We're in the park
In Fukuoka
It's our last morning here
Before we leave for Osaka
So I thought, before we go
I'd just give you a quick guide to Fukuoka
Lots of people visit places like Osaka & Kyoto
So Fukuoka might not be somewhere you think of visiting
So, should you go there?
As tourism to Japan increases
The popular places are becoming more crowded
By going somewhere that isn't on everyone's itinerary
You can have a more meaningful, authentic experience
When I was planning this trip
First I looked at Okinawa
But I actually found more things I wanted to do in Kyushu
This area of Japan has a lot of volcanic activity
That's why it has so many onsen
So many hot spring baths
It also means there's lots of really interesting natural places to see
I'll tell you about them in a minute
There's videos about lots of the places I mention
On my channel
And new Japan videos every Thursday
We've been here for 4 days and the evening before
And that's nowhere near long enough to get to know a city properly
So I can't say I really know it
But I thought I'd share with you
What I've learnt from being here
For this short time as a visitor
And from researching my trip
In case it helps if you're thinking of visiting Fukuoka as well
Fukuoka is on Kyushu
Which is the southernmost of the main group of Japan's islands
There's also Okinawa
Which is a lot further south, in the sea
What?
They're all in the sea!
Fukuoka is at the top of Kyushu
It's the main city, the biggest one
It's the 6th largest city in Japan
First thing: Here's a quick overview
Of the main areas in Fukuoka
Just to help you get your bearings
Tenjin in the city centre
Where all the main shops are
Then you've got a sort of river that runs through Fukuoka
In the middle of that
Is a place called Nakasu
That's a sort of nightlife district
With lots of bars
It really comes alive at night
With lots of lights
That's where you can find those yattai
Which are a special thing in Fukuoka
They're food stalls
That set up for the evening
And people sit around really cosy
And have a meal & drinks
Then you've got the seaside areas
Where we went to Momochi Seaside Park
Then there's a bit that sticks out
That's Uminonakamichi
It's a difficult name!
Which is another seaside park
That is kind of out of the way
When you're in the main city
You have to take a couple of trains to get to that bit
But it's a day out if you want to go there
Then in the bay
There's a couple of islands
The main one is Nokonoshima
There's also Shika Island
Shikanoshima
That's at the end of Uminonakamichi Seaside Park
You can get ferries from the mainland
To Nokonoshima & also to Uminonakamichi Seaside Park
That was really nice when we did that the other day
Next: Day trips
There are things to do in Fukuoka
But it's not packed with activities
And things to see like somewhere like Kyoto is
So I think it's a good base to stay
And go on day trips to other places
And that's what we've used it as
A place to stay while we explore the rest of Kyushu
Looking back,
I think if you were staying somewhere like Kumamoto
That might be a more convenient place
For exploring the whole of Kyushu
Because it's in the middle
It's not so difficult to get over to the east side
But Fukuoka has been pretty good for that
And it means that where you're staying, there's lots of places to eat
And lots around you when you get home in the evening
Daytrips we've been on
Are to the Beppu Hells
There's also Yufuin around there
Which I didn't go to
But a lot of people said it's less touristy
It's an onsen town
With old streets & buildings
And its apparently really beautiful
I didn't go there
Because the train or bus ride, whichever it is
Was a bit long from Beppu
So it seemed like a lot to do for one day
But I think a lot of people stay there in a traditional hotel
Where else have we been...?
What did we do the next day Phil?
Sa-
Sakura-
Oh yeah!
We've also been to Sakurajima
Which is an active volcano
At the bottom of Kyushu
You get to that from Kagoshima
At the bottom of the shinkansen line
We also went to Yanagawa
And Dazaifu
Now Dazaifu is a really popular day trip
All the trip reports I read,
People had always gone to it
It's got quite a big temple there
And an old street
And touristy souvenir shops & things
It's not really that far away from Fukuoka
So it's easy to get to
We also went to Yanagawa
Which is known as the Venice of Kyushu
That was really beautiful
We went on a punting trip
There were lots of really nice plants & flowers
It was really picturesque
There's also some other day trips that I looked at but we didn't end up doing
One was to Miyazaki prefercture
To... what's it called...?
Takachiho Gorge
That just looks amazing
It's got deep cliffs going up the sides
And it's a gorge with a river going through
You can go on a boat ride
And there's a little waterfall that comes down
And the pictures look absolutely beautiful
But the reason I didn't go there
Was because you have to take a train
And then another train, and then a bus
It was quite convoluted
And, while I do want to see things & explore
I don't want to be spending the whole time on the train
So I think about 2 hours is the longest I'd really want to spend
Travelling for a day trip
So that's why I didn't go there
But it does look really nice
And another day trip we didn't go on
Was to Nagasaki
Which is also quite a long way
It's not too bad
That is in the top half of Kyushu
That was where the other atomic bomb was dropped
So they have a memorial peace park there
Like at Hiroshima
So that would be really interesting to visit
There's also some interesting countryside around there
There's another volcano
And there's a place called Unzen Hells
Hell means hot springs
So I think that'd be a bit like Beppu Hells
And the pictures look amazing
There's also a village
Where they have gutters going along the streets
And they have fish in them
Which is really cool
They call it the City of Carp
There's loads more to do in Kyushu
So I think the best way to explore it
Would probably be to rent a car
Or maybe to stay in different places
And spend longer just on this island
And if you want to see more about the places we went to
There's separate videos about all of them on my channel
Where to stay
The main centre of Fukuoka
Is Tenjin
That's where a lot of the shops & shopping malls & restaurants are
So if you want to be in the middle of everything
That's a good place to stay
It's also quite central
So you can get to other places easily
I decided not to stay there
But to stay near Hakata Station
Which is the main Fukuoka Station
And the reason I decided to do that
Was because I was going to be doing lots of day trips out
And if you're staying near the main station
It means you can just pop there & get the train
Rather than having to take the subway
Or walk to the station
I found that pretty convenient
That worked out well
It meant we didn't have to get up quite so early
To get the train
There was also a lot around that area
There's a lot of shops & restaurants in the station
There's department stores & things
We were also really close to Canal City
Which is a big shopping mall
And also quite an interesting place to visit
So I thought Hakata was a really good place to stay too
When you first arrive
Fukuoka Airport is really close to the city
It's actually kind of inside it
I've heard people say
It's the easiest airport in Japan
In terms of getting into the city
It only took about 15 minutes
You take the subway
I can't remember what the line's called
But there's only one so you can't get it wrong!
Next: How to get around
We've got to a lot of places by walking
From Hakata Station we could walk to Canal City
And Tenjin
Other places were a bit far
For that we used the subway
There's 2 or 3 lines on the subway
And there's also some JR lines
Which you can use you JR Pass on
If you've got one
You can use your Suica card if you have one
Or they also have a local IC card
A train card, like an Oyster card here
Which you can get, & that'll work in other areas of Japan too
It was pretty similar to getting the subway in Tokyo
Or the London Underground really
You scan in with your Suica card
Go through
Follow the signs
The signs & announcements are all in English as well as Japanese
So that wasn't difficult
It's also a lot less busy in Fukuoka
Than in Tokyo
As you'd expect, I guess
It's not the capital city
It's got a much more chilled atmosphere
So if you don't like crowds
It's a lot less intimidating from that point of view
Hakata Station, that's the main station in Fukuoka
Is also on the shinkansen line
Which means you can get here from Osaka
And the mainland
There's also a shinkansen bullet train line that goes down Kyushu
It goes down the west side
So that makes it a bit more difficult to get to places on the east side
But there are other train lines
So the shinkansen line goes down Kyushu
It goes through Kumamoto
Which you might know because of Kumamon
They also had a bad earthquake there a few years ago
Then it goes all the way down to Kagoshima
Which is where we went the other day
And you can see that in my video
So that's really convenient
And it's a great way to get around
It only took 2 hours
To get to Kagoshima
Which is right at the bottom of Kyushu
Which is amazing
I think the shinkansen is so good!
It seems so modern
I can't believe they've had it in Japan since the 70s
How long to stay in Fukuoka
In Fukuoka itself
There are things to do
You can go shopping and it is a big city
But it's not packed with tourist attractions
There are things we didn't do
Like there's an aquarium
There's a zoo
In Uminonakamichi
There is lots of shopping that we haven't really done
We've spent a day to two days within Fukuoka
You could maybe spend a little bit longer than that
Depending on your pace
And how quickly you look round things
But I don't think you'd want to be spending 4 or 5 days here really
Unless you are going on day trips
So work out how many things you want to see
In the area
And around Kyushu
And use that to work out how long to stay here
And if you like my dress
My shark attack dress
It's my own design
I always get a lot of comments when I wear this one
You can get it from my website
CakeswithFaces.co.uk
Or Etsy.com/shop/cakeswithfaces
The links are in the description
So I hope that's given you an overview of Fukuoka
And why you might want to go there
While there's loads to do in Tokyo
The rest of Japan is completely different
And there's so much more to explore
I know the list of places I want to go to
Is just never-ending
So let me know what you thought in the comments
And I'll see you next week
Turn around
Graceful!! :-)
Keep spinning