Current Time in Fukui-shi, Japan

Fukui lies on the Sea of Japan coast of central Honshu, in the Hokuriku region, on a plain crossed by the Kuzuryu and Asuwa rivers between forested mountains and the sea. It is the capital of Fukui Prefecture, a quiet and prosperous corner of the country known for heavy winter snow driven in from the sea, humid summers, and a countryside of rice fields, wooded valleys and dramatic rocky coastline.

Around two hundred and sixty thousand people live in the city. Fukui is the administrative and commercial centre of the prefecture, with a long tradition in textiles that has evolved into the manufacture of high-technology synthetic fabrics and carbon fibre. The neighbouring town of Sabae produces the overwhelming majority of Japan's spectacle frames and a significant share of the world's, and the region is also known for lacquerware, washi paper, knives and pottery.

The city grew as a castle town. In the sixteenth century the Asakura family ruled the province from a fortified valley settlement at Ichijodani, which was destroyed by Oda Nobunaga and lay buried until excavations revealed an entire town of streets, gardens and workshops, now one of the most important archaeological sites of the warring states period in Japan. A new castle was later built on the plain, and the Matsudaira clan, relatives of the ruling shoguns, governed the domain from it for more than two centuries. Modern Fukui suffered two catastrophes in quick succession, an air raid in 1945 that destroyed most of the city and a devastating earthquake in 1948. The determination with which it rebuilt earned it the nickname of the phoenix city, and the name is still used with pride.

The stone walls and moat of the castle survive in the city centre, with the prefectural offices standing inside them, and the Yokokan Garden, the elegant villa garden of the Matsudaira family, offers a beautiful arrangement of pond, teahouse and maples. The excavated town of Ichijodani, with its reconstructed streets and restored gardens, lies a short drive away in a wooded valley. Fukui is also known throughout Japan as dinosaur country, since the richest fossil beds in the nation are found in the prefecture, and the dinosaur museum at Katsuyama is one of the largest of its kind in the world, while life-sized dinosaur figures greet travellers at the main station.

Other attractions in the region include Eiheiji, the great mountain monastery founded in 1244 and one of the two head temples of Soto Zen, where monks still train under a strict daily regime, and the basalt cliffs of Tojinbo on the coast. Local specialities include Echizen snow crab, considered the finest in Japan, buckwheat noodles served with grated radish, and rice of exceptional quality.

The extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen brought high-speed trains to Fukui in 2024, cutting the journey from Tokyo considerably, and expressways and local lines serve the prefecture. The University of Fukui, with faculties of engineering and medicine, anchors higher education.

Fukui is worth discovering for its Zen temples, dinosaurs, crafts and superb food.