Karatsu

Karatsu (唐津市) is a city in Saga Prefecture, Japan.

Understand
Karatsu, like many other municipalities in Japan, is actually the result of a merger of smaller towns and villages from the surrounding area, which occurred in 2005. Genkai was the lone holdout of this merger, owing to its nuclear power plant. Karatsu, formed from the Japanese word roots 唐 kara (China, or continental East Asia in general), and 津 tsu (port), signifies its historical importance as an ancient trading port between Japan with China and Korea.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site with integrated machine translation.

Talk
In addition to Standard Japanese, the local dialect (Karatsu-ben) is also understood by most. It is actually a bit closer to the Hakata dialect than that of the rest of Saga prefecture, but Saga-ben is also understood.

Korean language signage exists, but sparsely.

Get in
Saga prefecture's own airport is located south of Saga City, and as a result is much less convenient to Karatsu than the international airport in Fukuoka.

From Fukuoka International Airport, take the Fukuoka City Subway Airport Line to its terminus, Meinohama, and transfer to the JR Chikuhi Line. Travel time from Hakata is ~84 minutes (~68 minutes if you catch a Rapid Chikuhi Line train (not labelled as such; departs Meinohama at 09:47, 10:47, 17:51, and 18:50)). Some trains will run all the way from the airport to Nishi-Karatsu station without requiring transfers.

The Oteguchi Bus Terminal is the main bus hub in Karatsu. It's less than a ten minute walk from Karatsu Station (take the north exit and walk straight, turn right at the T-intersection in front of city hall.

Karatsu is also serviced by a ferry, which links it to Iki island in Nagasaki prefecture. From there, it's possible to catch another ferry onward to Busan, Korea by way of Tsushima, also part of Nagasaki. The ferry terminal is in Oshima, roughly a 20-minute walk from Nishi Karatsu Station. Busses also run to the ferry terminal.

Get around
For the most part, trains aren't a viable way to see most of Karatsu, busses are a better bet. The best way, however, is under your own power: basic bicycles are available for hire at Arupino (white building with a blue dolphin on it next to Karatsu Station), and cars can also be rented from several locations.

For car rentals, the tourist information center at Karatsu station seems to have better rates than the Toyota place down the street; a yellow-plate car (seats 4) rents for about ¥6800/day, with an additional ¥1050 for insurance. At least one of the employees speaks pretty good English.

Do

 * Karatsu Kunchi Held during November 2-4 each year, this three-day festival is Karatsu's most famous. 14 floats (known as hikiyama in Japanese) are drawn through the city by people from the various neighborhoods.
 * Hamasaki Gion Festival In mid-July the city lights up with many floats to celebrate what citizens hope to be a good harvest.

Buy

 * Karatsu Pottery - Karatsu-yaki is one of the most prized among collectors of Japanese ceramics. The most convenient store selling them is Arupino (building with a dolphin on it), located adjacent to Karatsu Station.  The pottery is on the second floor.
 * Squid buns (ika manjū), which come in white and black varieties, or the unusual-looking squid dumplings (ika shūmai)

Eat


The town of Yobuko is famous for live squid (活イカ katsu-ika or 生イカ nama-ika), which can be eaten as sashimi, or pulled right off the not-entirely-dead body.


 * Look on Asaichi-dōri (朝市通り) for any number of restaurants, including a Manbō branch. (From Karatsu Station or Nishi-Karatsu Station, take a bus to Yobuko Asaichi-dōri.)
 * Look on Asaichi-dōri (朝市通り) for any number of restaurants, including a Manbō branch. (From Karatsu Station or Nishi-Karatsu Station, take a bus to Yobuko Asaichi-dōri.)

Go next

 * Genkai
 * Imari
 * Arita
 * Takeo
 * Itoshima
 * Fukuoka
 * Taku
 * Ogi
 * Saga