Name: Discovering Fukui by Shinkansen
Uploaded: 2025-07-21T18:12:37.000Z
Duration: 10 min 43 s
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HOME TO DINOSAURS, HISTORICAL REMAINS AND DELICIOUS SEAFOOD, FUKUI IS A HIDDEN GEM THAT SHOULD NOT BE MISSED In 2015, when the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line was extended from Nagano to Kanazawa, a tourist boom started for Kanazawa, and many more travellers began to include the city into their itineraries.

Fast forward 9 years, the Hokuriku Shinkansen was further extended from Kanazawa to Tsuruga in March 2024, and the city to profit the most from this extension is Fukui.

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Previously difficult to access, the city can now be reached in a direct train ride from Tokyo in just under 3 hours.

Little known among foreign travellers, the city and surroundings have much to offer, and in this video, I'll be going on a 2-day itinerary to see some of the area's highlights.

After arriving at Fukui Station, I take the train east to learn more about an influential clan who ruled the area during Japan's warring period, and explore the extensive ruins of their former stronghold.

Then, end the first day with a crab dinner, the local specialty.

The next day, I'll visit a garden in the city centre, then take the train further east to spend the rest of the day at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, one of the world's best dinosaur museums.

So join me, Raina Ong, as I discover Fukui by Shinkansen.

Approximately 10km south-east of central Fukui lies the calm rural valley of Ichijodani, which 5 centuries ago was one of the leading cultural and military centres of Japan.

Here stood the capital of the Asakura, a powerful clan who ruled the region during the warring states when dozens of clans across Japan were fighting each other for supremacy.

I'm in Ichijodani and ready to start my lesson on Fukui's most powerful families of the 15th to 16th century.

To help me with that, I'm heading first to the museum where we can see some excavated remains as well as the reconstruction of the palace and the castle town.

During its heydays, Ichijodani was a well-fortified city and home to over 10,000 inhabitants and a castle and palace packed into the narrow valley.

This is the Pias de Resistance of the museum, a full-scale model of a section of the Asakura Palace.

The Asakura were on bad political terms with Oda Nobunaga, the military leader who would eventually pave the way for Japan's reunification.

In 1573, Nobunaga razed Ichijodani to the ground and the city was never rebuilt.

It was not until the 1960s that excavation works were started in the area and the ruined city was gradually uncovered.

This excavated site was unearthed before the museum was constructed and contains the remains of a river port.

The Ichijodani Asakura clan ruins, the actual historical site, is about a 20-minute walk away from the museum.

Do you remember the palace we saw at the museum?

Well, this platform that I'm standing on is where it used to be.

We've got the garden over there and the corridor that continues around it.

Gardens are a symbol of culture and peaceful times and four gardens in the family site are designated special places of scenic beauty and should not be missed while walking through the ruins.

This 200-metre street in the middle of the ruins has been restored and recreates the town atmosphere of the warring period.

There's some buildings we can enter and see how the people lived then.

Ichijodani is also a nice place to visit in spring when the numerous cherry trees in the area are in bloom.

After that history lesson on the Asakura clan, I make my way back to Fukui Station.

I'm looking forward to dinner at Kemuria, a popular local restaurant located not far from the station.

For dinner tonight, I've made a reservation at a local izakaya restaurant where you can order lots of small dishes.

This is a small sample of everything I ordered and there's more on the way.

On the menu tonight is snow crab, which is a local specialty.

The male snow crab carries the brand name Echizen Gani, while the female snow crab is known as Seiko Gani.

There are many ways to identify Echizen Gani so that you know you're getting the real deal and the easiest way is to look for this yellow tag on its leg.

My day begins with a nice walk from Fukui Station, through the former Fukui Castle grounds, to Yokogan Garden.

Yokogan Garden was constructed as the feudal lord's villa and the highlight of the garden is its traditional sukiya-style pavilion.

A simple and rustic style that was heavily influenced by the tea ceremony.

Yokogan Garden must be Fukui City's best-kept open secret.

The garden is absolutely peaceful and calming to walk through.

And this building is a replica of the villa where the feudal lord relaxed during his personal time.

Visitors can appreciate various sceneries as they stroll around the peaceful landscape garden and enjoy the views like a feudal lord.

Affectionately referred to as Dinosaur Kingdom, Fukui Prefecture holds the record for most number of dinosaur fossils found in Japan.

To learn more about this, I take the Echizen Railway and head over to Fukui's famous Dinosaur Museum.

I'm at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, one of the world's largest museums dedicated to dinosaurs.

I'm super excited to be here and I've even got my dinosaur top!

Shaped like a dinosaur egg, the museum showcases over 50 dinosaur skeletons from all over the world as well as those from Japan and the rest of Asia.

The museum also goes to the extent of showing all the work that is being done to clean up fossils.

There are even new species of dinosaurs that were found for the very first time in Fukui and now bear the word Fukui in their generic name like the Fukui Raptor and Fukuisaurus.

This museum definitely deserves its top ranking, it's just so good!

Anyway, even dinosaurs like me need to eat and you can find some dinosaur-inspired dishes at the restaurant and this one over here caught my eye.

It's a dessert about exploring the history of dinosaurs.

Ingredients come in a variety of shapes and sizes, they come in test tubes like these and you're supposed to experiment and pour and create your own dessert.

And that was my two-day trip unearthing the gems of Fukui.

I hope this video has been enjoyable and perhaps even inspires some ideas should you decide to plan a trip to Fukui.

For more information about this trip or to watch another video, click the links on the screen now or head over to japan-guide.com.

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Discovering Fukui by Shinkansen

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