Nishi Park is located in a very scenic place that was called Aratsu Mountain in the Man-yo period (7-8 century). The park houses the Koun Shrine dedicated to Kuroda Josui and Kuroda Nagamasa, the statues of Mori Tomonobu and Hirano Kuniomi, late Edo period soldiers who contributed to the Meiji restoration, and the poetic monuments of Kato Shisho, Tokutomi Soho and other poets from the Man-yo period. The observatory in the park offers a fantastic view of the city of Fukuoka in the east, Hakata Bay and Uminonakamichi Island and Nokonoshima Island in the north. The 1300 cherry trees planted in the park attract many people in the heyday of spring.