Fukuoka

Fukuoka is a city located near the top of the island of Kyushu, with a population of approx 5 million. Due to a balls-up on my part, we ended up staying in the city of Kitakyushu, which is 20 mins away by bullet train - luckily we had a JR pass so the trip each way was free. Kitakyushu was a nice place to stay, especially as our hotel was right opposite the station.

Fukuoka at night

The hotel we stayed in, the Blue Wave Inn Kokura, was probably the nicest place we stayed in Japan. Very modern and clean, and great value for money being also one of the cheapest places we stayed. Stylish rooms too.

Anyway, Mami wanted to visit a Shrine in a place called Daizafu, which was about a half hour train ride away. So that was our first stop ...

Its about a 5 minute walk from the station to the Shrine, and you get there via the street above, adorned with the usual souvenir shops and food outlets. I wanted to wander around a little, so instead of turning left for the Tenmangu Shrine, I turned right and had a nosey ... and came across the Komyozenji Temple. This temple is known for its traditional gardens.

There was not much else to see in this direction, so I headed back to the Daizafu Tenmangu Shrine. It was "Seniors Day" in Japan, a public holiday to show respect for the aged - and so the Shrine was quite busy.

The Shrine complex had a small garden attached, with Koi in pools etc. There was also an area where you could watch free performances. I watched a trained monkey jump through hoops and strike cute poses.

Mami had another Shrine on her agenda for the afternoon, but I wanted to see something different. So while she did her Shrine thing, I took the opportunity to explore the Fukuoka city centre on foot. First on the agenda was the ACROS complex, an environmentally-friendly terraced building almost completely covered in plants.

Right next to the ACROS complex was a park - there were many stalls with a wide variety of foods to try, but it was the loud music emanating from a corner of the park that attracted me. Naturally I headed towards it and came across an Asian Dance festival being held on two stages. The sound system would put most concert venues to shame - it was pumping!

Every time I'm in Japan I feel like I lucked in because some major event or another just happened to be on while I was there. I've come to realise its not really luck - it's just that there's always interesting stuff going on!

This was a free festival, and there were dozens of troupes performing energetic routines, all in beautiful multi-coloured costumes.

After spending hours in the sun watching the Dance routines, I headed to another item on my itinerary - the Fukuoka Mandarake store. It was about 15 mins walk away. This was 5 stories crammed full of toys, comics, and collectible figures. They had a great selection here, and I found it to be better than the Shibuya store in Tokyo which is just a single floor.

After browsing all the crazy figurines but not buying anything, I headed back to the city centre to meet up with Mami again.

Fukuoka prides itself on being a cultural hub in Asia, perhaps due to its proximity to Korea. The city had a relaxed and creative vibe. I wish we'd had more time to stay there, as there was so much more to see. It'll definitely be a longer visit next time.

Note: You can actually catch a ferry across to Korea from Fukuoka, which I didn't realise until we got there. That will have to wait till the next trip too.