Shrines and Food in Fukuoka

As the largest city in Kyushu, Fukuoka was where we flew in and where we based our travel after returning from the Kurokawa Onsen area. Fukuoka was great for shopping and food, but in terms of actual places to see, I found Dazaifu much more interesting. A short train ride away, Dazaifu is one of the many day trip-worthy towns near Fukuoka, known for its temples and shrines. Here are some highlights from both places:

Tenmangu Shrine - HUGE shrine near Dazaifu station. Tenmangu is probably the biggest tourist attraction in Dazaifu, and since we are tourists this was our first stop. There’s a nice garden leading up to the shrine, complete with fish ponds, stone bridges, and trees hundreds of years old. The actual shrine has a raised platform where we were lucky enough to see some sort of ceremony in progress. Nearby were a bunch of small wooden structures where people had hung placards with their wishes written on them - mostly students looking to pass their exams. It was a nice place to just walk around and take pictures, and admission is completely free, so definitely worth checking out.

Lots of other tourists visiting Tenmangu Shrine

The actual shrine

Best of luck fellow bear!

National Kyushu Museum - Housed in an impressively large glass building, the National Kyushu Museum is one of the four National Museums of Japan. I’ve been to the one in Nara in the past, but I think I liked the Kyushu one better - the main part of the museum focused on Japanese history, with each area dedicated to a different era. Everything was well organized and explained well (with English translations!) and I would highly recommend a visit to anyone interested in Japanese history.

Kyushu National Museum

Dazaifu Mozenmachi - Right next to the Dazaifu main station is a shopping street with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants, and snack stands. The whole street is pedestrian-only and retains the traditional architectural style, so it was cool to just walk around and explore. We really enjoyed all the snacks - especially the umegae-mochi that every other store on the street seemed to be selling.

Umegae mochi

Yatai Food Stalls - Eating at a yatai food stall is the one must-do thing when visiting Fukuoka according to the natives. Each night, vendors set up tents all along the riverbanks. Inside are essentially small bars where patrons can order food and drink from the chef cooking right in front of them. The concept is neat, but I was a little disappointed by the selection - basically all the stalls we passed by were selling the same menu of skewers and ramen. It was pretty expensive too, with each skewer going for a few hundred yen each. Still, it was a cool experience. Go for the atmosphere, not for the food.

The yatai we went to

Inside the tent

Canal City - Canal City is basically a giant mall with a river running through it. We spent a good few hours there walking around and buying way too much stuff at the Walmart-sized duty free store. The entire top floor of one of the buildings housed “Ramen Stadium”, a food court with ramen from all over Japan. Great place to try a variety of ramen.

Canal City

Ramen Stadium! I had Hakata ramen from Jinambo