Postcards from Fukuoka

Fukuoka is a city in Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island. With a flight time of around two hours from Narita, it’s actually closer to Busan in Korea than it is to Tokyo, meaning over the years it has developed its own distinct identity: a vibrant mish-mash of cultures from both Japan and mainland Asia.

Despite being a convenient jumping-off point for exploring both Japan and South Korea, Fukuoka is sometimes overlooked by Western tourists who instead choose to stick to cities north of Hiroshima. I, personally, have a bit of a connection to the city as I lived here for a year in 2003-2004. During that time, I was a rambunctious 22 year-old, more interested in seeing the inside of bars than the city itself. And so it was nice to return to Fukuoka – 20 years later with my wife – to rediscover the city in Japan that I first called home.

Despite it being rainy season, blue skies greeted us at our gate in Tokyo…
And when we landed in Fukuoka 💙

As you can see, a river cuts through the heart of the city giving it a unique vibe.
What we didn’t realise, was that during our visit Fukuoka was in full preparation for the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, the most eagerly awaited yearly festival in the city. Massive decorative floats (weighing up to one ton) were scattered throughout the city for people to look at. These floats were then carried through the streets in spectacular fashion, something we were lucky enough to see, and that I have shared at the end of this post.
It was cute that they had set up little chairs for people to sit at and admire the floats.
People seemed to use these as a place to chat and chill out. These guys eating watermelon…
That they maybe bought from this shop?
There was a long shopping arcade in Kawabata that was fun to walk around with a nice local vibe and lots of stuff on offer.
From K-Pop merchandise and snacks…
To old-school bowls of ramen…
And some questionable outfits.

Many shops were dedicated to selling fashion for hostesses. Hostess club are all over the Nakasu neighbourhood: establishments where men pay to talk and drink with women.
Mrs IKIMASHO feeling the heat in Fukuoka…
Any excuse to eat Kakigori!
Shaved ice with green tea and sweet adzuki beans.
I couldn’t help but notice this elegant scene while walking around the backstreets.
Does it get more Japanese than this?
This is the ACROS building in Tenjin, famous for having sloped terraces that have now turned into a forest. When I first lived here in 2003, you could still see the building underneath. Check out some images on Google if you are interested to see how it has changed over the years.

Fun fact: I used to use the free public computers in here to email my parents and friends since I didn’t own a computer back then 😮 During that first year in Japan I also didn’t have a mobile phone or camera.
Like the rest of Japan, Fukuoka has clean and quiet local trains.
This one even had some wooden decor.
A simple lunch of sashimi, tofu, tempura, miso soup, pickles and rice.

The little pot on the left is mentaiko – a speciality of Fukuoka. It is basically fish eggs that have been salted, seasoned with spices such as red pepper, and then fermented. The finished product is bright orange/pink and has a salty, spicy and sweet taste.
Quite often I don’t show the view from these restaurants, but I liked the angle of this one looking out.
Walking around Nishijin, a local little area not too far from Tenjin.
Colourful vibes…
And faded memories.
Fukuoka at dusk, the billboards starting to light up.
The river at night, neon shimmering on the water.
An izakaya selling traditional foods such as udon and yakitori
Takoyaki – battered balls of diced octopus.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, we were lucky to see the practice runs of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa.

During this festival, huge floats weighing one ton are dragged through the streets. The floats don’t have wheels and so water is thrown about to reduce friction between the float and the road surface (and to cool down the participants).
Participants getting ready.
Kids also got to take part…
As well as toddlers who were actually placed inside the floats.
Me, watching on.
It was a chaotic and cool experience and one I had never seen before.

The photos don’t really do it justice – check out this short video I posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ikimasho.net/videos/1176364590178054
Thank you, Fukuoka! It was nice to see you again 🙂