Dinosaurs and Cliffs in Fukui

What?
Fukui (福井) is a rather unimpressive city, but it can be used as a hub to visit some places of a little more interest. There is Tojinbo (東尋坊), a rugged coastline, Maruoka Castle (丸岡城), one of only 12 original castles left standing in Japan, and maybe most famous of all, the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (福井県立恐竜博物館) in which everything revolves around – well obviously – dinosaurs. Why? Because Fukui is the center of dinosaur research in Japan. The kids can even try to unearth some fossils themselves!
Where?
Fukui is the capital of Fukui Prefecture (福井県) and is connected to Osaka, Kyoto and Kanazawa by the JR Thunderbird Limited Express train (サンダーバード). Currently they are working to prolong the Hokuriku Shinkansen (北陸新幹線) from Kanazawa to Fukui, but that part is only scheduled to come into operation in 2022. From Fukui you can reach both Tojinbo as the Dinosaur Museum with the Echizen Railways (越前電鉄), although you have to take trains in opposite directions. To reach Tojinbo you have to take the Mikuni Awara Line (三国芦原線), while you have to take the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line (勝山永平寺線) to go to the museum. Both times you get off at the terminal station where you can transfer to a bus that takes around 15 minutes to get you to your destination. For Tojinbo however I recommend that you walk along the coastline between Mikuni-Minato Station (三国港駅) and Tojinbo. There is also a decent bus network which you can use to reach Maruoka Castle and then travel on to Awara Onsen (芦原温泉) or Tojinbo. Alternatively you can take the JR Hokuriku Main Line (北陸本線) to Maruoka Station (丸岡駅), but then you’ll have to transfer to a bus anyway. Questions about the bus network and time schedules? Don’t hesitate to ask in the comments.
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Fukui Tourism Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum JCastle

Despite its proximity to Osaka I had never been to Fukui Prefecture. I had this image of a place that’s only beautiful in winter, but it’s exactly that same winter that makes it impossible to decently travel around over there. Of course, those are just excuses. If you don’t go to a place, you don’t know what it will be like.

Nevertheless I had a hard time planning this trip. My limited time – only one day – was a major hurdle. The places of interest in the prefecture are either so far apart or just not well connected to each other to do something worthwhile during only one day. Eventually I decided to visit Tojinbo and Maruoka Castle which are directly connected with a bus, only to add the Dinosaur Museum very, very last minute. And I am very glad I did.

I woke up very early and immediately hopped on a bus to Maruoka Castle. The castle is one of only 12 castles with an original keep. I have always liked castles and wasn’t disappointed by the ones of Matsumoto, Himeji, Hikone, Inuyama and Marugame. Maruoka’s castle is located in a nice rural area with no tall buildings around it, which is a great relief. But the castle grounds weren’t as big as I expected them to be. There’s a nice park, but it’s nice in a way that it’s good for letting your dog out. The keep itself is rather small but picturesque, and I found the roof being different than usual and therefore quite interesting. Inside the keep there is not much to see apart from some extremely steep stairs, but the overall feeling was one of satisfaction. It was early in the morning and visitors were few, which probably had a big influence on how I felt about the place. Despite the good feeling though, as the castle and its grounds are rather small I finished my visit way earlier than expected. I could have gone to the local museum, but it was then that I decided on a whim to return to Fukui and go the Dino Museum instead of waiting for bus that went straight to Tojinbo.

And like said earlier that was a great decision. The train ride is rather long, but the assistant in the Echizen railway train was extremely friendly (thanks for the small talk) and then of course, there was the museum itself! Impressive is the least I can say about the place. The museum itself is located on a hillside where kids can run around and do some excavation tries themselves, while the museum itself is a futuristic complex that is just brilliantly designed. The inside gives you many, many skeletons and mannequins and on top of that a mountain of interesting information. And to top it off – for me personally that is – there were some awesome manhole covers to be found.

Dinosaurs are the pride of Fukui. This is Fukui Station.

Maruoka Castle Peeping through the trees.

Where are you running off to, little buddy?

Impressive Dinosaur Museum.

For real dino fans it would take a whole day to get through the museum. I love Jurassic Park of course, but I was in no need though to read every sign posted. So after around 2 hours I left, jumped on a train back to Fukui and changed to another train of the same Echizen Railways company to Tojinbo. Getting off at Mikuni Station I took the bus to Tojinbo. But I recommend everyone NOT to do that. Instead you should get off at Mikuni-minato Station and walk along the coastline and you’ll automatically end up at the cliffs of Tojinbo. Why? Well, the bus stop at Tojinbo is one of the most horrible tourist traps I have ever seen. Rows of shops and souvenir stands that spoil the view and have nothing to do with the scenery, but worst of all there is that ugly, ugly - I can not stress it enough - ugly, Tojinbo tower which towers over everything, ruining it for everyone. You can take the boat ride which is ok in itself, but you’ll never have a good view of the cliffs from the sea because of that monstrosity of a tower.
Is that a reason to avoid Tojinbo altogether? Definitely not. You can climb the cliffs freely without ropes, fences and supervision. And make no mistake: although I prefer Shirahama, the cliffs are beautiful. The place can be crowded though, but most of the visitors don’t even stroll 500 meters, so walking along the coastline towards Oshima Island with equally beautiful cliffs and rocks but much less people is my recommendation. And if you wait until the last bus leaves Tojinbo you’ll find all the noisy shops closed and 90% of the visitors gone. It makes for a peaceful wait for the beautiful sunset in the west. The walk back to Mikuni-minato station only took around 40 minutes, and this closed my highly satisfying first day ever in Fukui Prefecture.