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Fukuoka (福岡) is the capital of Fukuoka prefecture and the largest city on the island of Kyushu.
Fukuoka is a modern city, divided historically by the central river into two separate cities, Hakata (博多) and Fukuoka (福岡). The main railway station and port are still known as Hakata Station and Hakata Port. There are city centers in both Hakata and Tenjin.
There is a Tourist Information Center in Tenjin with English speakers available under the Nishitetsu Fukuoka station. For information in English, visit the Rainbow Plaza, located on the 8th floor of the Inter Media Station (IMS) building. The IMS is accessible by subway and is just a three-minute walk from the Tenjin station. In the middle of Hakata JR train station, there is a Tourist Information Center (sometimes with English speakers) with brochures in English, Japanese... Read more
Fukuoka (福岡) is the capital of Fukuoka prefecture and the largest city on the island of Kyushu.
Fukuoka is a modern city, divided historically by the central river into two separate cities, Hakata (博多) and Fukuoka (福岡). The main railway station and port are still known as Hakata Station and Hakata Port. There are city centers in both Hakata and Tenjin.
There is a Tourist Information Center in Tenjin with English speakers available under the Nishitetsu Fukuoka station. For information in English, visit the Rainbow Plaza, located on the 8th floor of the Inter Media Station (IMS) building. The IMS is accessible by subway and is just a three-minute walk from the Tenjin station. In the middle of Hakata JR train station, there is a Tourist Information Center (sometimes with English speakers) with brochures in English, Japanese and other languages. They can help with transport information and bookings. On the third floor of the ACROS building, near Nakasu, you can find more information in English.
The surrounding cities and towns make up the prefecture of Fukuoka.
Fukuoka is a good starting point for first-time visitors to Japan. Being a sizable, modern city it's still not hard to get around. A subway connects most of the city's main attractions, providing transportation between Hakata, Tenjin, Fukuoka International Airport, Meinohama, and Nishijin (where you can find Fukuoka Tower and the baseball ground of the Softbank Hawks: Fukuoka Yahoo Dome). The main station in Hakata marks the terminus of the Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train. The Kyushu Shinkansen line also terminates here, and links the Sanyo Shinkansen directly with Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu.
For a good listing of what's happening and places to eat and drink, the local monthly English language Fukuoka Now magazine is a great start.
Hakata is famous for its style of ramen, which has a very pungent smell thanks to a pork rib broth called tonkotsu (豚骨). Enjoy it with pickled ginger and lots of sesame seeds.
Another regional product Hakata is famous for is the spicy mentaiko (明太子), or cod roe condiment, though in actuality these days it is all imported. Both products are widely available for tourists in JR Hakata Station as well as major department stores, although the mentaiko needs to be refrigerated.
Fukuoka is also known for having good gyoza (pork dumplings) and there are many places to try some. (They are a perfect appetizer/side dish for ramen, incidentally.)
Lunchtime is probably the best value for the money. Most restaurants will do lunch sets at 1/2 or 1/3 the price of their dinner sets but serve the same course. If you have a bit more cash to spend and want to have a nice Japanese style lunch, the Grand Hyatt at Canal City and the Excel Hotel near Nakasu are both good. Most of the larger, nicer hotels in the area will serve beautiful lunch sets.
Yatai, or street stalls, are plentiful throughout Fukuoka and present a great place to grab a bite to eat and drink while mixing with the locals. Yatai are usually the last stop on a pub crawl since they provide cheap eats that taste better after a long night, and it's easier to start a conversation with a stranger after many beers. Don't rely on one for dinner! And bring your meishi (business cards) if you have any because they often get swapped here.
Tenjin, 100 yen by bus from Hakata Station or to the west of Fukuoka Nishitetsu Station, is one of the best places in the whole country to explore Japanese nightlife. This also includes Daimyo, a farther out area which is becoming the "new Tenjin". Unlike comparable areas in Tokyo, there are no scam bars in Tenjin, and the "snack bars" are not ridiculously overpriced. The area is aimed towards the locals but it is still large, new, fashionable, and full of unique experiences. This is one of the safest places imaginable to drop into a new bar, so why not give it a try?
This usually means you get a tiny bowl of nuts, chips or pickled octopus.
For extremely unadventurous groups, the area abounds with chain izakaya (Japanese pubs) that have picture menus which make it easy for the traveler who speaks no Japanese. Watami わたみ wara wara わらわら are two such chains. Shirokiya, another izakaya, is decent and fairly easy to find. It is on Nishi-dori, across from the Nishtetsu Grand Hotel above Kitamura Camera in the same building as Sam and Dave's, a nightclub popular with the hip-hop crowd.
The Happy hour concept is just beginning to make its way into the bars in the area, so you can now find places that do cheap drinks.
LOCAL TIME
11:38 am
January 28, 2021
Asia/Tokyo
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I continued to admire the views from Fukuoka Tower (Views From Fukuoka Tower. P.1). I found a vacant romantic sofa and plopped down on it. I sent greetings to Singapore in my thoughts. That's all, my mission was complete,so I went to the elevator. In general, the... |
Here's a little more of Japan. This is one of the main attractions in
Fukuoka
that intrigued me. I adore skyscrapers. The height of this tower is 767 feet (234 meters), the observation deck is stationed 403 feet (123 m). The construction was completed in 1989. Entrance cost 800 yen (... |
I met this self-replenishing van near Maizuru Park (Fukuoka. Ohori Park, Gokoku Shrine, Ruins of the Castle. P.1) :) An elderly Japanese woman organized a business for herself. She had everything there: a refrigerator, stove, oven, money box, warehouse. And I became so... |
I continued walking around the temple complex called Gokoku (Fukuoka. Ohori Park, Gokoku Shrine, Ruins of the Castle. P.1). Here's the shrine itself. Some preparations for a celebration were going on around it.
Some buildings were scattered on the territory in the wood, you can also... |
The subway Station is called
Ohori Koen
. Koen in Japanese means "park". That's the way to learn some Japanese words :) In the middle of the park, there is a big lake where, during the good weather, you can take a ride on such swans. It was May 2nd, the weather was not very... |
Being a little bit frustrated after visiting
Shofuku-ji Zen Temple
(Shofuku-ji, Tocho-ji, and Fukuoka Subway. P.1), I went toward
Tocho-ji
. It was nearby, only five minutes away. It is the oldest temple of the Shingon Buddhism school (it was built in 806). Its... |
After a short walk around the city (First Day in Japan. Fukuoka), I determined that
Fukuoka
had places worth visiting. Here's a brief history: a port appeared in Hakata Bay in the 8th century. It became a place for trade with China. Not far from it, in 1601, daimyo ... |