Name: Why We Keep Coming Back to Fukui, Japan
Uploaded: 2026-02-16T18:03:34.000Z
Duration: 10 min 39 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

I'm in one of my favorite places in Japan, Fukui.

Peaceful temples and shrines surrounded by forests, amazing food, friendly people and no crowds.

Basically the perfect ingredients to create the best trip of my life.

Only 3 hours from Tokyo and 30 minutes from Kanazawa by bullet train.

for this video I've made a list of my favorite spots to show you why I love it here.

There's honestly so much to do here and I'd recommend staying at least a night to take it all in.

Let's start with the first one on my list.

The moment you enter the grounds, everything slows down.

It's only a 30 minute bus ride from Fukui Station, but

it feels completely hidden from the rest of the world.

Eheji is an active monastery, and when you visit, it's important to keep the peace.

Now, some buildings can be walked through, but others you just view quietly from the outside.

Besides its simple beauty, what really is surprising is just how big this place is.

There are about 70 buildings, and the seven main ones are connected by long covered walkways.

It's a whole self contained world where monks have been training for centuries.

This makes sense because Eheiji is one of two head temples of Sotozen, Japan's largest branch of Zen Buddhism.

The seven main buildings here are laid out in a way that represents the human body.

The building right on top represents the head.

Then there's the heart, two upper arms, knees, and

this Sanmon I'm standing under represents our hips and hands in the meditation position.

All these details really make me wonder what the Zen practice here is actually like.

Steve Jobs once wanted to train as a monk here.

That makes me even more curious to try it myself.

There are a few meditation sessions here a day, and

you can book a spot at the main entrance when you arrive.

My session's about to start and I'll see you later.

In case you're wondering, that tap on the shoulder is part of the meditation.

You actually ask for it by putting your hands together and leaning forward.

And it's meant to remind you of the purpose of Zazen, not to punish you.

Eiheiji is the kind of place you can really enjoy by taking your time.

So even though the main areas only take about an hour, I'd recommend spending at least half A day here.

Time to get here, explore the gentle pace, try a meditation session like I did, and

After that Zen experience, it's time to mix things up and go somewhere a little noisier.

You're probably wondering, why are there so many dinosaurs in Fukui?

Well, in the late 1980s, a large number of dinosaur fossils was found in the area, including several new species, one of which was aptly named Fukui Raptor.

Did you know that 6 out of 13 new dinosaur species found in Japan were discovered in Fukui?

To top it off, Fukui doesn't just use dinosaurs as mascots.

They've also built one of the best dinosaur museums in the world.

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum has a massive collection of dinosaur fossils on display.

Lifelike animatronics, and even contains a fossil preparation lab.

How excited are you, Reina on a skeleton?

If I lived in the period of dinosaurs, I'm not a good survivor.

with about an hour and a half of travel time to get here by bus and train, you'd want to set aside at least half a day to visit this dinosaur paradise.

This next spot really highlights how quickly the vibes can change in Fukui.

One moment you're surrounded by dinosaurs, and

the next you're walking through a shrine in a forest that feels frozen in time.

The path is lined with tall cedar trees, the ground covered in moss, and no one else around.

I'm actually whispering right now because it's that quiet.

What I love about Haisen Jihak sunshine is how open it feels.

The buildings are scattered through the forest, and

everything is wrapped in this soft silence that makes time feel slower.

A long time ago, Haisen Ji Haksan Shrine was actually a massive temple complex with thousands of monks living and training here.

But in the late 1500s, it was destroyed during a local power struggle.

For centuries, the southern part of the old temple grounds lay buried beneath layers of earth and moss, while the northern area, buried, developed into the forest area we can see now.

In the late 80s, the city excavated part of the old temple grounds, and

they discovered some stone foundations, pathways, and traces of what was once a bustling community.

Can you imagine thousands of monks used to live here?

Heisen Ji Hakusan Shrine has a completely different kind of calm from Eheji.

They're about a 35 minute drive apart, so you could easily visit both in a day if you start early.

From the quiet mountains of Heisenji, it's a short trip back into Fukui City to another spot on my favorites list, Yoko Kan Garden.

I learned recently that Yoko Kan Garden is a popular place to take wedding pictures, especially in the autumn.

Even if you're not here for wedding pictures, Yoko Kan Garden is the most beautiful garden in Fukui City.

The Villa in the garden is a gorgeous reconstructed waterfront residence that feels peaceful and refined and completely at home with nature.

While the surrounding garden changes beautifully with the seasons.

It's so nice and peaceful here and I can really appreciate the true purpose of a Japanese garden that is to create a space to slow down and breathe.

To get to Yoko Kan Garden are like walking through the Fukui Castle ruins.

It used to be the seat of the feudal lords and now it's where the prefectural government and police headquarters are.

I guess Fukui's leaders never really left the castle.

The walk through the castle takes about 15 minutes from the station.

These are old cherry trees and can you imagine how it looked like in spring?

Good food always puts me in a good mood and Fukui doesn't disappoint.

It is in soba, mackerel, mochi mizuyokan, sake, craft beer.

I always end up eating my weight in Fukui.

On my last trip, my friend from Fukui recommended I try the Sauce Katsudon at one of the city's most popular restaurants.