Fukuoka is the capital of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. I didn’t know what to expect when I got there and was pleasantly surprised because it’s a very nice city.
Fukuoka train station (JR Hakata) is, since March 2011, the starting point of the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train. Therefore, there’s a lot of shops and restaurants inside the station. A short walk gets us to Canal City, a fairly large shopping mall. In its lower level, official goodies stores await you: Ghibli, Jump (One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball…), Hello Kitty, Monster Hunter, etc. On the fifth floor is ‘Ramen Stadium’, a place dedicated to noodles in which you can taste the local specialty: the famous Hakata ramen, served with pork.
I definitely recommend taking the bus to get to the west of the city. In half an hour, you can reach the Fukuoka Tower, which rises to 234 meters and offers a beautiful 360° view over the city and its bay (¥640). The tower is only a short stroll of the seafront. There’s a seaside resort and beaches have been decorated with white sand. The sea temperature may not be as good as in Enoshima and there are a few small jellyfish. But the friendly atmosphere of the beach is a place in Fukuoka you should not miss during high season.
In Marizon, a rather small mall built on water, it’s even possible to marry couples in the rebuilding of a chapel! At the end of the day, you can use the beaches’ popular grills to eat and a drink by getting to know young Japanese people in the area. Around the beach are also the Hilton hotel and the ‘Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome’ (which hosts mainly Hawks baseball games). With the night coming, you have to admire the light decorations on the tower. A little further west, Marino and its outlets is not so interesting in terms of price, you can easily go without visiting it.
More cultural: I suggest you also visit Ohori park. The walk around the large lake is very pleasant, and contains a large and beautiful Japanese garden, very green with beautiful waterfalls. As usual, watch out for mosquitoes in summer, but the views are worth the ¥190 requested. You will also walk the streets of Tenjin district at night for its department stores but also the ‘Yatai’ stalls on the street, offering different dishes to taste. Finally, not far from the train station, metro station Gion can get you to the largest wooden Buddha in Tochoji temple, with its 16 feet high.
Here are a few pictures taken in Fukuoka:
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