Yobuko town [呼子]

Yobuko is a district in Karatsu city located about 15 km north-northwest of Karatsu station.

Yobuko town faces Genkai Sea connecting to the Sea of Japan.
The area has indented coastline and there are some small islands around the area.

The main industry in Yobuko town is fishery.

Especially, squid is the most popular item, and most of the restaurants serve "Ikezukuri of Squid".

It is a sashimi arranged in the original shape of squid.
Transparent flesh of squid is beautiful, and its sliced pieces are fresh and tasty.
Even if you cannot eat raw squid, the restaurants have various dishes of squid.

Yobuko is also known for Morning market.

Every day, many stalls selling fresh fishes, vegetables or fruits line along a street about 200 meters long near the harbor.
It is opened from 7:30 to 12:00.

Ruin of Nagoya Castle (名護屋城跡)

Nagoya Castle was a castle located about 3 km west of central Yobuko town.
Nagoya Castle in Nagoya city is very popular, but this castle has no relation to the Nagoya Castle.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) was a strong warlord, and he unified the whole country in 1590, after the century-long age of civil war.

His next ambition was the conquest of China, so he built this castle as the military base on the mainland in 1592.

After that, great army started from here to Korean Peninsula in 1592 and 1597.

They fought against Korea and China, and had conquered whole Korean peninsula.

But Hideyoshi died in 1598.
As a result, Japan had lost the meaning to fight.
Then the whole army withdrew from Korea.

After that, this castle was demolished, and the building material were used to build Karatsu Castle.

There is the ruin of the castle on a hill in the center of a small peninsula, and the distance to the sea is about 0.8 km.
The site is about 500 meters from east to west and about 300 meters from north to south.

Many stone walls remain in the site.

And there are the ruins of 118 camps for strong warlords collected from throughout the country around the castle.

The entrance of the site is on the south side.

There is Nagoya Castle Museum around the entrance.
It introduces the history of Nagoya Castle and the interchange with the Japanese and the Korean Peninsula.

Nagoya Castle Museum

Cape Hado (波戸岬)

Cape Hado ("Hado-misaki" in Japanese) is a cape on the north edge of the peninsula, and is located about 4 km northwest of Nagoya Castle.

Flat greenfield expands around the cape.
We can see the view of Genkai Sea and enjoy a beautiful sunset from the cape.

The name "Hado" is similar to a word "heart".
So this cape has become "Lover's Sanctuary" and there is a heart-shaped monument.

The specialty of Cape Hado is grilled Sazae (Turban shell).
Some shops and restaurants for Sazae and the other fresh fish are around the cape.

Nanatsugama (七ツ釜)

Nanatsugama is a cliff of columnar joint with seven sea caves.
It is located near a cape about 5 km east of the center of Yobuko town.

The caves have been formed by the erosion of wild waves of Genkai Sea.
The largest cave is about 3 meters wide and about 110 meters depth.

"Nanatsugama" means "seven ovens", and it looks like a set of seven ovens literally.

The water of the sea is clear, so the color of the sea is beautiful on a fine day.

The pleasure boat is operated from Yobuko port every an hour.
It takes about 40 minutes to tour around Nanatsugama.

Marinepal Yobuko (Japanese website)

How to get here

By route bus, 30 minutes from Karatsu station to Yobuko.
And, from Yobuko, 9 minutes to Nagoya Castle, 16 minutes to Hado-misaki.

Other Tourist Attractions in Saga Prefecture

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