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Orange Railway and Kagoshima 2026: All Posts
#0 Index
Eight days in Kagoshima Prefecture along the Hisatsu Orange Railway: samurai streets in Izumi, the sea at Akune, quiet Satsumasendai, and Tenmonkan nights.
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Walking Through Mokpo’s History.
#14 Mokpo Modern History and Culture Space
I walk through the old downtown. I walk slowly through Mokpo’s old downtown. Winter is harsh, but the wind from the southern sea is more bearable than the one in Seoul.With the afternoon sunlight added, the walk feels quite manageable. No matter which alley of the old downtown you walk through, you can feel Mokpo’s unique atmosphere,but it helps to set destinations along the way, at least to decide which direction to head toward. The first destination I chose was Mokpo Yudal Elementary School. Part of Mokpo’s old downtown has been designated as a nationally registered cultural heritage site,and this…
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The Starting Point of a Walk Through Mokpo’s Modern History
#13 Mokpo Modern History Museum, Building 1
As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the main purposes of this trip was to slowly walk through Mokpo’s old downtown.Unlike many other cities, Mokpo has layers of modern and contemporary history still deeply embedded in the city.This trip was about walking through those remaining streets and alleys of modern history,and that is how I arrived at Mokpo Modern History Museum, Building 1—the starting point of that walk. This building was constructed in 1900 as a Japanese consulate.During Japan’s colonial rule, it functioned as the “Mokpo-bucheong,”a governing body that effectively controlled local administration and judicial affairs.In other words,…
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The Nutty Taste of Mokpo, Jungkkan
#12 Daemyeongchun
One of the well-known foods in Mokpo is something called “Jungkkan.” According to what you can find through a quick search, the name comes from shortening “ganjjajang from Junghwaru” into “Jungkkan.”It seems that the original place is Junghwaru, located in the old downtown shopping area. However, since the day I planned to visit happened to be their regular day off,I ended up going to a nearby place called Daemyeongchun instead. I sat down at a table, ordered a bowl of Jungkkan, and waited.A group that came in after me also ordered Jungkkan.They asked the owner what “Jungkkan” meant.I listened carefully,…
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Storage of Mokpo’s Modern and Contemporary History
#11 Old Downtown ; Around Mokpo Station
There were two main reasons why I chose Mokpo as the destination for this trip. One was the restaurants of Mokpo. There are places I’ve saved over the years because they were delicious, and others I’ve received recommendations for but haven’t had the chance to visit yet. I wanted to take this opportunity to visit those places. The second reason was that I wanted to explore the old downtown of Mokpo slowly. Strangely, every time I visited Mokpo, I brought a car.Because of that, I never had the chance to walk through the alleys of the old downtown. When you…
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Quiet nights alone while traveling
#10 Milk & Honey
How do you usually spend your nights after dinner when you travel? I tend to go back to my hotel and sort through photos.That’s why I always carry my iPad with me.Especially on longer trips, I try to organize photos every single day.Unless you want to be hit by an overwhelming flood of photos after the trip is over. Sometimes I watch YouTube or Netflix as well.That’s less about traveling, and more about my everyday nightly routine. Still, what I enjoy more than that is stopping by a bar near my accommodation,having a quiet drink, and chatting lightly with the…
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Is this Mokpo-style sushi?
#9 Sushi Ari
When I chose Mokpo as the destination for this trip,one of the very first things I didwas search whether there were any sushi restaurants in the city. I am not someone who loves sushi that much,but for some reason, this time I was curious. What would sushi feel likein a coastal city in Korea? I remember having very good sushi in Jeju before. The technique was solid,the flavors were clean,and I liked that they used local fishsuch as hairtail, tilefish, and mackerel. So naturally, I began to wonder.What about Mokpo? Before thinking about the taste,another thought came to mind first.…
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A Favorite Restaurant I Get Nervous About Becoming Too Well-Known
#8 Seonggyeong Junchi Hoetjip
I have a friend who is originally from Mokpo. He moved to Seoul during college, and now that he’s middle-aged, you could probably say he’s more of a Seoul person than a Mokpo person. Still, both he and his wife are from Mokpo, and all of their parents and siblings live there. They visit Mokpo several times a year. So I think it’s fair to say he’s someone who lives in Seoul, but is still very much a Mokpo person. I’ve met this friend in Mokpo two or three times. We went to restaurants his parents recommended, and we also met up with his local friends to…
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:: zzoo’s travels ::
- Orange Railway and Kagoshima 2026 (32)
- Kanazawa 2026 (42)
- Karatsu and Yobuko 2026 (32)
- Mokpo Walk 2025 (20)
- Birthday Trip to Kagoshima 2025 (25)
:: zzoo’s tags ::
akune (10) fukuoka (1) hotel (11) index (2) izumi (9) japan (128) kagoshima (54) kanazawa (33) karatsu (25) kirishima (3) korea (20) mokpo (20) museum (15) nature (28) restaurant (67) satsumasendai (7) shirakawago (5) street scenes (37) toyama (7) transportation (18) yobuko (7)