Walking to Kokura Station
Walking Along the River
After the TOTO Museum, I set off on foot again. The river here is called the Murasaki River.
The presence of Riverwalk Kitakyushu rising up in the middle of the city is impressive, as expected.
Visiting the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Literature
At the end of my walk, I stopped by the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Literature. It was designed by Arata Isozaki.
At the attached café, I had a firm custard pudding—the kind that has come full circle and feels stylish again today. Photography inside is allowed only for the building itself.
The stained glass, said to have been designed by Arata Isozaki himself, immediately catches the eye. The official website describes it as follows:
The museum features mysterious stained glass that takes on different expressions depending on the time of day and the weather. Circular in form and reminiscent of a rose window in Gothic architecture, it was designed by Isozaki with reference to diagrams found in the writings of Miura Baien, an Edo-period thinker from his native Oita Prefecture.
It is a building with exceptionally beautiful curves. You can really sense the care that went into both its design and construction.
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