The first two days of me and Romana’s trip we spent exploring Fukuoka. On the first day, we visited Ohori lake park and a craft gyoza (dumpling) festival, before going to Tenjin and having dinner at a yatai next to the canal. We spent four days in Kyushu, Japan; we stayed in Fukuoka for two nights (with a day trip to Dazaifu) and a night in the onsen town of Yufuin.

We arrived at Fukuoka airport and picked up the Fukuoka City Subway Day Pass that Romana bought online on the way. Then we got the free shuttlebus that takes you to the domestic terminal. From that terminal, we took a subway (using our newly minted passes!) to Hakata train station. Then straight to the APA Hotel ＆ Resort Hakata-Ekihigashi to store our bags. There were a LOT of suitcases in the lobby so we had to get a QR code before we could leave.

We were hungry, so off we went to find some grub and we ended up at Sanmi, East Hakata Station Branch for some ramen. They had tomato and soy milk ramens on offer; a little odd but we were hungry enough to try it. I assumed they’d take credit cards because they had a kiosk; nope! So we walked to the first of many convenience store ATMs (7-11, Lawson) and then back to try again. Anyway, the ramen was quite nice, but I was looking forward to having something a little more traditional!

After that, we decided to check in to our hotel and sort out our next destination. There is an automated check in system that scans passports etc, but since I’d booked two nights in separate bookings (in case I needed to cancel one of the nights) I ended up having to talk to one of the staff; they were very helpful, of course.

We took the subway west to visit Maizuru Park, Peony Garden, Sannomaru Plaza, and Ohori Park. We looked at some turtles in a pond and wandered around the flower garden. Then we looked for a cafe and found the Artist Cafe, Fukuoka; it seemed to be a community art centre and in the coffee shop were some people painting in a group. We got some ice coffee and tea and sat relaxing and looking at the art on display. The centre seemed to be in an old school and the cafe is probably called ‘Teateto'(?).

After that, we walked towards some action we’d seen while in the gardens; tents, tables, and booths in the distance. At the subway station, we’d noticed a poster for a craft gyoza festival and that must have been what we were seeing. That means we were now at Sannomaru Plaza! It wasn’t super busy, but there was a nice crowd of people sitting at temporary tables eating and drinking. At one end of the grassy plaza was a row of about ten food stalls, and on the opposite side was a ticket booth; you pay 700 yen per ticket, then use the tickets to buy your food and drink! We used Google Eye to translate the leaflet with the food information on; I wanted beef tongue dumplings, Romana wanted lemon scented pork dumplings (gyoza!). Then we grabbed a few beers and found a table and bench amongst all the other hungry gyoza eaters. It was nice sitting outside eating. I liked my tongue gyoza, though we were a bit unsure about the lemon ones!

For our last stop in the area, we walked to Ohori Lake in the main park and wandered around a bit. We then decided to go to the canal area, so got a subway to Tenjin station and wandered about some more. We got a matcha thing to snack on (very hot, and quite nice). We got a little lost on the way to the canal and my feet were starting to hurt (I wasn’t wearing comfortable shoes), so we got on the subway again to Nakasukawabata Station, then walked to the canal area for food.

We, (I!) was specifically looking for yatai, the traditional street food stalls popular in this area. We found the area soon enough, and it was very busy! We had to wait a while before some seats became available. Some of the places only had Japanese language menus, a few had English, too. There seemed to be a mixture of tourists and Fukuoka locals, though I think the tourists were in larger numbers! The place that we eventually went to sat us kind of at the rear alongside the ‘kitchen’. We got ramen, sake, and some odeng. All pretty good. After that, we went to a nearby bridge to drink a can of beer while listening to some street musicians. Then we made our way slowly back to the subway station before heading to the hotel. A good first day, I think!

Map of places visited this trip: