 4.5 hours or more; not on a Monday unless it is a holiday, nor the day after a Monday holiday (the residence is closed)The castle town: castle, floats, a Meiji house and the bankNeeds a 6-hour call · ~4h door to doorA 12:00–18:00 Star Seeker call: off at 12:30, back by 16:30, with no time to spare. The walks between the four places take 10 to 15 minutes each (OSM routing, our estimates); the bank is only if you are ahead
Floats, the bank and a Meiji house, all under a roofA wet day · ~3h door to doorA wet day on any call of 5 hours or more; three indoor sights 8 to 12 minutes’ walk apartWhat to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
2 hr 30 min for bothKaratsu Jinja
The town’s shrine, said to date from the Nara period, and the home of the Kunchi festival: every November the 14 floats escort its portable shrine through the streets.
See the detail
2 hr 30 min for bothFormer Karatsu Bank
The red-brick head office of the Karatsu Bank, finished in March 1912 in the Tatsuno style, red brick banded with white granite under small towers and domes.
See the detail
3 hr for bothThe 14 Kunchi floats
The giant lacquered floats of the Karatsu Kunchi festival, lions and samurai helmets among them, all 14 under one roof; the oldest, the red lion, was made in 1819.
See the detail