福岡県 · Kyushu Region

Fukuoka Hidden Gems

Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than to Tokyo, and it has been Japan's contact point with the mainland for as long as there has been contact — the Mongol invasion fleets landed on this coast in 1274 and 1281, and remnants of the defensive stone wall built afterwards still run along the beach at Nishijin. The city is really two that merged in 1889: Hakata, the merchant and port side east of the Naka river, and Fukuoka, the castle side west of it, which is why the station is Hakata and the city is not. It is unusually compact for a city of its size, with the airport two subway stops from the main station, and it is the only major Japanese city where the yatai — licensed food stalls that assemble on the pavement each evening — survived the twentieth century in numbers. Dazaifu, half an hour south, was the regional government seat for six centuries.

7 spots

Climate & Best Season

Mild with hot, humid summers and short winters; occasional light snow. Spring and autumn are ideal, though the yatai run year-round.

Famous For (Food)

Hakata tonkotsu ramen
Mentaiko
Motsunabe
Mizutaki

Signature Sights

Nakasu yatai stalls
Dazaifu Tenmangu
Itoshima coast
Yanagawa river punting

When to Go

Winters are short and mild with January highs around 10°C and occasional light snow that rarely settles. The rainy season in June and early July is heavy here, and Kyushu takes typhoons from August into September. August is hot and humid above 33°C, but the yatai run through it. Hakata Gion Yamakasa culminates before dawn on July 15 with teams racing one-tonne floats through the streets. The Dazaifu plum blossoms open in late February. Spring and autumn are the comfortable months, and the Nakasu stalls are best on a dry evening in October or November.

Getting Around

Hakata Station is the western terminus of the Sanyo Shinkansen, about five hours from Tokyo and two and a half from Shin-Osaka, and the start of the Kyushu Shinkansen south to Kagoshima. Fukuoka Airport is remarkable for being five minutes from Hakata by subway — closer to the centre than almost any airport in Asia. Two subway lines and the Nishitetsu private railway cover the city and reach Dazaifu in about half an hour from Tenjin. Yanagawa's punting is at the end of the same Nishitetsu line. The Itoshima coast is best by car or rental bicycle, and ferries run from Hakata port to the offshore islands and to Busan.

Local Food

Hakata tonkotsu ramen is thin straight noodles in cloudy pork broth, ordered by firmness, with a kaedama refill of noodles rather than a second bowl — the yatai in Nakasu and the shops around Hakata Station are the natural places to eat it. Mentaiko, pollock roe cured in chilli, was developed in Fukuoka after the war from a Korean recipe and is the standard souvenir. Motsunabe is an offal hotpot with cabbage and garlic chives, a cold-weather dish. Mizutaki is a clear chicken hotpot, and Yanagawa serves steamed eel over rice.

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