平和台公園 Heiwadai Park @Miyazaki, Japan

We had some time left in the afternoon after visiting the Nichinan Coastal area, and decided to visit another place of interest to fully utilise our 1-day Visit Miyazaki Bus Pass.

平和台公園 Heiwadai Park seemed interesting, and after checking the bus schedule at the Tourist Information Centre within Miyazaki Station, we went to the bus stop to wait for Bus #8.

The bus arrived earlier, so we could go up and have a seat while waiting for its scheduled departure. This was a good thing, for it started raining all of a sudden, and we were startled by the sudden jumping up movements by the passengers sitting at the bus stop. That was when we realised that the mini bus stop shelter did not cover the seating area 😮

We were actually kinda lost after getting off the bus at the terminal stop, and we were lucky enough to chance upon a couple of school children, who tried to point us to the correct directions.

So, we had a good 20-minute stroll in the wet but cooling weather, and were lucky enough to arrive at the park 5 minutes before a tour bus.

This gave us some quiet time to see the 平和の塔 Peace Tower, and to try out the acoustic trick, whereby if you stood at the designated spot at the centre of the lawn before the Peace Tower and do a clap, you could hear your clap reflected/echoed back 😛

However, we did not manage to climb up the Peace Tower, as there was a sign saying that it was closed (probably due to the wet weather).

We moved on to check out the はにわ園 Haniwa Park, where a collection of more than 400 replica 埴輪 (haniwa) burial statues, the unglazed earthenware that decorated the surface of the ancient tombs during the 古墳時代 Kofun Period (250 to 538 AD). We saw warriors, horses, dancers, witches, servants, houses and boats lined along the walking paths surrounded by greenery. It was quite a fascinating sight, but I guess we would not want to be here after sunset 😛

We spent about 30 minutes here, and found a shorter path back to the bus stop, through a flight of stairs at the back of the first parking lot near the レスト ハウス rest house with toilet facilities. See the interactive map here (Flash Player required).

Note:

• It is possible to take a bus (#301 to #305) to visit 宮崎神宮 (Miyazaki Jingu) Miyazaki Shrine and the 宮崎県総合博物館 Miyazaki Prefectural Museum of Nature and History first, followed by a 15-minute walk or a taxi to 平和台公園 Heiwadai Park. However, as we would have to wait a much longer time for the bus to Miyazaki Shrine, we decided to head for Heiwadai Park directly. It was too late for us to visit the Miyazaki Shrine by the time we were done visiting the park.