11 Days in Chūgoku & Kyushu – Day 10 – Yanagawa River Punt-Boat Tour

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Yanagawa is a small town 46 minutes from Tenjin Station in Fukuoka city, and was originally constructed in the 16th century. It is today particularly famous for its hundreds of kilometers of canals that run around the city. Punt boats, or flat-bottomed boats with a squarish front, ply the canals, many of which are today used for sightseeing.

The River Punt-Boat Tour was basically the highlight activity for Day 10 – my last full day in this 11 day trip to Chūgoku and Kyushu. There are basically two options for the tour: you can book your tour rides with the companies independently, and there seem to be several operating in the area with different start points and routes. Admission prices are ¥1,000/SGD13 for adults and ¥500/SGD6.50 for children. Alternatively, there’s a sightseeing package that includes these two significant bits:

Travel between Tenjin Station, Yanagawa Station, and Dazaifu Station
River Punt-Boat Tour admission

There are also a number of other discounted coupons thrown in. The package costs ¥2,930 and the details are here. A quick calculation will reveal some cost savings. For instance:

Travel between Tenjin and Yanagawa Stations: ¥850/SGD10.90
Travel between Yanagawa and Dazaifu Stations: ¥670/SGD8.60
River Punt-Boat Tour admission: ¥1,000/SGD13

The package can be purchased at Tenjin Station’s office. There’s also a form to fill up, but I think that’s meant more for ease of understanding how many tickets you’d like to buy than anything else.

At Yanagawa itself, the start point of the tour with the appointed company is about a 5 minute easy walk away. Basically, exit the train station and cross the train tracks (pay attention to train signals at the crossing), turn left and continue on the main road, and you’ll see the distinctive red bridge that leads to Takahatake Park and Mihashira Shrine. The first boat tour leaves at 9:40AM, but their admission counter opens at around 9:25AM so you can start queuing if you’d like to sit at the front of the boat.

The tour itself lasts an hour – much longer than the one I just did at Bikan Historical Quarter on Day 07 – and will finish at Rokkyu Boat Stop. From that point, you can wait for the free shuttle bus included in this combination package that’ll return you to the start point – Shogetsu Punting Station – or Yanagawa train station just a bit further down. Alternatively, you can also walk the approximately 3km.

Pictures and comments!

Rakan-Bashi Bridge, with the Shogetsu Punting Station and start point just past the bridge and on your left.
Dozens of tour boats docked. I got to the station pretty early at 8:50AM, so could take in the sights and explore the area a bit.
Arrive early and you’d see the workers and staff doing morning exercises as part of their routine. Nothing too strenuous – just stretching exercises!
Bamboo hats are optional, and are rented at ¥100. Keep in mind that there’s no shade for substantial parts of the ride, especially during noon time and thereabouts.
The punt boat can sit a dozen passengers. Mine was the first boat of the day, and comprised mostly Taiwanese visitors.
Foliage debris and leaves have to be cleared up by canal maintenance workers.
I’d love for the back of my house to be canal-facing!
One of the above half-dozen bridges the tour will go under. This one has enough clearance for us not to have to duck!
The waters of the canal are calm, so there’s absolutely no worry about getting boat-sick!
Some of the overhanging trees and foliage make for picturesque photos.
Modern-looking houses.
A bridge with much lower clearance where all of us – including our boatman – would duck as the boat moves underneath it. Our boatman didn’t do that stunt you see in videos: where at low bridges, the passengers all duck, while the boatman climbs up the bridge, walks across, then leaps back onto the boat. But I took a series of pictures shown in the next post of what it looks like.
A quick stopover for passengers to buy ice cream. Flavors are between ¥300/SGD3.90 to ¥400/SGD5.10 or so.
The boat will stop for a minute or two so you don’t have to scramble to find change and get your ice cream.:)
A small platform where a dozen terrapins had gathered to sunbathe.
Our boatman was a tanned middle-aged gentleman who was full of insights as he provided commentary on the hour long tour. He also caroled a variety of songs, including Chinese folk and popular music, much to the Taiwanese guests’ delight, and even ‘Amazing Grace’ – in Japanese.
Getting to the start point from Yanagawa Station.
Where the bus pick-up will be to return you to the start point.

Summary: The Yanagawa boat tour has a very different feel from the one I did just two days back at Kurashiki: it’s much longer, and in a sense the canals of Yanagawa feel a lot more organic and real than the almost made-for-tourists canal in the Bikan Historical Quarter. Highly, highly recommended.

My exploration of Yanagawa continues in the next post!